The Beagle Bugler
July 2007
10th Annual Specialty Show July 20!
The 10th Annual Columbia-Willamette Beagle Club Specialty Show is fast approaching on July 20. Show Chair Ken Jorgenson and his committee have planned a super special event for this hallmark occasion, including a raffle with lots of terrific prizes, and a ringside potluck following the show. Judges for the show will be Leah Bertagnolli, puppy & veteran sweeps; Carol Esterkin, Jr. Handling & Breed; and Carl Lenz, obedience and rally obedience.
The show, which usually attracts as many as 100 entries from throughout the western United States and Canada, will be at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, beginning at 8:00 a.m. The club website (www.cwbeagles.com) should have a definite schedule posted by July 13.
SPECIALTY EVENTS
Join us as we celebrate our 10th Annual Specialty with the following special events:
Friday, July 20
8 A.M. (or shortly thereafter) the SHOW begins with Puppy and Veteran Sweeps, followed by Junior Handling, then the Breed Competition. Exact times, including obedience and Rally times will be announced after entries close.
Half Hour After Conclusion of all Judging—Potluck at ringside!
After the Potluck— General CWBC Membership July meeting, followed by the Board Meeting.
Saturday, July 21
No Host Dinner and Social at Who-Song & Larry’s Restaurant & Cantina on the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA. CBWC has reserved a room beginning at 6:30 p.m. so that we can visit with our out-of-town guests (including our judges) at the Portland area’s premiere madcap Mexican watering hole.
Disaster Planning for Companion Animals—Update on Legislation
by Janet Armstrong, Education Chair
During Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of animals became homeless or perished. Many pet owners stayed with their pets and also perished. People see pets as part of the family and do not want to leave family members behind. A new federal law, the PETS Act (Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards, Public Law #109-308) was signed by President Bush on October 6, 2006. As a result, state and local emergency preparedness plans must now include pets. Otherwise, the jurisdictions would not be entitled to disaster funds.
On May 7, 2007, Oregon State Senate Bill # 570 was signed into law. However, Oregon’s law will not go into effect until January 1, 2008.
Following are some of the highlights of SB #570 that may be pertinent to us as a club and as individual pet parents: “Companion Animals” are given a relatively broad definition to include all domesticated animals commonly kept as household pets. “Service Animals” are defined as those that assists or performs tasks for a person with a disability. The State Office of Emergency Management in cooperation with the State Department of Agriculture and county and local governments will be required to prepare a written plan that provides for the evacuation, transport, and temporary sheltering of companion and service animals. Allowing persons to be transported with their pets is recommended, when possible.
The law emphasizes human life over animal life, so there is a lot of wiggle room within the new legislation. Also, because the development of various plans often takes a back seat to more pressing issues, the written plans may be at least a couple of years down the road.
As a result, you might want to contact your local city and county governments on a fairly regular basis to determine how the local plans are coming along (squeaky wheels work really well in government). The jurisdictions can, of course, with a little prodding, begin planning before next January, and some jurisdictions have, at least, put some basics into place. For example, Gresham has created a flyer with basics about disaster preparedness for the average pet owner.
As a club, we could establish our own disaster preparedness plan to help out in various smaller emergencies and not just wait for “the big one.” For anyone interested in disaster planning for their own pets, the American Veterinary Medical Association, http://www.avma.org/disaster/saving_family.asp is a great place to start. Also, in preparing for a personal emergency, such as illness, accident or worse, a good site to check out is the Golden Retriever Club of America National Rescue Committee http://www.grca-nrc.org/, which offers some good basic information to think about in estate planning for our dogs.
The State of Washington seems to be having a bit of difficulty with their version of the pets disaster planning bill (Washington State Senate Bill 5106). Their bill calls out “household pets” with a similar definition to Oregon’s “companion animals.” There are currently two bills under consideration. The substitute bill involves the military in the general coordination planning There is also a null and void clause, so that if FEMA doesn’t provide funding, the State won’t provide any funding either. Those folks living in Washington may want to keep an eye on this bill. Ideally, bills that are supposed to help pet owners in an emergency shouldn’t be just another paper exercise
What’s Cookin’?
We’ve bought them for holiday presents, we’ve hawked them at our businesses, and we’ve even sold a couple on e-bay, but we still have about 80 “Columbia-Willamette Beagle Club Favorite Recipes” cookbooks to sell. Maybe if people could experience for themselves some of the tasty recipes in this culinary treasure, we could sell a few more. That’s the hope, any way, behind the idea that club members prepare food from recipes in the cookbook and bring it to the Specialty potluck on July 20. We’ll post signs next to the featured dishes that say “This recipe is in the Columbia-Willamette Beagle Club Favorite Recipes cookbook on sale here!” Then we’ll put a cash box and a stack of cookbooks at the end of the potluck table, and hopefully they’ll sell like hotcakes!
We’re hoping to have access to electricity so hot dishes can stay warm in crock pots or something similar. If you’d like to bring a dish from the cook book, please notify Claudia Anderson who will make an accompanying sign, and should also have information about whether or not there will be electrical outlets available.
CWBC Meetings were discussed at the general membership meeting. Click here for more information.
2007 CWBC Meeting Schedule
Friday, July 20—After the Specialty Potluck, Portland Expo Center
Sunday, August 26—11 A.M. Annual BBQ & Beagle Bash at Jean Applegate’s
September—To Be Announced
October—Annual Meeting, Election of Officers & Board Members, TBA
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