ISAR's Model Spay/Neuter Tax Deduction Statute

About a decade ago, again ahead of the curve, ISAR came up with the suggestion that Congress amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax deduction for the cost of spay/neuter. (A copy of ISAR’s Model Statute can be found HERE.) In the introduction to ISAR’s Model Statute we set forth the policy reasons for the deduction, and argued that it’s a “win-win” situation, as indeed it is.

Sadly, nothing came of ISAR’s groundbreaking idea—until now.

A few months ago, Representative McCotter introduced H.R. 3501 (the “Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (‘HAPPY’) Act”), entitled “A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for pet care expenses.” The Bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The Bill recites that Congress finds “63 percent of United States households own a pet” and that “the Human-Animal bond has been shown to have positive effects upon people’s emotional and physical well-being.”

Accordingly, the IRC amendment would allow a “deduction for the taxable year an amount equal to the qualified pet care expenses of the taxpayer during the taxable year for any qualified pet of the taxpayer,” limited to $3,500. (The statute goes on to define “qualified pet care expenses” and “qualified pet.”)

Because ISAR is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization we can’t lobby for legislation, but we certainly can observe that, given our Model Spay/Neuter Tax Deduction Statute, H.R. 3501 is a welcome development—but for one problem. Had ISAR’s input been sought in the drafting of H.R. 3501, we would have suggested that the deductible “qualified pet care expenses” mandatorily include spay/neuter. In other words, no reimbursement for any expenses unless included in them was the cost of spay/neuter.

Perhaps Representative McCotter, or his co-sponsors will see fit to amend their amendment.

International Society for Animal Rights Skype Presentation

"Unpublished insights into United States v. Stevens"

Presented by Professor Henry Mark Holzer
Chairman, International Society for Animal Rights

Supporters of ISAR know that we've filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court in the First Amendment/Animal Rights case of United States v. Stevens (see ISAR's Amicus Curiae Brief Has Been Filed In The Supreme Court, ISAR Amicus Curiae Brief in U.S. v. Stevens, ISAR In The Supreme Court Of The United States, Free Speech and Cruelty to Animals).

In our most recent posting about the Stevens case, Animals in Court, we provided a list of, and links to, the briefs of the parties -- the government, and Stevens -- and those individuals and organizations who have filed amicus curiae briefs, and we encouraged our supporters to review the Tables of Contents to see which amici are making what arguments.

Here's an update. Nine justices will hear oral argument in the Stevens case on October 6, 2009, one of them, Sonia Sotomayor, having been only recently appointed to the Court.

The question is: who's going to win the case?

Will it be the government, if the Court upholds the statute making it a federal felony to create, possess or sell depictions of cruelty to animals?

Or will it be Stevens, who was convicted of violating the law, if the Court strikes down the statute as a violation of his First Amendment rights?

Utilizing the facilities of Skype, ISAR will present (at no charge to listeners) an analysis by Professor Henry Mark Holzer of the possible outcome of the Stevens case. He will focus on what can be expected of each justice in light of Supreme Court precedent, their own philosophies, and the nature of the case.

On September 30, 2009, Professor Holzer's fifteen minute presentation entitled "Unpublished insights into United States v. Stevens" will take place at 1:00PM Eastern Standard Time. Immediately following this presentation, Professor Holzer will take a few minutes to answer questions relating to the United States v. Stevens case.

To sign up for this Skype presentation, be sure to add username ColleenGedrich to your Skype contact list.

On September 30, 2009, ISAR will contact interested individuals by initiating a Skype-to-Skype call at 1:00PM Eastern Standard Time. If you do not have a Skype account (which is free), please visit http://www.skype.com/ to sign up.

Please note: this presentation will be recorded.

As a follow-up to "Unpublished insights into United States v. Stevens," ISAR will welcome back Professor Holzer (and interested Skype members) on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 1:00PM Eastern Standard Time for his commentary and critique on the oral arguments in the Supreme Court two days earlier.

Profit Trumped Principle

Nationally, ISAR had taken the anti-Vick lead by obtaining numerous signatures in our petition campaign in support of our effort to deny Vick economic and other benefits which he might enjoy as a result of the "celebrity" he acquired from his criminal acts.

To this day, ISAR continues collecting many signatures from supporters.

When in May 2009, ISAR received an e-bulletin from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) stating that it was going to "provide an opportunity for Michael Vick to get involved in some of their anti-dogfighting outreach programs." ISAR immediately sent not one letter, but two letters to HSUS President Wayne Pacelle questioning the humane society's latest move to paper over what Vick had done.

