Many of the laws that protect the lives and rights of animals in our state are on the books because of our lobbying efforts. As an active, registered Principal with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, we lobby on behalf of issues that benefit companion animals, livestock, working and service animals and wildlife. And we lobby against measures that would bring them harm. Recently, we’ve been actively involved with issues regarding animal care and cruelty, wildlife protection, blood sports and the creation of Arizona’s “pet friendly” license plate.

 

2006 

Proposition 204/Humane Farms Initiative

Working with the Animal Defense League of Arizona, Arizonans for Humane Farms, Farm Sanctuary, The Humane Society of the United States and more than 1,200 dedicated Arizona volunteers, we led the fight to ban the cruel and inhumane confinement of pregnant sows and veal calves on factory farms in our state. In the interest of mass production and profit, factory farmers kept pregnant sows and veal calves in stalls and crates so small that they are unable to turn around or fully stretch their limbs. With its passage, Proposition 204 made the use of these two extreme forms of confinement a Class 1 misdemeanor in Arizona, stipulating that pregnant sows and veal calves must be kept in pens large enough to turn around and extend their limbs. Arizona is the first state to ban veal crates for calves and the second to ban gestation crates for pregnant sows.

 

Senate Bill 1160/Measure to Outlaw Bestiality

With shared support by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and countless citizens, our strong, successfully lobby for Senate Bill 1160 helped make bestiality a crime. Now individuals who engage in this awful and depraved act can be charged with a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The new law defines an “animal” as any non-human mammal, bird, reptile or amphibian, alive or dead. It bans all forms of sexual contact with any animal, as well as causing another person to have any type of sexual contact with any animal. With the passage of SB 1160, Arizona became the 35^th state to outlaw bestiality.

 

2004

 “Pet Friendly” License Plates

After years of planning and research, we led the lobbying efforts to create Arizona’s first “pet friendly” license plate. The Arizona Legislature approved the Companion Animal Spay/Neuter Special License Plate Bill in 2004 and, on August 20, 2004, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed it into law. For every plate that is sold, $17 is deposited into a fund that animal agencies can use to pay for spay/neuter programs. Allocation of the funds is overseen by the governor’s seven-member spay/neuter committee which is chaired by former President and CEO, Cheryl Naumann. We wish to thank Carmine Cardamone from the Animal Defense League and state Rep. Marian McClure for their strong support and assistance with this effort. To order your pet friendly license plate, click here.

 

2002

Senate Bill 1053/Mandate to Spay/Neuter all Dogs and Cats Adopted from Shelters

We initiated and lobbied successfully to help pass an Arizona state law requiring that all dogs and cats adopted from shelters be spayed or neutered prior to their release.  In a state where pet overpopulation has reached epidemic proportions, this law is essential to the prevention of countless unwanted litters.

 

2000

Defeat of Proposition 102

We worked with animal-welfare and protection agencies statewide on a grassroots campaign to defeat Proposition 102, a measure to silenced voters’ voices on wildlife-protection issues at the polls. Cleverly disguised as a “wild-life conservation” measure, Proposition 102 was backed by local and out-of-state extremist hunting and trapping groups, including those affiliated with the use of steel-jaw leg-hold traps and “canned hunts.” Because of our work on the “NO on 102” campaign, Arizona voters retained the right to be heard on matters affecting wildlife and native species in our state continue to be protected.

 

1999

Senate Bill 1174/Elevation of Animal Cruelty Acts to Felony Status

We led the lobbying efforts on behalf of Senate Bill 1174, a measure that elevated intentional acts of animal cruelty to felony status in Arizona. Former Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull signed the bill into law on May 4, 1999. Prior to passage of the law, animal cruelty was a misdemeanor and convicted animal abusers received little more than probation. With the tougher, new law on the books, intentional and egregious acts of cruelty to animals can be charged and prosecuted as Class 6 felonies, with convicted abusers facing up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Senate Bill 1174 was introduced by State Sen. Mark Spitzer and strongly supported by State Rep. Kathleen Dunbar. Phoenix attorney and AHS Board member Mark Briggs helped to author the bill and also lobbied tirelessly for its passage.

 

1998

Proposition 201/ Cockfighting Ban

We made history as we worked with The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens Against Cockfighting to successfully ban the cruel blood sport of cockfighting in Arizona. Collecting more than 188,000 registered voters, we cleared the way for Proposition 201 to be placed on the November 1998 ballot. We worked diligently to educate voters about the horrific blood sport in which birds are drugged with stimulants, fitted with razor-sharp steel blades and forced to fight to the death. Voters agreed that cockfighting has no place in a civilized society and promotes violence toward animals. They approved Proposition 201 by a 2:1 margin, making Arizona the 46^th state to ban cockfighting.

 

1997

House Bill 2100/Shoka’s Law

The law was named in memory of “Shoka”, a Siberian Husky puppy. Shoka came from a pet store and had been exposed to distemper, a serious but preventable medical condition, as well as other ailments that he might have survived, had he been examined by a veterinarian upon arrival at the store.

 

Lisa Shover, a former AHS Board Chair and 2004 recipient of the AHS' Herberger Humanitarian of the Year award, was Shoka’s owner. Together, she and AHS authored and successfully lobbied “Shoka’s Law” (HB 2100) which today assures that animals sold in pet stores receive proper care.

 

Shoka's law was passed to ensure puppies, kittens, cats and dogs in pet shops are housed in a clean, humane environment; are given necessary food and water and receive veterinary care, especially if they show signs of illness or a congenital defect. Prior to the passage of the law, countless animals in pet shops did not receive even the most basic care.

