Governor Rick Perry, Presidential Candidate

Rick Perry, Texas Governor dropped out in January and endorsed Newt Gringrich. Could Perry be Vice President? Not if you know Rick Perry signed HB 1451, one of the worst Animal Rights laws in any state!

2012 candidate Rick Perry’s position on radioactive drinking water, dog owners, animal rights, human health and privacy rights, Gardasil and Coyotes.

Dateline: October 12, 2011

Is Governor Rick Perry a dog owner?  A man’s “best friend” shows a lot about his true character which is often hidden behind a political facade.

Whether Perry owns a dog may be a moot question since he hasn’t done well in the debates.  However, previews of his upcoming TV campaign ads are powerful so Governor Perry isn’t necessarily down for the count after the October 11^th debate.  He’s an interesting guy whose supporters had hoped he would shine and in fact, his image has yet to be tarnished.  It is about to be however, if after reading this, you decide he’s just another politician who risks the health and lives of his constituents.

A candidate’s choice in pets usually reveals something about his or her personality characteristics.  In Perry’s case, we draw a blank other than an April 2010 incident in which the pistol-packing Texan shot a coyote that had a wily eye on his daughter’s Labrador Retriever.  Governor Perry was out for a sunrise jog without his security detail when he spotted a coyote “laser-locked on that dog.”  He hollered at the coyote but it didn’t scoot.  Perry said either he or the dog were in imminent danger so he “sent it to where coyotes go.”  The Governor showed some compassion when he said that the laser-sighted 380 Ruger (loaded with hollow points) helped him make a “clean kill.”

So despite the media blowing the 2010 story into a hero-old-west-dog-loving-Texan-defends-his-dog story, it wasn’t his dog and in fact, it appears that the closest Rick Perry has come to a dog is having a dog’s stem cells injected into his spine in July of this year.  So far there is only one company using canine stem cells for medical purposes.  Perry’s doctor arranged the off-label canine stem cell injection through RNL-Bio’s Texas affiliate. The company is located in South Korea where there are no Animal Rights groups to impede the research.

Perry’s Conflicting Fiscal Policies

Governor Petty is quick to point out jobs growth in Texas but like most politicians, he doesn’t discuss the other side of financial matters.  In a nutshell, although he has grown Texas in a “humogous” way, that growth has not been without cost.  His state’s debt has doubled and is steadily on the increase.  Rick Perry would, if he disclosed it, be the first to say growth comes with a price tag.

Texas has sold more than $2 billion in bonds to pay unemployment benefits but even before the bond sales, the state had borrowed $1.6 billion by this time last year.  Perry approved the Texas Enterprise Fund which, so far, has given $435 million in grants to businesses, many of which have contributed to his campaign fund or to the Republican Governor’s Fund.  One recipient of the TEF largess was PETCO Animal Supplies which received $3.1 million which it is said, will create 400 jobs.

Rick Perry and Personal Health Rights

While the PETCO deal could be good for animals, there’s no dog to indicate character or personality quirks.  In 2007 there was however the Gardasil vaccine {1} scandal which candidate Michelle Bachman dared to question.  The vaccine was FDA approved in June 2006 for the prevention of cervical cancer caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV).  Texas was the first state to order its use; but HB 215 and SB 110, both introduced in November 2006, stalled out.  So in February 2007, Governor Rick Perry ordered all little girls to receive the Merck brand of the vaccine before they could enter 6^th grade.  Note that a vaccine produced by Merk’s biggest competitor, GlaxoSmithKline had also been approved.  Gardasil by Merk was Governor Perry’s choice.

In the debates, Perry faced questions about his use of Executive order to legislate personal health care directives and he apologized for that.  What wasn’t made clear is that the Texas legislature overrode his order when angry parents protested interference with their parental rights.  What also hasn’t yet come into public knowledge is that Rick Perry’s Chief Of Staff, staff, Mike Toomey, was a lobbyist for Merck at the time Perry issued the EO. In the Texas Politics since the early 80s, Toomey is described as a “deeply connected Republican lobbyist.”  Of course he lobbied the Governor on behalf of Merck’s Gardasil vaccine.  That’s his job but in defense of Rick Perry, so did his wife who has a Masters of Science degree in Nursing.  First Lady Anita Perry is an outspoken proponent of women’s health care.  In fact, she delivered the keynote address at the Women in Government (WIG) conference on cervical cancer prevention and elimination.

On another human rights issue, in 2011 Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill forcing Texas women to undergo an ultrasound, hear a detailed description of the fetus and then wait a full 24 hours before receiving abortion care.  Supporters believe he is protecting the rights of the unborn fetus; others think the rights of the person whose whole life is most affected are more important.

