Assembly Bill 8163

I sort of feel like I'm making up for lost time with the blogging...well actually I am making up for lost time. However this blog I feel is very important, a bill in our assembly is very close to vote and I wanted as many people to take a look as I can get.
It all started when my mom came home from Albany pretty sad about seeing a tractor trailer full of cows heading to a slaughter house. Her experience lead her to discovering this bill and shortly afterwards she contacted me.
This bill regarding humane living conditions for farm animals. Primarily talking about containment of chickens, swine and sows. Currently these animals are so over stuffed into cages they lack the ability to even turn around. This sort of containment creates ideal conditions for bacteria and viral breeding. With this bill passed it will ensure livestock have the necessary living space to go about their business happily.
If you don't have time to visit the site I hyperlinked above, there are ways to help the passing of this bill...

New Yorkers and others need to speak out. If left in the hands of politicians, AB 8163 may not get out the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

1) Contact your state assembly member (click here to search by zip code). Ask your assembly member to formally co-sponsor the bill and thank them if they already have. Sponsorship is particularly important if your assembly member is on the Agriculture Committee (click here for a list of Agriculture members).

2) Contact members of the Agriculture Committee (and be sure to tell them if you are a constituent) and urge them to support the bill through sponsorship and a press release. The Committee has 16 Democrats, 6 Republicans and 1 Independent. The split is more likely to be upstate vs. downstate, instead of Democrat vs. Republican. Reach out to others in their constituencies and ask them to contact committee members. This is very important.

3) Ask people and organizations, especially farmers, ranchers, chefs, restaurant owners, non-profit organizations, celebrities, politicians, veterinarians, journalists, authors, environmentalists, business owners and the like to publicly come out and support the bill either by a letter on their company or personal letterhead or via an official communication that can be reproduced showing their support for passage of the bill. The bigger the name, the better.

4) Ask your village or town to pass a resolution supporting Assembly Bill 8163. The resolution would be non-binding, but it would demonstrate a strong show of support for factory farm reform.

5) Write letters to your local media (newspapers, magazines, TV) and ask them to print the letter or to assign a reporter to cover the bill. (A sample "Community View" published in the Journal News on July 15, 2009)

6) Write to us and voice your support along with any thoughts you have on how to promote passage of this bill.

7) Check back on the site often for updates.

Thank you,
Rick Tannenbaum
The Hilltop Initiative -- Building Coalitions
Valley Cottage, NY
(917) 689-1799
rick@ab8163.com

the most important thing to do is contact your assembly man because it comes down to their decision. Thanks for reading and I hope you all decide to help out!