Court kills Massachusetts “Dog Protection Act” fall 2006 ballot initiative

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2006:

BOSTON–The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts on July
13, 2006 barred a proposed ballot initiative called the Dog
Protection Act from the November 2006 Massachusetts ballot. If
approved by the voters, the Dog Protection Act would have prohibited
greyhound racing, and would have provided stiffer sentences for
dogfighting and assaulting police dogs.
The court upheld the contention of Raynham-Taunton Greyhound
Park owner George Carney that the initiative improperly combined
unrelated issues.
Massachusetts secretary of state William Galvin Jr. in
December 2005 certified that Dog Protection Act backers had gathered
83,431 bona fide signatures from voters in support of the initiative,
about 18,000 more than were needed in the first step of the two-step
petitioning process, but after the Massachusetts legislature failed
to enact the Dog Protection Act itself, the act supporters were
required to gather at least 10,971 new signatures to put the
initiative before the voters.
Grey 2K cofounder Christine Dorchak told ANIMAL PEOPLE that
the goal was reached on June 16, five days ahead of the deadline.

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