When it became apparent to ISAR that Vick and his handlers were engaged in a sophisticated campaign to have him reinstated and re-employed in the NFL, we wrote to league Commissioner Goodell registering in the strongest terms our disapproval. Our letter can be found here.

Lest any of ISAR's supporters, let alone Vick, think that we're finished with him, here's what happens next.

ISAR has designed a striking poster displaying the slogan "Profit Trumped Principle" for our supporters to have printed and distributed at events such as NFL games where Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles will be present.

Simply click here to obtain a larger file for higher printing quality. Next right click your mouse on the larger image. You will be offered options to save, email or print the image. For best quality results ISAR recommends saving the art file to a flash drive and taking it to your local print shop. There you can have the poster printed in color on a thicker stock of paper. Some printing companies may accept the file via email or if you have access to a color printer feel free to print ISAR's "Profit Trumped Principle" poster at your convenience.

Please help ISAR--in public, and in his face--keep fighting Michael Vick!!

Vick Scores Yet Again

The cleverly orchestrated charade about whether criminal dog abuser Michael Vick would be reinstated in the National Football League, and once he was whether some team would employ him, has finally played out. Last week, the felon Vick was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nationally, ISAR had taken the anti-Vick lead by obtaining numerous signatures in our petition campaign in support of our effort to deny Vick economic and other benefits which he might enjoy as a result of the "celebrity" he acquired from his criminal acts.

To this day, ISAR continues collecting many signatures from supporters.

When in May 2009, ISAR received an e-bulletin from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) stating that it was going to "provide an opportunity for Michael Vick to get involved in some of their anti-dogfighting outreach programs." ISAR immediately sent not one letter, but two letters to HSUS President Wayne Pacelle questioning the humane society's latest move to paper over what Vick had done.

When it became apparent to ISAR that Vick and his handlers were engaged in a sophisticated campaign to have him reinstated and re-employed in the NFL, we wrote to league Commissioner Goodell registering in the strongest terms our disapproval. Our letter can be found here.

Lest any of ISAR's supporters, let alone Vick, think that we're finished with him, here's what happens next.

ISAR is putting together a program to use our billboard campaign to keep after Vick by continuing to remind the football-going public about the horrendous crimes he committed in abusing pit bulls and other dogs.

Because our plans are in the formative stage we need to keep them close to the vest, so we can't say much yet.

But what we can tell you is that we are going to use billboards to carry the anti-Vick message, and that those billboards will be as close to the Philadelphia Eagles' stadium as we can afford to place them.

Which brings us to the ever-sensitive subject of money.

Designing, printing, installing and paying for billboard rental is costly. ISAR can bear some of the expenses, but we surely can use some help.

Please donate to ISAR's anti-Michael Vick billboard campaign. Even as little as a $10.00 contribution will help, and if you request that we use your contribution for only billboards we'll be happy to oblige.

We must continue to get out the word about this monster, who fakes contrition and remorse to get himself back on the NFL gravy train.

Please help ISAR--in public, and in his face--keep fighting Michael Vick!!

Animals Today Radio Show

Animals Today Radio, the show ISAR has been sponsoring, has moved to a new station and a new time. You can now listen to Animals Today Radio on KPSI 920 AM on Sundays from 8:00AM to 9:00AM beginning on August 30th.

For more information about the Animals Today Radio show, please visit www.animalstodayradio.com.

Veterinarians Are Running Scared

In ISAR’s monograph Harming Companion Animals: Liability and Damages we make the categorical statement that “Even though most of the harm to companion animals results from veterinary malpractice [obviously we were not talking about breeders], Harming Companion Animals should not be taken as a criticism (let alone a condemnation) of all veterinarians. On the contrary. Although among the thousands and thousands of veterinarians in the United States there are some bad apples—just as in the medical, legal, and all other professions—the vast majority of veterinarians and their staffs are caring, dedicated, competent, healers who feel deeply about the animals they treat. For them, all of us who share our lives with companion animals are eternally grateful.” (Page 7. Emphasis in original.)

Apparently the issue of veterinarian “bad apples” which ISAR addressed in our “Harming” monograph, and which is a sore spot for all custodians of companion animals, has finally gotten the attention of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Here, under date of August 1, 2009, is an article from the “javma news”:

The AVMA will turn a fledgling veterinary outreach program to law schools and the legal community into an ongoing activity.

The Executive Board approved the State Advocacy Committee's recommendation to continue the Legal Outreach Program.

