>>>>PLEASE CROSS POST WIDELY<<<<<
Official Call to Action from ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association)
Below  is an official plan of action released this evening by the president of ARBA- Mike Avesing. He has sent out the following information (see below) and has urged every single member of ARBA to take action immediately to oppose SB 917.
Please do the following:
1.)Cross post this official ARBA call to action alert to every single rabbit owner and raiser you know.  There are over 1,700 members of ARBA. They all need to see this message as soon as   possible. Encourage cross posting to as many concerned citizens as possible nation wide. This message needs to go viral within the next 24 hours to be effective. It is up to each and every single person receiving this email to step up and to send it on to as many folks as they can.
2.)Pease either fax or send your opposition letter as soon as possible to Senator Ted Lieu, Governor Jerry Brown, and all members of the California Assembly Appropriations Committee.  All of the necessary contact information is contained within the ARBA action plan below. Also attached and embedded below is a sample letter that can be used. Just fill in your information as appropriate. Please feel free to edit to better convey your opposition message.  Remember to include this phrase at the top of your letter: “I (name of organization or individual) strongly oppose SB 917 as amended and in any an all forms.” This is so your opposition to this bill will not be dropped should it be changed or amended.
3.)Next, get as many people as you can to likewise fax or send in their opposition letters. Remember that simply calling or emailing will NOT assure that your opposition will be heard and added to the official file. Have every single member of your family, your friends, co-workers, fellow farmers, etc. fax in their opposition individually. All animal husbandry will be ended in California should this bill pass. We want to literally melt down their fax machines and make it difficult for them to conduct their business as usual. Past experience has taught us that this is the only way to get their attention so they will hear us.
4.)Please, all of you from out of state, please join our opposition effort and  fax in your opposition letters ASAP. As the saying goes “So goes California, so goes the nation”.  The animal rights operatives behind this monstrous bill will replicate it across the nation if they are successful in passing it in California. This is their tried and true mode of operandus. YOU CAN BANK ON IT!

        We to Mike Aversing for his invaluable help in this effort.all should extend a big  

 From the American Rabbit Breeders Association.....

ARBA Action Plan – CA Senate Bill 917
The ARBA is very concerned with the potential impacts of SB 917 on our hobby and our members in CA.  With that in mind, we are urging that every one of our 1731 California members contact their elected state officials to express their concern about the negative impacts of SB 917.  Target the elected officials that represent you.  Encourage your family and friends fax letters of opposition to the bill.  4H or FFA groups would also be impacted by this bill and would also we a great place to get additional support.
To make it easier for everyone to do that, we are providing the following to as many members as we can:
lA sample letter that can be sent to your elected state officials.  (Separate email attachment)  The letter should be useable by anyone.  If you raise cavies, just substitute “cavies” for rabbits in the letter. 916-319-2181   Contact information for the members of the Appropriations Committee is also included in this document.
lContact information for CA State Assemblymen   (Separate email attachment)
lTalking points that you can use in discussions on the bill.   (See below)


“Melting down the fax machines” at the capitol was a very successful tactic we have used in the past to defeat other bad animal rights bills. WE NEED LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE sending in their opposition. At the bottom of this email is the contact list for the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  When you have completed your opposition effort then it is imperative that we get others to do the same. These can be family members, neighbors, friends, fellow farmers and rabbit breeders, co-workers, etc. Please have those who reside out of state that you know do the same.  SPREAD THE WORD QUICKLY. It is especially important to fax opposition letters to Governor Brown’s office and Senator Ted Lieu’s office.  

Here is their contact information:
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 558-3160
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
Senator Ted Lieu
Capitol Office
Fax: (916) 323-6056

The information we are providing has been supplied by many individuals within our membership.  I don’t want to mention names for fear of forgetting someone.  I’d sincerely like to thank them for their assistance and support.
Mike Avesing


Talking Points:
BENEFITS of the rabbit and cavy fancies:

lthe productive contribution the hobby makes in the lives of young people,
lcommunity service,
lwholesome food,
lthe green movement/sustainable agriculture,
lagribusiness/retail economy
lpromotion of responsible rabbit and cavy ownership that ARBA members support



Committee Members
District
FAX
E-mail

Felipe Fuentes - Chair
Dem-39
(916) 319-2139
Assemblymember.Fuentes@assembly.ca.gov

Diane L. Harkey - Vice Chair
Rep-73
916) 319-2173
Assemblymember.Harkey@assembly.ca.gov

