Attention All Hound Hunters!

UPDATED - TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION!

A bill has been introduced in the California Senate that would prohibit the use of dogs for the pursuit or take of black bear and bobcat. Authored by Senators Ted Lieu and Darrell Steinberg, this bill would:

Criminalize the use of dogs for the pursuit or take of bear and bobcat
Allow California Department of Fish and Game employees to kill any dog threatening to injure a bear or bobcat
Prevent the owner of any dog that has been killed from pressing criminal charges or filing a civil claim against that employee

SB 1221 Full Bill Text and Status

Despite failing to pass after four calls for a vote, SB 1221 will be voted on again by the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee in a special vote on Monday, July 2, 2012.

In response to the extraordinary measures the supporters of the bill are taking, several hundred Californians are holding a demonstration on the steps of the south side of the Capitol. Assembly Member Bill Berryhill and State Senator Doug La Malfa will join the hundreds of men and women who represent the agriculture, beekeeping, timber, and conservation-oriented communities. Please plan on joining us for this important event, and invite everyone you know. For more information, please read the CHC/COHA Press Release below.

SB 1221 Opposition Rally Press Release

Here are other ways you can help fight against SB 1221:

Join CHC. This will fund our efforts to kill SB 1221 and every other threat to houndhunting, strengthen our numbers, and get you connected via telephone and email to the distribution lists and phone trees being established. You can join by clicking here.
Donate to CHC. The fight to protect, preserve, and promote the use of hounds for wildlife recreation and research is costly. To contribute to the cause, please click the Donate button to make a secure donation.
Contact the leadership of every other organization that you belong to and request that they submit formal opposition to SB 1221 and send out Action Alerts to their membership asking that members voice their opposition. Lieu, Steinberg, and HSUS are counting on dividing us; otherwise, they wouldn't have made it a point to mention that SB 1221 would not interfere with the use of dogs for birdhunting.
Rather than contacting your representative, focus your initial efforts on the members of the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee. Their contact information is provided below. In order of effectiveness, letters are best, followed by faxes and phone calls, followed by emails.
Visit the websites of COHA, NRA, USSA, CRPA, and other organizations for more information and tools to make your voices heard in opposition to SB 1221. You will be provided with sample letters as well.

After you have performed all of these steps, please be certain to ask all of your family, friends, hunting buddies, co-workers, schoolmates, congregants, and neighbors to perform these steps as well.

Here are some things to keep in mind when contacting the members of this committee:

Address the recipient of your letter, fax, or email as, "Assembly Member" rather than "Mr" or, "Ms."
Remain courteous, respectful, and polite in all communications.
Clearly and concisely state your opposition and ask that they oppose the bill as well.
When making phone calls, calmly and slowly state your opposition.
You can and should reiterate your position in a letter, fax, phone call, and email to each and every member. However, you are encouraged to focus on the Democrats, as they are the ones most likely to support this bill.
Use spell-check and have somebody review your letter, fax, and email before you send it...nothing will kill the credibility of your statement like a message full of grammatical errors.
If you are unsure of the eloquence or articulation of your statement or may become nervous on the phone, simply state your opposition to SB 1221 and respectfully ask that they, "vote No on SB 1221."

Here is the contact information for the two Assembly Members that can kill SB 1221 on Monday:

Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee Members

Assembly Member Jared Huffman Capitol Building #3120 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 319-2006 Fax: (916) 319-2106	Assembly Member Ricardo Lara Capitol Building #2179 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 319-2050 Fax: (916) 319-2150