The program has been around since April 2008 when the board approved its creation. It provides a veterinary perspective to the legal community on animal law issues. Veterinarians who have practiced in a clinical setting and attorneys familiar with this area provide law students, lawyers, and veterinary students with background information on the unintended consequences of awarding noneconomic damages.

Background information provided with the recommendation states that many of the law school and continuing education programs for lawyers are taught or presented by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, The Humane Society of the United States, or other animal rights proponents. The veterinary perspective in these courses has been almost nonexistent. Most of the time, law students and lawyers are not aware that there may be another side to the story on complicated issues such as pet guardianship and noneconomic damages.

The state legislative and regulatory affairs department in the AVMA Communications Division has contacted 19 law schools so far, developed a PowerPoint presentation, assembled a roster of 20 speakers, and conducted a training webinar for speakers. In all, the program coordinated eight presentations in fall 2008 and spring 2009, with several planned for this fall.

Originally, the board allocated $5,400 for 2008 and $16,250 for 2009 to cover speaker compensation, travel expenses, and speaker training for the program. Adrian Hochstadt, JD, assistant director for state legislative and regulatory affairs, said the cost was not as great as anticipated, and the program will be under budget for both years. Savings were realized as a result of using AVMA staff or local speakers and holding a webinar instead of in-person training sessions.

The board approved funding the program now at a cost of about $7,000 annually. (Emphasis supplied.)

When ISAR learned of this program—which the American Veterinary Medical Association has every right to present—an ISAR staffer sought additional information: “I read that you have assembled a roster of 20 speakers for your program. Can you direct me to where I might find that list and when they will be speaking? Do you have an itinerary that you can email?”

An AVMA lawyer responded by asking whether we were “interested in a program at a particular school?”

Our response: “I interpreted this to mean that this coming fall you will have speakers presenting your point of view at several law schools, and I'm wondering what law schools and who are the speakers.”

AVMA: “I would need to know what is the purpose of the request.”

At that point, ISAR broke off “communication” with the AVMA’s lawyer, even though our intention was to open a dialogue about the issue of non-economic damages for the intentional and negligent harm to companion animals. We wanted to know the organization’s official position.

Own research has obtained that information.

In the July/August 2009 issue of the General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division magazine of the American Bar Association there appears an article by the AVMA’s president and the lawyer with whom ISAR had been in contact, from the organization’s State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Department.

They ask: “What’s wrong . . . with recognizing an owner’s claim for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship—in short ‘non–economic’ damages—arising from a wrongful pet loss in cases of professional negligence?”

Excellent question. Actually a question we wanted to ask the AVMA before it began to treat ISAR like someone trying to ferret out a military secret.

Their answer cites “unintended negative consequences” and “harm [to] the very animals we seek to protect.”

The argument the authors develop is lengthy. Some of it is persuasive, some specious. ISAR encourages its supporters to read the article http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/magazine/2009/jul_aug/petlawsuits.html because it is obviously an opening salvo in organized veterinary medicine’s current campaign against state legislatures allowing non-economic damages for harming companion animals.

This is a hot subject and ISAR will have a lot to say about it in the future, because the “animals-as-property” problem is among those at the core of the animal rights philosophy.

ISAR Seeks Twenty-First Century "Coast Watchers"

During World War II, courageous Australians, American guerillas, and indigenous inhabitants of enemy-occupied South Pacific islands provided essential intelligence about the Japanese to General MacArthur’s forces as they fought their way across the ocean en route to the Philippines. They were the Twentieth Century “coast watchers.”

In order to launch an ambitious amicus curiae program (see ISAR's Amicus Curiae Program), ISAR is seeking to recruit fifty lawyers—for much less hazardous duty.

We are asking one lawyer from each state to monitor the courts in his or her state for animal protection cases about to go up on appeal--cases which raise questions of law (not simple fact disputes). (Large states may have to be divided.)

Then, all ISAR’s “case watchers” have to do is send Professor Holzer a link to an appeal which might warrant the submission of an amicus brief. Please email the links here amicus@isaronline.org.

Professor Holzer will screen the incoming information. If an amicus brief is warranted, ISAR will try to recruit a lawyer to work with Professor Holzer to prepare and file one—just as ISAR did with the recent Stevens case in the Supreme Court of the United States.

There are important animal protection cases in appellate courts around the country which are not being handled as effectively as they could be, and ISAR would like to rectify that situation. In this regard, see our recent blog about the Stevens case.

We know that most of the thousands of ISAR supporters who receive this blog are not lawyers, so we earnestly ask you to forward it to any lawyer you think might be interested in becoming, on behalf of the animals, a Twenty-First Century Case Watcher.