Bob Blumenfield

Dem-40
(916) 319-2140
Assemblymember.Blumenfield@assembly.ca.gov
Steven Bradford

Dem-51
(916) 319-2151
Assemblymember.Bradford@assembly.ca.gov
Charles M. Calderon

Dem-58
(916) 319-2158
Assemblymember.Calderon@assembly.ca.gov
Nora Campos

Dem-23
(916) 319-2123
Assemblymember.Campos@assembly.ca.gov
Mike Davis

Dem-48
(916) 319-2148
Assemblymember.Davis@assembly.ca.gov
Tim Donnelly

Rep-59
(916) 319-2159
Assemblymember.Donnelly@assembly.ca.gov
Mike Gatto

Dem-43
(916) 319-2143
Assemblymember.Gatto@assembly.ca.gov
Isadore Hall III

Dem-52
(916) 319-2152
Assemblymember.Hall@assembly.ca.gov
Jerry Hill

Dem-19
(916) 319-2119
Assemblymember.Hill@assembly.ca.gov
Ricardo Lara

Dem-50
(916) 319-2150
Assemblymember.Lara@assembly.ca.gov
Holly J. Mitchell

Dem-47
(916) 319-2147
Assemblymember.Mitchell@assembly.ca.gov
Jim Nielsen

Rep-2
(916) 319-2102
Assemblymember.Nielsen@assembly.ca.gov
Chris Norby

Rep-72
(916) 319-2172
Assemblymember.Norby@assembly.ca.gov
Jose Solorio

Dem-69
(916) 319-2069
Assemblymember.Solorio@assembly.ca.gov
Donald P. Wagner

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Rep-70
(916) 319-2070
Assemblymember.Wagner@assembly.ca.gov


Sample Letter :
in any and all forms.

Dear Esteemed Assemblyman:              ,



I would like to convey my strong opposition to bill SB 917 pertaining to the topic of “animal abuse”.  I ask to be included in the count for the opposition to SB917.

This proposed law is a direct assault on animal husbandry in the state of California including, but not limited to, those who raise rabbits. SB 917 constitutes a direct assault on small farmers and intends to criminalize them simply for their responsible and ethical pursuit of animal raising. Those who raise rabbits and other animals will be forbidden to sell them anywhere except on private property. This requirement will inevitably impede both interstate commerce as well as live animal trade within California’s borders. Selling at shows and public on property, giving away animals as pets, and transporting them to be picked up anywhere on public property will be considered an act of “animal cruelty” replete with fines, seizure of private property (animals), and arrest as a misdemeanor offense. Furthermore, the natural and time honored farming practice of harvesting animals for food will be now be criminalized and potentially be classified as “cruel and intentional killing”, an act of animal cruelty, and, according to this law, a felonious crime.

The terms cruelty, abuse, and neglect are not well defined by this bill. As written, they are ambiguous terms subject to the conjecture and whims of the enforcer. Who is to determine what is cruel, neglectful, and/or abusive and what is not? What criterion will be used? None are set forth in this bill.  Normal farming practices may seem cruel to someone who has always resided in a city and has only owned pets that live with them inside their homes as many animal control investigators have. Because this law is so badly written and poorly defined, its enforcement will cause the inevitable abuse of power by those who choose to do so. Clearly, this bill will unavoidably lead to the criminalization of innocent farming and animal raising California citizens. Families will be prohibited from raising rabbits and other animals for food. Children participating in 4H and FFA will become instant criminals upon their 18th birthday simply because they raise animals. Small farmers, under the weight of such a draconian and ill-conceived law, will be forced to abandon farming in California and flee the state resulting in a massive loss of tax revenue and a vital food supply. All wrongly convicted farmers and animal raisers caught in this ill-conceived dragnet will be incarcerated in California’s already over-populated penal system. Rest assured, there will be legal challenges to this law which again will be borne by the California taxpayer. Additionally, this is an unfunded mandate whose implementation will be paid for by already critically cash-strapped local governments. . During these fiscally challenging economic times, California simply can not afford to make SB 917 a law. Please stand with our innocent farmers and animal raisers of California by opposing this draconian legislation. The last thought I would like to leave you with is- what will happen to California’s meat supply should this bill go into effect? We are one of the largest food producing regions in the world. How many people will be adversely affected by this law when the cost of meat escalates beyond affordability? Already cash strapped families will no longer be able to provide their children with meat based protein which is absolutely essential for normal human development. The ultimate costs of SB 917 are grave and far reaching. Thank you so much for your time and attention to this matter. Sincerely, (Your name/ position and/or organization here)