 

Specific to puppies, thousands were bred in horrific puppy-mill conditions out-of-state, shipped to local pet shops in crates and sold a routine examination. Many suffered from genetic defects; others were infected with potentially deadly diseases including distemper, Parvo and tick fever. Unsuspecting consumers had no recourse if the puppies became ill, required extensive, expensive veterinary care or died.

 

Shoka's law created protection for these puppies, and other pet-shop animals and for consumers. The law requires pet shop owners to have all dogs and cats examined by a licensed veterinarian before being put up for sale, sets minimum standards of care and makes shop owners liable for knowingly selling pets that are sick or inflicted with a congenital defect.

  

1996

Stray Animal Rights

Our lobbying efforts extended rights to stray animals that are abused or neglected. Before we helped change the law, persons who savagely and intentionally abused or neglected an un-owned, un-identified or stray animal could not be prosecuted. Our efforts to reform the system stemmed from a case involving a stray cat who was intentionally shot with an arrow, suffered and died. Although police apprehended a suspect, he never faced charges and was not punished because the feline victim was a stray. Today, anyone who intentionally abuses any animal – owned or stray – can be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.

 

 

2002

Senate Bill 1053/Mandate to Spay/Neuter all Dogs and Cats Adopted from Shelters

We initiated and lobbied successfully to help pass an Arizona state law requiring that all dogs and cats adopted from shelters be spayed or neutered prior to their release.  In a state where pet overpopulation has reached epidemic proportions, this law is essential to the prevention of countless unwanted litters.

 

2000

Defeat of Proposition 102

We worked with animal-welfare and protection agencies statewide on a grassroots campaign to defeat Proposition 102, a measure to silenced voters’ voices on wildlife-protection issues at the polls. Cleverly disguised as a “wild-life conservation” measure, Proposition 102 was backed by local and out-of-state extremist hunting and trapping groups, including those affiliated with the use of steel-jaw leg-hold traps and “canned hunts.” Because of our work on the “NO on 102” campaign, Arizona voters retained the right to be heard on matters affecting wildlife and native species in our state continue to be protected.

 

1999

Senate Bill 1174/Elevation of Animal Cruelty Acts to Felony Status

We led the lobbying efforts on behalf of Senate Bill 1174, a measure that elevated intentional acts of animal cruelty to felony status in Arizona. Former Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull signed the bill into law on May 4, 1999. Prior to passage of the law, animal cruelty was a misdemeanor and convicted animal abusers received little more than probation. With the tougher, new law on the books, intentional and egregious acts of cruelty to animals can be charged and prosecuted as Class 6 felonies, with convicted abusers facing up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Senate Bill 1174 was introduced by State Sen. Mark Spitzer and strongly supported by State Rep. Kathleen Dunbar. Phoenix attorney and AHS Board member Mark Briggs helped to author the bill and also lobbied tirelessly for its passage.

 

1998

Proposition 201/ Cockfighting Ban

We made history as we worked with The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens Against Cockfighting to successfully ban the cruel blood sport of cockfighting in Arizona. Collecting more than 188,000 registered voters, we cleared the way for Proposition 201 to be placed on the November 1998 ballot. We worked diligently to educate voters about the horrific blood sport in which birds are drugged with stimulants, fitted with razor-sharp steel blades and forced to fight to the death. Voters agreed that cockfighting has no place in a civilized society and promotes violence toward animals. They approved Proposition 201 by a 2:1 margin, making Arizona the 46^th state to ban cockfighting.

 

1997

House Bill 2100/Shoka’s Law

The law was named in memory of “Shoka”, a Siberian Husky puppy. Shoka came from a pet store and had been exposed to distemper, a serious but preventable medical condition, as well as other ailments that he might have survived, had he been examined by a veterinarian upon arrival at the store.

 

Lisa Shover, a former AHS Board Chair and 2004 recipient of the AHS' Herberger Humanitarian of the Year award, was Shoka’s owner. Together, she and AHS authored and successfully lobbied “Shoka’s Law” (HB 2100) which today assures that animals sold in pet stores receive proper care.

 

Shoka's law was passed to ensure puppies, kittens, cats and dogs in pet shops are housed in a clean, humane environment; are given necessary food and water and receive veterinary care, especially if they show signs of illness or a congenital defect. Prior to the passage of the law, countless animals in pet shops did not receive even the most basic care.

 

Specific to puppies, thousands were bred in horrific puppy-mill conditions out-of-state, shipped to local pet shops in crates and sold a routine examination. Many suffered from genetic defects; others were infected with potentially deadly diseases including distemper, Parvo and tick fever. Unsuspecting consumers had no recourse if the puppies became ill, required extensive, expensive veterinary care or died.

 

Shoka's law created protection for these puppies, and other pet-shop animals and for consumers. The law requires pet shop owners to have all dogs and cats examined by a licensed veterinarian before being put up for sale, sets minimum standards of care and makes shop owners liable for knowingly selling pets that are sick or inflicted with a congenital defect.

  

1996

Stray Animal Rights

Our lobbying efforts extended rights to stray animals that are abused or neglected. Before we helped change the law, persons who savagely and intentionally abused or neglected an un-owned, un-identified or stray animal could not be prosecuted. Our efforts to reform the system stemmed from a case involving a stray cat who was intentionally shot with an arrow, suffered and died. Although police apprehended a suspect, he never faced charges and was not punished because the feline victim was a stray. Today, anyone who intentionally abuses any animal – owned or stray – can be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.