Senate passes a bill allowing movie extras to use their pets without filing paperwork

The Hill ^ | 12/07/12 03:35 PM ET | Ramsey Cox

[null and void]

The Senate passed a bill Thursday night that would exempt animals used as “extras” in movies and television from protections in the Animal Welfare Act.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced the bill, which amends the Animal Welfare Act so that actors appearing as extras who use their own pets in a scene don’t have to submit paperwork proving they are humanely caring for their pet.

“Currently, if you’re a movie extra and have your dog with you — you’re subject to burdensome paperwork and approval from a [United States Department of Agriculture] bureaucrat,” Vitter’s press secretary Luke Bolar said. “Sen. Vitter’s bill eliminates the unnecessary regulation.”

The part of the Animal Welfare Act that was amended was originally intended to protect animals that are used exclusively for commercial purposes, such as in zoos or circuses, but like their human counterparts, animal extras receive very little compensation and aren’t subjected to long movie shoots.  

Vitter’s amendment, which passed by unanimous consent, presumes that because a pet owner’s reasons for owning a domesticated pet, such as a dog or cat, are personal in nature, the pet owner has an interest in maintaining the animal’s welfare and therefore shouldn’t have to prove they are providing a caring environment for the animal.

S. 3666 clarifies that common, domesticated pets owned by individual citizens should not be included in the definition of “exhibitor” in the Animal Welfare Act.

Louisiana ranks third behind California and New York for filmmaking locations within the United States.

[null and void]

Drudge Title:

Senate votes to exempt animals used in movies and television from protections under Animal Welfare Act...

Some animals really are more equal than others...

[JRandomFreeper]

My copy of the Constitution is missing the part where Congress is authorized in Art 1, Sec 8 to make ANY laws about animals.

/johnny

[Albion Wilde]

Your tax dollars hard at work.

[Lancey Howard]

Well there you go!
Who says Reid is a cowardly, do-nothing piece of sh** ?

[fwdude]

I'm glad we're getting to these really crucial issues before we careen off the economy-tanking fiscal cliff in a few weeks.

And they spent time removing "lunatic" from federal verbiage last week.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

This is all they got to work on???

We are well and truly SCREWED!!

[lowbridge]

Oh good. I was worried there for a while. Now the entire nation can sleep better tonight.

[smokingfrog]

Wow! I’m so happy that are lawmakers are hard at work to make sure movie extras are not inconvenienced. or whatever

[Catsrus]

Good Lord, we need to limit the hours Congress spends in Washington. It seems they have very few serious issues to deal with and are focusing on minutia.

Yep, tax payers dollars hard at work/s

[greedo]

Additional language buried in the bill exempts senators from the laws against cavorting with prostitutes.

[dbehsman]

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced the bill, which amends the Animal Welfare Act so that actors appearing as extras who use their own pets in a scene don’t have to submit paperwork proving they are humanely caring for their pet.

Thank you Sen. Vitter for making life easier for the HELLywood leftists. I really appreciate it. /sarcasm

[C210N]

So, not only is our national government regulating in areas Constitutionally verbotten, but now it's regulating the regulators by unregulating.

[onona]

Yay !! I'm Free !! Thank God, I'm Free At Last !!!

[ScottinVA]

Entertainment-related legislation... now that`s something American voters can manage to understand. Next up will be debate on a bill allowing Lady Gaga to perform while wearing a dress made of raw turkey giblets.

[Joe 6-pack]

WOOOF!

The Doggie Ping list is for FReepers who would like to be notified of threads relating to all things canid. If you would like to join the Doggie Ping Pack (or be unleashed from it), FReemail me.

[Joe 6-pack]

WOOOF!

The Doggie Ping list is for FReepers who would like to be notified of threads relating to all things canid. If you would like to join the Doggie Ping Pack (or be unleashed from it), FReemail me.

[Dixie Yooper]

So, if Alex Karras happens to be on the set one day with his pet...horse, he wouldn’t have to fill out any paperwork for his pet? Works for me!

[almcbean]

They titled it the Free Individual Dog Owners Act- or FIDO for short

[TomGuy]

It is good to see the Senate working on IMPORTANT business.

[/s]

Maybe next they can do something even more IMPORTANT — ala carte Cable TV.