The new CFA website is nearing completion. Please feel free to visit while the site is under construction, by clicking on the middle image below. |
|||
|
|||
NEWS!WCS2015 merchandise is available online! Click here to order yours today! To all Circus Fans: URGENT CALL TO ACTION! Massachusetts SB1801 "An Act relating to the treatment of elephants" Hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21 at 1:00 pm before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Boston, MA. What YOU can do: 1- Attend to support those who speak 2- Attend and speak - please contact Gary Payne if you plan to do so. Limit is usually 3 minutes 3- Email and / or telephone those on the committee IT's EASY: The full text of SB1801 (1 1/2 pages) and CFA's information, including Emails and phone calls ( 3 1/4 pages) can be found below. PLEASE: Share what you can do and any communications with your CFA Animal Welfare Committee Chairperson, Sarah Conley. Who is planning to attend and speak so far? Three representatives from Feld Entertainment, three representatives from R.W. Commerford & Sons, Wayne McCary, Kari Johnson of Have Trunk Will Travel, and Gary Payne/ President of CFA. Thank you for any/all support you can make time for. Regards, Gary C. Payne, President Circus Fans Assn. of America Some of you may have already heard the news that California SB 716 was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown! But other elephant legislation is still pending in Massachusetts, and a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the State House in Boston. Please see the alert below and share with your contacts so we can generate letters/emails/phone calls to the members of the Joint Judiciary Committee to oppose these bills. And if anyone in the Massachusetts area is available to attend the hearing, please let me know. Thank you! Mary Lou .............................. ALERT – October 21 Hearing Scheduled for MA SB 1801, HB 1274 and HB 1477 (bull hook bans) A hearing on Massachusetts Senate Bill 1801 has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 21 at 1:00PM before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The full text of the bill is attached for your reference, along with the companion bills from the House, HB 1274 and HB 1477. All three bills will be taken up at the October 21 Committee hearing. If passed, the proposed bills would ban the use of the elephant guide (also called a bull hook/ankus) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts beginning in 2018. As you well know, this widely accepted and humane elephant management tool is absolutely necessary to safely display elephants in a public setting. In addition, such legislation is unnecessary since intentional cruelty to an elephant or any animal with any instrument is already prohibited by existing law. It was for that reason that a similar bill was just vetoed in California. These bills would apply not only to circuses, but zoos and all other elephant exhibitors in the state, and would also make it impossible for elephant rides to be given at local fairs and events. SB 1801 was introduced by Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) and is similar to the Senator's anti-circus efforts in past legislative sessions. The opposition efforts of Circus Fans and other industry supporters have been very valuable in defeating this legislation in the past, and we are asking for your help again for this hearing. E-mails and phone calls in opposition to these bills are very much needed. The contact information for each member of the Judiciary Committee is listed below. Communications from circus supporters who live in a Committee member's legislative district are especially helpful. In addition, if anyone is available to speak at the Committee hearing on October 21, please contact Mary Lou Kelly to get further details. Thank you for your efforts in contacting Massachusetts legislators on this important issue! Joint Committee on the Judiciary Room 504, State House, Boston, MA 02133 – Main phone: (617)-722-1280 CHAIRS Senator William N. Brownsberger (D-Belmont) Phone: 617-722-1280 Email: William.Brownsberger@masenate.gov Representative John V. Fernandes (D-Milford) Phone: 617-722-2396 Email: John.Fernandes@mahouse.gov Senators— Senator John F. Keenan (D-Quincy) Phone: 617-722-1494 Email: John.Keenan@masenate.gov Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston) Phone: (617) 722-1673 Email: Sonia.Chang-Diaz@masenate.gov Senator Patricia D. Jehlen (D-Somerville) Phone: 617-722-1578 Email: Patricia.Jehlen@masenate.gov Senator Cynthia S. Creem (D-Newton) Phone: 617-722-1639 Email: Cynthia.Creem@masenate.gov Senator Richard J. Ross (D-Wrentham) Phone: 617-722-1555 Email: Richard.Ross@masenate.gov Representatives Rep. Claire D. Cronin (D-Easton) Phone: 617-722-2396 Email: Claire.Cronin@mahouse.gov Rep. Colleen M. Garry (D-Dracut) Phone: 617-722-2380 Email: Colleen.Garry@mahouse.gov Rep. John C. Velis (D-Westfield) Phone: 617-722-2582 Email: john.velis@mahouse.gov Rep. S. Day (D-Stoneham) Phone: 617-722-2582 Email: Michael.Day@mahouse.gov Rep. Paul Tucker (D-Salem) Phone: 617-722-2400 Email: Paul.Tucker@mahouse.gov Rep. James J. Lyons, Jr. (R-Andover) Phone: 617-722-2460 Email: James.Lyons@mahouse.gov Rep. Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin) Phone: 617-722-2020 Email: Jeffrey.Roy@mahouse.gov Rep. Evandro C. Carvalho (D-Dorchester) Phone: 617-722-2460 Email: Evandro.Carvalho@mahouse.gov Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfield) Phone: 617-722-2080 Email: Carlos.Gonzalez@mahouse.gov Rep. Sheila C. Harrington (R-Groton) Phone: 617-722-2305 Email: Sheila.Harrington@mahouse.gov Circus Fans Association of America ©1999-2015. All rights reserved. |