President's Letter - Mar. - Apr. 2009

Yes, I re-upped for another term as President. I guess I was a little rusty as I missed the deadline for the first fan of the year. February was a very busy month for FASA as we had conformation, obedience and agility in Zephyrhills at Pasco Paws. The weather was beautiful and we had a really good turnout. A big thank you to Kelli Hayes, Nancy & Rob Watson, Melanie Magamoll, Janice Brough and all who helped during the shows as ring stewards, bar setters, course builders and other positions. Although Kelli has permanent agility rings set up, the obedience and conformation rings had to be set up and torn down. It gets to be quite a task without help.

The second big event we had was a Stock Dog Trial at Brelej Farm in Groveland. Benny and Joy Ellis put in a lot of time re-working the chutes for moving the livestock into the take pens. We had sheep, ducks and cattle this year and moving the stock in and out went really smoothly, except for the cow who decided he didn't want to participate and jumped the fence during Melanie Magamoll's started run. Also, Joy designed a portable duck arena that worked out really well. Joy put a lot of time into getting it together and I know there were at least two work days in the month or so before the trial. A big thank you to Nancy & Rob Watson and Melanie Magamoll for volunteering. I showed up to help too on one of the days as Benny was cooking a brisket. He really outdid himself on the Saturday afternoon of the Trial cooking a pork butt and a brisket. Both Judges, Rick Hardin and Rachel Vest were complimentary about the trial (and Benny's cooking). Thanks to everyone who helped make it a success.

We have a Tracking Test scheduled for the first weekend in March and a Tracking Seminar later in the month with Dutch Schultz, a well-known Tracking Teacher and former AKC Tracking Judge. The working spots for the seminar have filled and most of the audit spots. We are hoping this will help build interest in ASCA Tracking as there are very few educational events for this venue.

I want to alert everyone to a threat to purebred dogs in Florida. This bill is HB 451 and is called a “Mandatory Spay/Neuter” bill. It is in committee and could be voted on in the upcoming March session. It would require all dogs and cats to be neutered within 30 days after reaching four months. There are some exemptions such as racing Greyhounds, military or police dogs and dogs who are working toward a competitive sports title or show animals registered with an established breed organization approved by the Department of Agriculture. You would have to have a breeding permit issued by each county or municipality. For noncompliance the state would fine you $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and the third offence would be a second degree misdemeanor. The bill also allows counties and municipalities to levy more stringent fines than the state. This is a very serious attack on purebred dog owners and I would urge everyone to go to www.myfloridahouse.gov to find out who their representatives are and write a letter against it. I have already sent mine and copied Governor Crist. You can also do a search for the bill and read the text yourself. To paraphrase, “All it takes for bad things to happen is that good people do nothing”. Unless we want the state, county or city in our yards telling us what we can do with our dogs, we need to pay attention. I saw nothing in this bill that would place limits on pet shops who seem to be everywhere and sell puppies from puppy mills. This bill almost passed in California.

Until next time,
Judy Whittaker