Phone Calls to the Government: HB284 and Bow

Today, I could be doing any number of productive things. But instead, I have a list of twenty-one phone numbers that I am supposed to call. Last year SB666 was defeated. This year, it has been resurrected as HB284. Today, around 1:00 pm, the Committee on local government will meet to vote on the bill. They will listen to the testimony of people who have something to say on this subject. But I can't go. I don't have a chimp sitter. Instead, Bow gets to listen to me make twenty-one phone calls pleading for our lives.

It sounds exciting, but it really isn't. Most of the time I talk to machines, and I repeat the same things, and for Bow, having to witness this is very boring.

If you would like to read the bill and decide for yourself, you can find it here:

HB284

If you don't have the patience to read through all that, here is a summary as it pertains to non-human primates: they would be subject to licensing, owners would have to pay a licensing fee to an agency that would oversee their housing and care, and a host of other requirements, including newly promulgated regulations not subject to a legislative vote that would be foisted on us whenever the powers that be saw fit.

It would be similar to having to get a license to keep your child, pay a fee each year to continue to keep your child, open your home to inspections, have to remodel every time they tell you to, all under severe penalties -- the worst of which would be losing your child.

So who is behind this legislation? Is it the people of Missouri? No. It's an outside sponsor -- HSUS -- that has been funneling foreign funds into many states in order to bring about an agenda that would make it very difficult for any human to have a meaningful relationship with another animal.

We have to be polite and articulate when we talk to the representatives in charge of our destiny. We have to sound reasonable. But there are some things that should not even be open to vote on. What private people do in their own homes is one of them.

So when I call the representatives, I don't just ask them to put a stop to this particular bill. I ask them to make sure that no one ever brings up another bill like this ever again. The specifics of the bill are not the issue. It's the principle that matters.

Here are the numbers to call if you would like to help:

Committee: Local Government
Chair: Gatschenberger, Chuck - (Rep-108)
Vice Chair: Schieber, Ronald-(Rep-14)
Date: Monday, March 04, 2013
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: House Hearing Room 5


Legislative Assistant: Yolanda Murphy
Phone: 573-751-3572
E-Mail: Chuck.Gatschenberger@house.mo.gov

573-751-3618
E-Mail: Ronald.Schieber@house.mo.gov

573-751-2948
E-Mail: Sonya.Anderson@house.mo.gov

Phone: 573-751-0232
E-Mail: Kevin.Austin@house.mo.gov

Phone: 573-751-2238
E-Mail: TJ.Berry@house.mo.gov

573-751-6800
E-Mail: Michael.Butler@house.mo.gov

573-751-1484
E-Mail: Robert.Cornejo@house.mo.gov


Phone: 573-751-9628
E-Mail: Keith.English@house.mo.gov

573-751-1347
E-Mail: Sue.Entlicher@house.mo.gov

573-751-4567
E-Mail: Michael.Frame@house.mo.gov

573-751-1285
E-Mail: Jeanne.Kirkton@house.mo.gov

573-751-1462
E-Mail: Glen.Kolkmeyer@house.mo.gov


573-751-1487
E-Mail: Jeanie.Lauer@house.mo.gov

573-751-1468
E-Mail: JoeDon.McGaugh@house.mo.gov

573-751-9469
E-Mail: Kevin.McManus@house.mo.gov

Anne Vogel
Phone: 573-751-2565
E-Mail: Lynn.Morris@house.mo.gov


Phone: 573-751-9766
E-Mail: Donna.Pfautsch@house.mo.gov

573-751-3310
E-Mail: John.Rizzo@house.mo.gov

573-751-0238
E-Mail: Joe.Runions@house.mo.gov

573-751-8636
E-Mail: Sheila.Solon@house.mo.gov