Hello supporters! Thank you again for your tremendous support around our efforts in the VA General Assembly this year to pass a humane tethering law. The Senate version of our bill (SB 872), which would have prevented owners from chaining their dogs outside during extreme weather, had support on both sides of the aisle with 19 co-sponsors (8 Republicans/11 Democrats). We came so close, but a few lawmakers refused to support the bill. By now, you're well aware that Bobby Orrock was the main obstructionist. In fact, Orrock has a long history of killing animal welfare bills - and he has been unchallenged for years. Here's the bottom line: If our politicians won’t support humane laws, we must change our politicians. We have held several meetings over the last few weeks and are working to replace those obstructionist legislators with new animal-friendly candidates. Then, we will pass the tethering bill and other bills to protect Virginia's most vulnerable animals. I am now working with Humane Dominion. Created in 2013, Humane Dominion is Virginia’s only political action committee (PAC) dedicated to making the Commonwealth a safer, more humane place for animals. Humane Dominion allows animal lovers across the state and beyond to join together to help elect animal-friendly candidates into office in Virginia. Every year, bills are introduced in the General Assembly that have the potential to help or harm the animals we all love. By having legislators in office who are sympathetic to animal issues, we can be much more successful in passing laws that protect animals and defeating those that would hurt them. The more animal lovers elected into office, the more successful we can be! Bobby Orrock is being funded by the Hunting Lobby and by the Dog Breeder's Association, two groups that fought our tethering bill every step of the way this past session. The only way we can overturn Orrock is to fight fire with fire. We need to raise funds for voter education, printed materials, and community outreach. We are looking to mobilize in Orrock's district and let his voters know just how bad he has been for animals. In our opinion, Orrock barely made it out of this session; he is finally being held accountable for his heartless legislative action and he doesn't like it. There is an urgency like never before and we know that together, we can usher in new leadership for these poor animals. But, we have to start NOW while the issue is still fresh! Please, please consider donating to our fundraising efforts by clicking here: https://humanedominion.nationbuilder.com/donate No amount is too small! The more we raise, the more ammunition we have for the next session. If we do not unseat Orrock, we will continue to run into the same brick wall year after year. It's time for him to go; please help us get there! As always, I will update you every step of the way. Thank you for your continued support! Gary