Tuesday, October 13, 2009

No more dog raffles? (Good-bye DU fund raising)

In what could prohibit the raffling or auctioing of any Labrador retriever or other bird dog at a sportsmen's fund-raising event, an animal rights agenda-backed campaign is inching closer to the ballot box.

Ohio officials have Ok'd a path for dog auction/raffle opponents to put a measure on some future ballot.

Given Ohio's somewhat complex formula for such matters, the antis must submit 120,700valid signatures for their Dog Auctions Act. This would then put the issue before the state legislature for its review and vote.

Should the legislature do nothing within 90 days the proposal's supporters could solicit more signatures to put it on the 2010 ballot.

This proposal would not only end dog auctions in Ohio, it also would prohibit the sale or trading of a dog that was acquired through an auction elsewhere.

Bad for organizations like Ducks Unlimited, Whitetails Unlimited and other sportsmens organization the proposal also would ban raffles of dogs. Anyone who has ever attended a DU event knows that at least one Labrador retriever is typically auctioned or raffled off.

In fact, the first Labrador I ever owned - Rebel - was acquired through a DU auction.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com

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