It was with mixed reactions that I heard the news about Oreo’s Law.  Written by NY Assembly Member Micah Kellner and sponsored by Senator Tom Duane, the Oreo’s Law legislation will be introduced next week. If passed, this law will allow animal welfare organizations the right to request animals be given to their care when a shelter is planning to euthanize them.

In other words, if this law had already been on the books last Friday, Ed Sayres would have been compelled to hand Oreo over to Pets Alive whether he liked it or not.  This model is based on an existing California law.

Bittersweet because it’s too little too late to save Oreo, bittersweet because if passed, Oreo will not have died in vain.  No that’s not right either. She died in vain no matter what laws they introduce. However, Oreo’s Law may save hundreds, or thousands of other dogs that may have been put down indiscriminately by national and municipal SPCA’s and Humane Societies.

It’s a great legacy to Oreo and the least of what she deserves considering her miserable year of life on this plane.  The problem is that those same SPCA’s and Humane Societies will fight this law with every penny they have (donated to them of course by people who intended their money to go to care, shelter and food).  We as animal lovers and advocates have been shown this week that we can make a loud enough noise to be heard.  We can make a difference and we must be diligent with this legislation to ensure that it is passed and not buried under a load of bureaucratic bullshit. 

Use either one of the links for Mr. Kellner or Senator Duane above to contact them personally to thank them for introducing this legislation and encourage them in their efforts to get it passed. 

Taking on Animal Cruelty will be following this closely so sign up for my RSS feed to stay updated.

Until next time.   

Related posts:

1. OREO: From Miracle Dog to Dead Dog in 124 days…
2. Where You Been, What You Been Doing?
3. UPDATE! (Was: Vicious Aggressive Angry Dog Picture!)