Te Horse Council Political Action Committee (PAC) Board of Directors held its first meeting on February 20th. At the meeting, the by-laws of the PAC were approved and the Board reviewed the donations to date. Te account currently holds a balance of $1,300. Te Board also approved the first round of donations. Maryland is one of a number of states that ban all political donations during the political session, which had not ended as of the time of this update. Te donations will be announced in the next PAC update. Each dollar donated to the PAC is another opportunity for the horse community to be recognized in Annapolis, so please consider doing what you can to protect what we love.
Maryland Fund For Horses Announces Safe & Sound: A Resource ude for orse ners & rosece ners
Maryland Fund For Horses will be launching a new free resource guide for equine owners and prospective owners. Te booklet, to be updated annually, contains information about the best resources available in print and available in public libraries, online and offered by Maryland equine organizations. For horse owners who need information and don’t know exactly where to find it, this booklet will
be invaluable. It recommends resources to answer questions like:
“I’m thinking of buying a horse. What should I consider, and how much will it cost?” ... “Where can I find straightforward advice about feeding, routine care and pasture management?” ... “How do I check my horse’s vital signs, and how will I know if I should call the vet?” ... “Where can I go locally to get hands-on help with my horse management questions?” ... “What if I can’t keep my horse anymore?”
Maryland Fund For Horses is publishing Safe & Sound to celebrate the launch of Maryland Responsible Horse Ownership Week, May 14-20, 2012. Te booklet will be available at no charge in your local feed store, tack store, and from your veterinarian and farrier.
Help Maryland Fund For Horses keep working for the welfare of Mary- land’s equines, providing programs, resources and education about respon- sible horse ownership and land stewardship. Volunteer, Sponsor or Donate Today!
Volunteer Opportunities:
Pre-event and on-site event volunteers are needed for Responsible Horse Ownership Week, May 14-20, 2012, and the Good To Geld stallion geld- ing clinic in December 2012.
Website Administration - 2-3 hrs. per month, OR Website Development - if you work with php, javascript and MySQL, and you’re comfortable customizing WordPress, we need you! Approximately 3-4 hrs. per month.
Enjoy working with people? Organized and detail-oriented? You could be our volunteer coordinator! We have a large and growing volunteer base, and we need someone to help us keep our volunteers engaged, fulfilled and happy!
Contact Vicki Carson at
info@mdfundforhorses.org regarding any of the above volunteer opportunities
Sponsorship Opportunities:
Sponsors are urgently needed for MFFH’s inaugural booklet “Safe & Sound: A Resource Guide for Horse Owners and Prospective Horse Owners”. Te booklet launch will coincide with Maryland Responsible Horse Ownership Week, May 14-20, 2012. Sponsor logos and informa- tion will be included with all Maryland Responsible Horse Ownership materials. Sponsorships begin at $200.
Sponsor Maryland’s Good To Geld program. Contribute to reducing
equine overpopulation by sponsoring our gelding clinics and gelding voucher programs for horse owners in need.
Contact
info@mdfundforhorses.org for more information about the above sponsorship opportunities
Donate: On Facebook: visit the Maryland Fund For Horses page.
click the Donate tab.
Via PayPal at any of these links:
www.mdunwantedhorse.org,
www.mdfundforhorses.org http://www.mdhorsecouncil.org/md_fund_for_horses.htm
By mail: Make checks payable to: Maryland Fund For Horses, PO Box 141, Damascus, MD 20872. eslae eor ... by Jane Seigler
At midnight on April 9, the Maryland General Assembly ended its 2012 session - without enacting an apparent compromise that would have bal- anced the budget through both spending cuts and revenue increases. Tis means that the so-called “Doomsday Budget,” which is balanced through deep cuts in expenditures, will go into effect on July 1, unless a special session of the General Assembly is convened to try again. A Special Ses- sion is a virtual certainty but, as of this writing, when it will convene and whether it will be confined to just budget issues is still up in the air.
In any event, the legislature did manage to dispose of a number of legis- lative issues of interest to the Maryland equine community. Following is a summary of the outcomes of several proposed pieces of legislation that we have been following. For a more complete description of these bills, see the MD Horse Council’s legislative Blogpost of March 6: http://
www.mdhorsecouncil.org/legislative.htm.
SB 108 (making clarifying changes to the stable license law) and HB 680 (requiring the state to incorporate education about sustainable ag into science curricula) passed both houses of the General Assembly. In addition, Sunday hunting bills in Dorchester and Caroline (SB 105/HB 114 & SB 390/HB 129), Harford (SB 346/HB 321), Cecil(HB 877), and Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties(HB 1431) passed. Only the PG County bill (HB 809) failed to move.
On the racing side, SB 49 (making certain changes to the Maryland- Bred Race Fund) and SB 794/HB947 (eliminating the restriction on the use of Purse Dedication Account funds for operating expenses at Ocean Downs and Rosecroft through 2015) were passed by both houses.
Bills that failed to emerge successfully include HB 912 (changing “own- er” to “guardian” in certain laws applying to dogs); SB 445/HB 336 and SB 203/HB 484 (giving courts the power to order transfer ownership of confiscated animals, and requiring original owners to pay costs in remov- ing and caring for confiscated animals after conviction of certain crimes of abuse, neglect or cruelty; HB 376 (redirecting slots revenue away from racing industry and to school construction); SB 15 (requiring a study of the mission and operations of the Show Place Arena at the PG Eques- trian Center); SB 301/HB 1020 (establishment of a registry of convicted animal abusers).
A number of changes to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation 112 (appraisals) were enacted.
Tere were a few bills of interest relating to farm best management prac- tices and state cost share programs. HB 1303 (doubling from program (MALPF) - SB 129 (easements), SB 148 (lot releases), SB $100,000 to $200,000 per practice the maximum amount of state cost sharing for water pollution control projects such as manure storage structures, steam fencing and crossings, etc.) passed both houses. Tis will be especially helpful as farmers are asked to install more best management practices to
Maryland Horse Council membership is open to all associations, farms, businesses and individuals. To join, please visit
mdhorsecouncil.org, contact
admin@mdhorsecouncil.org, or call 301-502-8929. The Maryland Horse Council is sponsored by B & D Builders, The Equiery, Farm Credit and Southern States.
88 | THE EQUIERY | MAY 2012 800-244-9580 |
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