| When sending in letters to senators, representatives or council members if you are titled it makes a greater impression. There are membership organizations, such as the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, The Association of Companion Animal Councelors, American Canine Foundation and other membership organizations you can join, some have other certifications available within their organization. Example: Joe Smith 2367 Front St St Louis MO. 89765 800 444 6666 (ACABC) Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors AKC Exhibitor UKC Exhibitor Red Rock Kennels When writing the letter make sure you place your resume, tell your education and what you have done regarding canine legislation, it's important because it shows that not all Rottweiler/Pit Bull owners are criminals. Example: Dear Senator Thomas: My name is Joe Smith, I'm a high school graduate with a family with three children. I own Rottweilers and have been professionally training dogs for 15 years in the city of St Louis. In this time I have been active in canine legislation in various areas of the United States. (name were you have written letters) Remember if you are writing letters you are active in legislation throughout the United States. When writing a letter you need to make sure you know the reasons that the city or state is attempting to enact the legislation. Remember you could be in Texas and writing a letter to Florida you have to make a great impact on the Legislator or his assistant to have your opinion taken seriously. Before writing a letter it's always best to do your own research, via the computer you can look up proposed ordinances and city council agenda, or state sponsored bills. Sometimes BSL alerts do not always have all the information needed. There are numerous websites set up for research information to aid in preparing a letter. You can also place a call to any The main topic is that politicians along with law enforcement have been lead to believe Rottweilers and Pit Bulls are dangerous dogs and mostly associated with drug dealers and dog fighters. There are alot of manipulated statistics out there and the CDC is used to help pass BSL because it states Rottweilers and Pit Bulls are responsible for the majority of fatal attacks, this is bias infomation and only shows a certain period of years, when looked at more rationally we find mixed breeds are at the top of the fatal list. The CDC was used against us in Ohio in Toledo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AKC has generic dog laws, Rott-n-Chatter, ACF and Eurowaf have excellent resource information placed on their websites with statistics and quotes from Dr. I Lehr Brisbin, Dr. Wagner, Dr Stur and other well known scientists. When writing letters if anyone needs help, the Rott-n-Chatter site has generic letters and ACF or EuroWAf can via e-mail assist anyone needing advise. Join up with organizations like ACF, APDT and ACABC to help promote unity. Marcy Setter from Michigan contacted ACF for assistance when the headlines broke two weeks ago calling for the banning of APBT's at the state level, with the aid of Jan Coopers BSL-UPDATES it placed Marcy in contact with ACF, within one phone call and a meeting with attorney Reed, ACF faxed current scientific statitistics with research done on APBT's and other dog breeds, that along with the assistance of thousands of letters that flooded the attorney and Senator Thomas from responsible dog owners from across the US and Michigan the Senator and attorney realize te truth about BSL. The force comes from the local residents (responsible dog owners) who do the leg work, meet with the politicians and present the facts, the support comes from the national organizations that will stand behind the dog owners and go as far as court litigation to protect their rights, it makes for a powerful combination then when national opposition is added it insures success. When fighting in your own state politicans receive e-mail, what they like is one letter from all their constituents (voters) in their district with all the signatures included, this keeps the e-mails from overtaking the accounts. The whole idea is to get the representative to believe your letter, the more you quote scientific findings and current statistics the better chances you have. Sincerely, Glen Bui ACF |