Action Alert: OHC Encourages Changes to HB 2645

OHC is requesting your support on recommending a change to HB 2645, which will ask for the Farm Impact Test to be added to the bill which allows up to 60 dogs a day at rural training facilities in agriculture buildings.

 

Below is a copy of the testimony submitted by the Oregon Horse Council to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources:

 

Dear Chairman Witt and Committee Members

 

Please accept this written testimony regarding House Bill 2645.  The Oregon Horse Council (formerly Oregon Horse Country) has been established in Oregon for over a decade with the mission to strengthening, connecting, and representing the equine industry.  In that time, we have seen continuous pushback on the way of life that equestrians so proudly have in Oregon.  This bill is another attempt at this.

 

Commercial dog training facilities in rural areas are currently allowed to have up to 60 dogs per day.  That could mean 120 vehicles driving up and down our country, often dirt, roads 6 days a week.  These dogs are not all well behaved, as they are going to a variety of training courses for a reason.  There are already numerous dog attacks on horses and livestock across Oregon annually, welcoming up to 18,720 dogs to each dog training facility per year is going to dramatically increase that statistic.  In addition to this, livestock and horses will have 313 days a year subjected to frequent barking, which raises their stress level and can cause a myriad of other health issues.

 

While the Oregon Horse Council is supportive of the many courteous dog trainers across Oregon, we are concerned that expanding that number with so many untrained dogs being brought into our rural areas will cause significant issues.

 

On behalf of thousands of equestrians and equine focused businesses across Oregon, we urge you to please include in this bill the application of ORS 215.296 to HB 2645, Section 1.  This will allow up to 10 people at a time in an agriculture building and will implement the Farm Impact Test under the legislatures Goal 3 of protecting farms, farming with livestock including horses, and farmland.  Adding the Farm Impact Test will allow each situation to be independently reviewed.