Texas Governor Vetoes Bills to Protect Kids and Pets
You'll notice the picture above. It's Texas Governor Greg Abbott telling us all that protecting kids and pets isn't important. Okay, not really. Actually, not at all. But he might as well be doing that. Governor Greg Abbott recently vetoed two bills that would have protected kids and pets.
First, we have the bipartisan bill that would have required schools to teach dating violence prevention. The bill was named the Christine Blubaugh Act, after a 16-year-old girl who was killed by her ex-boyfriend. The bill would have helped kids know how to deal with abuse. More specifically how to identify the signs of abuse and how to report it. So why did Governor Abbott veto that bill? He said that it didn't give parents a choice saying:
These are important subjects and I respect the Senate author’s good intentions, but the bill fails to recognize the right of parents to opt their children out of the instruction. I have vetoed similar legislation before on this ground, because we must safeguard parental rights regarding this type of instruction.
Let me think about this. What kind of parent would want to prevent their kids from getting violence and abuse education? Hmmm.... I mean, the only thing that comes to mind are parents that are violent and abusive. But hey, you do you Governor Abbott.
Next, we have the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act. This is pretty much what you think it is. It's a bill with stipulations to make sure dogs are protected, like no heavy chains to restrain dogs and even tax breaks given to pet-rescue organizations.
Yet again, this bill had strong support from both sides of the aisle but Governor Abbott said he vetoed the bill because it was micro-managing. I understand not wanting to make owning a dog super difficult. I had animal services called on me because a nosy neighbor thought the kennel we were using for one of our dogs was too small. It's not, but she felt it was. So animal services came out to the house and the guy was kind of a condescending dick. But I am torn on this issue because I have seen how some people around El Paso treat their pets. They're chained up in the yard with almost no room to move. Their feces is covering the yard to the point the stench is overwhelming. In response to Governor Abbott's comments about this bill, I feel that we almost need to be micromanaged when it comes to pet ownership. There are A LOT of pet owners out here that don't deserve pets.
Either way, these are two bills that were shot down by Governor Abbott. He feels he has a reasonable excuse to veto the bills. Now, the question is, will anything close to these bills get passed to resolve these issues we deal with? I would like to think that he will sign off on a bill that does help with these issues. I don't hate Governor Abbott, but he doesn't have the best track record with me recently on the moves he's been making.
Of course, it's also fun writing these articles and then going through the comments on Facebook. All the right-wing loons losing their minds and trying to point the finger at the other side of the aisle or completely deflect to something else. If you spend your time doing that, just remember this. You're reading my article or commenting on my headline, not the other way around. And yes, the left-wing loons are just as bad.