CCWR

CCWR ACTION ALERT: California "Nuisance" Wildlife Still Needs Your Voice

Disappointing news for wildlife recently as AB 87 has passed the Assembly and now moves to the Senate for consideration. Please help fight this bill by contacting your Senator today and urging that s/he oppose AB 87.

If passed into law, this bill will release certain "pest" control operators from the requirement of obtaining a trapping license from the Department of Fish & Game when they are trapping skunks and opossum for profit. Existing law requires that trappers pass a competency and proficiency exam and obtain a license in order to provide these services. However, AB 87 would water down the examination requirement in addition to removing the licensing mandate. Essentially, AB 87, as it is now written, would leave certain species without basic protections if those animals come into conflict with humans. The net result is that skunks and opossum — which are two of the species most often captured as "nuisances" — would not receive the protection of the existing law.

How to Help:

This bill has been assigned to two Senate committees, one of which is the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee. The Committee will hold a hearing on this bill on Tuesday, June 14, 2005. Calls, letters, faxes, or emails are needed to members of the committee and your state Senator urging him/her to oppose AB 87. (A sample letter appears below.) Contacting your Senator is particularly important if she/he is a member of the Natural Resources Committee (members are listed below).

If you do not know the name of your state Senator, please go to www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html. Enter your zip code and press "search" and you will be given the name and contact information of your Senator. Or you can call the Government Information Hotline at 916-322-9900 and give the operator your address — the operator will tell you the name of your Senator and/or you can leave your message for him/her through the operator.

Please address your letter(s) to:
The Honorable [full name of Senator]
State Capitol
PO Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249

Also please email or send a copy of your letter to us here at API:

API
PO Box 22505
Sacramento, CA 95822
info@api4animals.org

For more information, contact the Animal Protection Institute at 916-447-3085 x214 or email npaquette@api4animals.org.

Thank you for speaking out for California wildlife.
Sample Letter

June __, 2005
The Honorable [Full Name]
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Oppose AB 87
Dear Senator [Last Name]:
I urge you to oppose AB 87 when it comes before the Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee for a vote. If passed into law, AB 87 will modify Section 4005 of the California Fish and Game Code by no longer requiring certain pest control operators to obtain a Department of Fish & Game license when they trap skunks or opossum for profit. Current law is intended to ensure that persons who trap for profit are competent, proficient, knowledgeable, and skilled in the field of nuisance trapping, and this current law should not be tampered with.
The rationale stated for exempting skunks and opossum under AB 87 is that there are poisons registered for use to kill these animals in the state. However, there are no registered poisons that are used to kill skunks and opossums in and around residential areas. Therefore, this bill does not affect the safety of children in schools or residential areas.
The most common method used to capture and either kill or relocate skunks and opossum is through trapping. In fact, skunks and opossum probably are the most commonly killed "nuisance" animals in the state. Given this, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) should have oversight of these species. As the steward of California’s wildlife, the DFG is in the best position to determine the competency and proficiency of the pest control operators who trap skunks and opossums, not the entities that regulate pesticides (the Structural Pest Control Board and the Department of Pesticide Regulation).
If AB 87 passes and these pest control operators are no longer required to meet the standards for trapping skunks and opossum, the result would be animal suffering as well as misleading the California consumers who pay for the services of these individuals and who believe that these individuals are in fact knowledgeable.
The Department of Fish and Game is the trustee for California’s fish and wildlife. As trustee, the Department of Fish and Game should be the entity that licenses individuals who trap, regardless of whether they use traps for profit or for commercial or recreational purposes.
The entities seeking an exception are not in the business of trapping. The Structural Pest Control Board is concerned with businesses that focus on extermination of rats, mice, pigeons, and structural pests with pesticides, and not with our native wildlife. The Department of Pesticide Regulation is concerned with protecting human health and the environment by regulating pesticide sales and use, and not with our native wildlife. Therefore, of these 3 entities, the Department of Fish and Game is in the best position to determine the competency and proficiency of pest control operators who trap wildlife and to enforce the law against those who violate it.
This legislation does not help consumers and it will result in harm to animals. As a result, I respectfully request that you oppose AB 87 when it is offered for a vote. Because this issue is so important to me, please let me know your position on this legislation.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
Senate Natural Resources Committee Members
Senator Sheila Kuehl (Chair)
State Capitol, Room 5108
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-1353
916-324-4823 fax
Senator.Kuehl@sen.ca.gov
Senator Bob Margett (Vice-Chair)
State Capitol, Room 3082
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2848
916-324-0922 fax
senator.margett@sen.ca.gov
Senator Samuel Aanestad
State Capitol, Room 2054
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-3353
http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/4/
Senator Debra Bowen
State Capitol, Room 4040
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-5953
916-323-6056 fax
Senator.Bowen@sen.ca.gov
Senator Robert Dutton
State Capitol, Room 2048
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-3688
916-327-2272 fax
Senator.Dutton@sen.ca.gov
Senator Dennis Hollingsworth
State Capitol, Room 5064
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-9781
916-447-9008 fax
senator.hollingsworth@sen.ca.gov
Senator Christine Kehoe
State Capitol, Room 3086
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-3952
916-327-2186 fax
senator.kehoe@sen.ca.gov
Senator Alan Lowenthal
State Capitol, Room 3048
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-6447
senator.lowenthal@sen.ca.gov
Senator Michael Machado
State Capitol, Room 5066
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2407
916-323-2304 fax
senator.machado@sen.ca.gov
Senator Carole Migden
State Capitol, Room 2059
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-1412
916-445-4722 fax
Senator.Migden@sen.ca.gov
Senator Gloria Romero
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-1418
916-445-0485 fax
Senator.Romero@sen.ca.gov

Sent June 9, 2005