Mandatory sonogram bills, which Pro-Choice America calls "one of the most dangerous anti-choice state trends in 2011," have been passed in Arizona, Louisiana and Texas.  The Texas law, considered one of the most extreme sonogram laws passed, requires doctors to tell a woman the size of her fetus' limbs and organs, even if she does not want to know. It also mandates that doctors make an image of the fetus and the sound of its heartbeat available to a woman before she can have an abortion.

Rick Perry Supports Animal Rights

More to the interests of all animal owners, Governor Rick Perry signed the anti-breeder, HSUS backed HB1451 into law {2} despite massive protest from dog breeders.  Whether he becomes President or not, Texas HB 1451 could become the model for for a barrage of Federal Animal Rights legislation.   The bill defines anyone who owns more than 11 intact female dogs as a person subject to unannounced home inspections.  HB1451 allows unspecified licensing and inspection fees to be imposed which can run hundreds of dollars per year.  It violates privacy by establishing a public database of breeders, including their private information.  HB1451 sets ridiculous square footage requirements per animal and requires each animal to have a yearly veterinary exam even though no child in Texas is required to see a doctor, nor is livestock which enter the food supply.  While many readers may agree with what others consider an extreme invasion of personal privacy, no one will disagree that it is not about health.

According to Sportmen's and Animal Owners Voting Alliance, on June 17, 2011, Governor Rick Perry signed HB 1451 into law. The bill, introduced and championed by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, and Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, establishes a new state bureaucracy to regulate home dog and cat breeders, mandating inspections of private property, large fees and enormous fines. The new law allows the right of entry into citizens' homes without warrant and without the owners' presence and establishes a "bounty fund" to pay activists for reporting dog and cat breeders to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR.) The bill regulates law abiding Texas citizens and hampers economic and business growth in order to promote the private agenda of heavily financed special interest groups. The HSUS/ASPCA/PETA backed bill violates personal property rights, contradicting key values that Governor Perry professes to uphold and important principles of his campaign. A huge red flag to all conservatives and animal owners should be the recent animal activist HSUS trumpeted accolade of Governor Perry for signing this remarkably ill-founded and costly legislation. For more info from SAOVA, go to HB 1451 history

Supporters feel he is protecting helpless dogs from the cruelty of unscrupulous breeders.  Detractors point out no legislator should put animal rights above human rights or the right to privacy and to engage in a hobby or commercial enterprise.

But the next item is about health and it is one of the most troublesome things about Governor Rick Perry that we have uncovered so far.

Governor Perry’s Radioactive Water

The “Poison Water” scandal {3} taps Presidential candidate Rick Perry as exposing Texans to cancer-causing radiation in the drinking water and to radon gas, which is a leading cause of lung cancer.  The radioactive water is piped directly into homes in many Texas communities and yes, government officials know all about it, from the state EPA right on up the political ladder.

KHOU News Houston began the investigation in a one hour special broadcast which reveals residents of many Texas communities run a 1 in 5 risk of developing cancer from drinking the radioactive water and breathing the radon gas.  The levels of contamination run from 4 to 11 times the acceptable levels of radioactive radon.  The radon gas accumulates in the pipes and is released into the home every time people run water.  The Texas Radiation Advisory board stubbornly denied any knowledge but on the TV broadcast, the Director is confronted with the letter he signed.

According to BrasscheckTV, over 200,000 Texans drink from public water systems with relatively high levels of radium and “one out of four” will get cancer.  Will Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney ask Perry about his radioactive water?  It remains to be seen as so far, the radioactive water story hasn’t leaked out of Texas.

If this sounds like another “Erin Brockovich” Academy Award winning movie, remember, that was another time, another state.  Texas Politics are among the most powerful in the nation and frankly, TheDogPress is a little nervous about bringing you this story… We discussed it and believe we owe it to our thousands of Texas subscribers who may not have seen the KHOU broadcast.  The story was quickly snuffed out, apparently national news considered it a hot poker - especially when they realized $$$billions in advertising revenue was at stake.  We’ll take the risk so that Texans know and can inform their neighbors and other dog owners.

References:

{1} TheDogPlace/Vaccines/Perry Orders Gardasil

{2} Rick Perry Signs Anti-Breeder law HB1451 in June 2011

{3} Radiation, Drinking Water, and Deception (video)

for more on Rick Perry's competition, see the video and shocking story on Romney's Dogs

Brought to you by the NetPlaces Network

ii NetPlacesNetwork ~ ii Health Disclaimer

TheDogPlace.org, world’s 1st public website,

1st online dog news, TheDogPress.com, and

TheJudgesPlace.com, 1st AKC dog judges site