Well, the "amended" SB 958 was posted to the On-line Texas Legislature website and I think sanctuaries and animal welfare groups will be surprised that Global Federation Animal Sanctuaries remained as the only "qualified" accredited wild animal organization allowed to accredit Texas wild animal sanctuaries. That means, if Global does not accredit a Texas wild animal sanctuary, than the government has the right to shut down that particular sanctuary. Here is the Bill that was placed on the local and consent calendar:
SB 958 - Committee Report - 041311
SB 958 Witness List
Just what I was afraid of -- HSUS and GFAS, both outside state non-profit organizations, were able to sway our Texas elected officials to vote against Texas tax-paying citizens and its animals -- like, the WAO animals. No wonder IfAW and Global decided to drop their plans to save the WAO animals. Afterall, it's easier to destroy Texas wild animal sanctuaries, rather than to help them survive, right?
Apparently, I am not the only one who feels all is lost:
Sent: Tue, April 19, 2011 10:20:01 AM
Subject: Texas bills
I have been told by someone who does not want me to use his name that the bills are basically a done deal. ZAA was added but ASA was not. Skip Trimble is against ASA, as is Nicole Pacquette (HSUS), and their lobby efforts paid off, but I am not sure why. Texas legislators did not need to have their support.
I also understand this is a consent bill so no floor discussion will take place. Lobbying your individual legislators won't do any good.
If this passes, it looks to me like you will have 2 choices. One, refuse to apply for GFAS accreditation (just on general principle, why would you do business with anyone who forces you to do it through legislation. It's arrogant). Second, someone with standing (or a group of sanctuaries) could sue to prevent the enforcement of the bill. I think it is clearly illegal to favor one association over another--or even to require that one nonprofit organization would have authority over another.
It would be interesting to find out what each sanctuary intends to do. As far as I know, these are the only sanctuaries affected by the new bill: Tiger Link, Pride Rock, In Sync, and Monique's place near Houston (In Sync has already applied for ASA accreditation and we plan to have someone there in May for the site visit. Pride Rock has not applied for ASA but we have been there recently. And I don't think Monique would pass either ASA or GFAS unless she has made a lot of improvements since we were there about 13 years ago). But, at least for now, having ASA accreditation won't help you with the bill.
Others--Austin Zoo will probably go with ZAA. Primarily Primates is already accredited by ASA and will likely apply for dual accreditation with GFAS (against my advice). Wild Animal Orphanage won't be approved by anybody. Wildlife Rescue is already GFAS and I think the International Exotic Feline Foundation is too (not sure if that's the right name), but I think they also have some sort of AZA accreditation.
Right now it will take a miracle to save the remaining WAO animals. I just can't believe this is happening. Not only has OAG and USDA turned their backs on the WAO animals, so has the Texas legislature. I will continue to pray for a miracle to save the WAO animals from death. They deserved so much better than this.
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