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Dear (Contact First Name), Social Compassion in Legislation has launched a "Ban The Trap" billboard and social media campaign in support of an upcoming vote by the California Fish & Game Commission. The vote is on August 5, 2015 and would prohibit bobcat trapping state-wide. And yes, it IS still legal to trap bobcats for their fur in California, most people do not realize that this is the case. Here are some of the facts:
- Trappers setup their traps on private property.
- Trappers stalk the Internet for people posting where bobcats were seen.
- Trappers get $600-$1000 for their pelts.
- California has not counted their bobcat population since 1970!
- Trappers take an estimate of over 14,000 bobcats per year, but really no one knows how many.
- California bobcats, once trapped, are shot in the head and skinned for their fur which is then sold and sent to China, Russia and Europe, where demand has sadly increased.
When SCIL was alerted that this lifesaving vote was pending, we wanted to make sure your voice can be heard! We hope you will take action. We do not want to miss this opportunity to make history for our native bobcats. They are Californians too, and are desperately counting on your support. Please take action TODAY! Please help bobcats by contacting the Fish & Game Commission before Tuesday, August 4th: Email [email protected] Call (916) 653-4899 Fax (916) 653-5040 Twitter: @CaliforniaDFW @JerryBrownGov #BanTheTrap Please tell them you Support Option #2 "Complete Ban" on bobcat trapping. Let's end this barbaric practice in our state. *** If you are a member of the press, we will be holding a press conference Monday morning - July 27th. We will have a special guest and new information. Please consider covering our press event, and contact me for more information. We will send out a press release Monday afternoon with our news. Here is a link to the Proposed Regulations.
http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/2015/478ntc.pdf
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| We would like to thank our donors and billboard participants: Diane Warren, Gloria Butler, Dr. Jenn Mann, Alexandra Paul, Matt Raimo, board members: Katie Cleary & Simone Reyes. Also, we want to thank Michael Roud for donating his time and his talented photography services. |
Billboard location sites are: Los Angeles -Santa Monica Blvd. and Kelton facing west. Sacramento -5 Freeway south Richards Blvd. Pierce Brosnan and Zimbabwe Elephants SCIL has been working with the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force to raise the visibility and change the plight for their wildlife. Back in December we reported that baby elephants were brutally abducted from their mothers and held in captivity to be sold and shipped to China. Their fate has come to pass, as of the 4th of July while Americans were out celebrating, these baby elephants were being loaded into horrific crates to be put on a plane and flown to China to lead lives of misery. We are not giving up and want to mobilize in anticipation for the next wave of captures, which we are told has already begun. We have partnered up with our animal loving friend Pierce Brosnan creating a PSA and petition to President Obama asking him to intervene and stop the plight of these majestic animals. Click below to view the recent PSA from Pierce and sign our WHITE HOUSE PETITION. We have until August 23rd to get 100,000 signatures in order for the White House to take action. Please sign even if you have signed petitions on other sites. Please watch Pierce's video and share far and wide to help the Zimbabwe people to stop this tragedy against their majestic and endangered animals.
Legislation Updates and News
New SCIL Sponsored Legislation
HR 28 Dababneh/Calderon - Humane Education, this bill will put the state of California on record that compliance with Education Code provisions should include educating students on the principles of kindness and respect for animals and observance of laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to the humane treatment of animals, including wildlife and its environment. We are so proud to launch this humane first step towards developing compassionate generations to come.
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| HR 28 Dababneh/Calderon - Humane Education |
ACR 56 Linder - Official State Pet
This bill would declare the shelter pet as California's Official State Pet. Every year California euthanizes over 500,000 pets that end up in our overflowing shelters across the state. ACR 56, is authored by Assembly Member Eric Linder and co-authored by Assembly Member Wilk, and co-sponsored by our friends at State Humane Association of California. We hope to raise the visibility of these poor lost lives. The shelter pet would be an official state symbol right alongside the California Grizzly Bear (State Animal), the California Red-Legged Frog (State Amphibian), and the California Poppy (State Flower). We look for every way possible to shine the light on shelter pets. We desperately need Californians to adopt these wonderful animals and to cherish them and keep them for life...and of course spay/neuter and microchip them!
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| ACR 56 Linder - Official State Pet |
AB-192 Allan - Specialized License Plates This bill corrects a hole in the existing law regarding a sponsoring agency delegating responsibilities to a nonprofit. It's a technical glitch in current law that needed to be fixed for the Pet Lover's License Plate. Once law, it will free up the approximate $300,000 that has accrued from all of you that have purchased a plate. These funds will go to the areas of our state who are in greatest need. These families will receive free or extremely low cost spay and neuter surgeries for their pets. If you have not already purchased a plate, please do to support our efforts. For only a $40 fee ($50 for initial plate) your donation will be pooled with all the other compassionate Californians and have a much greater impact than giving any other donation you could hope for such a small amount.
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| Please Buy A Pet Lover's License Plate |
New York State Update S4327/A5956 Hannon/Rosenthal - Dining with Dogs After passing both the Senate and the Assembly with almost entirely "yes" votes, New York Dining with Dogs is on its last stop to becoming law. It will be presented to Governor Cuomo for signature, and we hope to have his full support. It was our first bill outside California and to have such a success, is a real win for New Yorkers and their beloved pets. It was absolutely delightful working with Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Senator Kemp Hannon and their staff.
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| Latest article from NBC News |
Other News
Shipping Chicks
Congressman Sherman is helping SCIL by looking into what it will take to end this horrible practice of shipping baby chicks in the US mail. Please watch our three minute video that shows why we are taking on this issue.
SCIL is delighted and honored to welcome Sal LaBarbera to our Board!
Sal recently retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after thirty three years of distinguished service. He was the Assistant Officer in Charge of a Homicide Division, and Task Force Leader in a joint FBI/LAPD homicide task force. Sal was assigned to homicide investigations in South Los Angeles for 28 years, both as an investigator and supervisor. Sal's Police experience included stints in Patrol, Vice, Narcotics, Gangs, Specialized Units, Field Supervisor and the Officer in Charge of a South Los Angeles Gang Unit. Since the core of SCIL's existence is built around creating and changing laws to protect animals, without enforcement and education everything stays the same. Having Sal's insight will be instrumental in supporting our mission and growth.
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| New Board Member Sal LaBarbera |
Website Update SCIL has launched a new website and there is plenty more content to come. We look forward to hearing your thoughts (and raves, if we are lucky) about our new site. And please have your friends and family sign up for our alerts. We do not sell your email addresses, and we try to send out updates sparingly. We realize everyone is flooded with spam email. We do our best to consolidate our information to share with you. However, if we have an active campaign and need you to take action, we may send more emails during that period of time. |
