Domestic
cats with a hybrid background (Bengals, Savannahs, & Chausies) Below are tips and "talking points" to use when contacting legislators. Here are a number of "talking points" that you can use when contacting legislators to ask them to support SF 479 (or whatever bill may replace it) to make Bengals, Savannahs and Chausies legal again in Iowa. Use any or all of them, but remember to *keep written correspondence short*. Seriously! Legislators more than likely will not read any correspondence longer than one or two paragraphs (and often less).
A telephone conversation with your legislators is by far THE most effective way to get your points made. Also send email and/or fax.
It also helps to make your correspondence your own by personalizing it, mentioning if you have one of these breeds of cats, if you have family or friends that do (keeping privacy in mind), or if you have plans to get one. If you are not comfortable sharing that you own a Bengal, Savannah or Chausie, just contact the legislators offices and say that you support SF319 and would like for them to do so also.
Unless Iowa residents speak up and say that they think the law is wrong, unfair, etc, legislators have no reason to think there is a problem.
------------ Talking Points ---------------------------------------------
Please support SF319 which is currently under consideration by the Ag Committee and will exempt domestic cats with an exotic/domestic hybrid background from the Wild and Dangerous Animal law passed in 2007.
The Wild and Dangerous Animal bill (SF564) passed in 2007 made several breeds of domestic cats illegal that have an exotic/domestic hybrid background even though wolf/dog hybrids are not illegal.
Bengal Cats, Savannahs, Chausies, and other domestic cat breeds that have an exotic feline in their background, should be excluded from Iowa's new "dangerous wild animal" law. They are domestic cats, neither wild or dangerous.
Including Bengals, Savannahs and Chausies in the Dangerous Wild Animal law when hybrid dogs are exempt is unfair to these domestic cat breeds.
Including domestic cats with a hybrid background in the Dangerous Wild Animal law is not needed, and ongoing enforcement and management activities by the Iowa Dept of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is an unnecessary expense for Iowa tax payers.
With very few exceptions, Bengals, Savannahs and Chausies weigh under 25 pounds, the vast majority are under 15-20 pounds.
These breeds of cats are shown internationally at all-breed cat shows and are owned and adored as domestic housepets world-wide.
In the 2009-2010 show season of The International Cat Association, Bengal Cats participated in all-breed cat shows all over the world including 495 Bengal kittens, 657 championship adult Bengals, and 134 altered Bengals.
Federal guidelines regarding domestic / exotic hybrid animals : USDA definition states that a cross between any exotic and a domestic is considered domestic. From Title 9 Chapter I – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture, Part 1: Definition of terms: ”Hybrid cross means an animal resulting from the crossbreeding between two different species or types of animals. Crosses between wild animal species, such as lions and tigers, are considered to be wild animals. Crosses between wild animal species and domestic animals, such as dogs and wolves or buffalo and domestic cattle, are considered to be domestic animals.”
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