Smart laws will protect animals and the public

Esmerelda is an unusually small and very gentle pit bull. She lives with a wonderful family who loves her and brings her to the Richmond SPCA School for Dogs, where she plays with other dogs and gets training and exercise.

Esmerelda's life would have been a far different thing had she not been saved during a raid of a dog-fighting ring and transferred to the Richmond SPCA, which adopted her to the loving home she now has. The dog-fighting thugs, who almost certainly would have used her as a bait dog, were prosecuted and convicted under the Virginia animal-fighting statute that was passed in 2008.

That statute became law after The Humane Society of the United States (the HSUS), the Richmond SPCA and other groups partnered to seek its introduction and lobbied together tirelessly for its passage. Thanks to its patrons, state Sen. Thomas Norment and then-Del. Morgan Griffith (now Congressman Griffith) and the strong support of then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell (now Gov. McDonnell), it became law.

The HSUS is a national humane organization, and the Richmond SPCA is a private humane society serving central Virginia. Our organizations are not related, and the Richmond SPCA is not an affiliate or chapter of any national organization.

Our programs and services differ in many ways. But, we share a commitment to protecting animals of all sorts from cruelty, neglect and premature death, and we have worked effectively as partners on a variety of efforts. Those include several state legislative campaigns, the removal of suffering animals from puppy mills and hoarding situations, and the public disclosure of undercover videos of the conditions in Smithfield Foods' Waverly plant.

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Sheltering and adoption of homeless cats and dogs have become the most familiar functions of local humane societies such as the Richmond SPCA, but it did not start that way. Actually, the oldest humane organizations in our country, such as the Richmond SPCA, began in the late 19th century solely as advocacy organizations concerned about the abuses suffered by horses.

The concept of sheltering developed in the mid-20th century and continues to be a valuable tool in the effort to save the lives of homeless companion animals. But, while important, sheltering is a reactive function. It does nothing to change the prospects of companion animals for the better and does not protect other types of animals such as farm animals or exotics.

The Richmond SPCA has always been committed to providing lifesaving programs for companion animals — as well as local and state advocacy on behalf of all animals that will result in progressive changes in laws, policies and attitudes in order to achieve better prospects for animals.

The HSUS was begun in 1954 by a group of people who wanted to create an organization that could focus to a large extent on advocacy for animals of all types at both the state and national level. In 2011 the HSUS cared for more than 60,000 animals, worked with companies and trade groups to improve conditions for laying hens and other animals, shined a spotlight on cruelty through investigations, achieved victories for wildlife and animals in laboratories, opened a new horse rescue and adoption center and helped enact stronger animal protection policies.

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Our organizations will be working together again during the upcoming session of the General Assembly, urging the passage of two bills that could save animals from suffering and death and protect people as well.

The first is a bill that would prohibit the inhumane and cruel practice of fox penning. Fox pens are fenced enclosures where dogs are released to chase wild-caught, stocked foxes. Participants stage competitions to judge how long the dogs will pursue the captive wildlife.

The dogs often injure and kill the fenced foxes, fueling a constant demand to stock enclosures with more foxes to meet the same fate. In just three years, Virginia fox pens needed more than 3,600 replacement foxes to stock pens.

This practice, which began in the 1980s, is not a part of any Virginia hunting tradition and departs from the precepts of conservation ethics and fair-chase embraced by most hunters. This practice skirts wildlife laws and goes against the grain of Virginia's values. This bill will have no impact on traditional, open-land fox hunting.

The second bill is one that would address the issue of dangerous wild animals being kept as pets or in unqualified facilities in Virginia. As illustrated by the recent events in Ohio when a menagerie of exotic animals were released and then killed, the keeping of dangerous wild animals by individuals and unqualified facilities poses a serious threat to public health and safety. It also raises significant animal welfare and conservation concerns.

Rescue work that saves the lives of homeless companion animals is crucially important, and that work is done all over this country by private humane organizations such as the Richmond SPCA. But we also must spend time and resources on advocating for more progressive humane attitudes and changes in laws and government policies that will create a more compassionate world for our animals. If we don't, then we will forever be trying to save future generations of animals from the same miseries.

Robin Starr is CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Contact her at ceo@richmondspca.org. Wayne Pacelle is president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. Contact him at waynepacelle@humanesociety.org.