Written by : Chuck Bridges

For a while it looked like the HSUS wasn’t going to show — I even checked the event board at the Hyatt to see if they’d moved the event across the street. But, no, the lure of free rental at the Capitol was too much (or perhaps it was just the sun going down — the first person we saw scuttling across the Capitol rotunda was Judie Mancuso of SCIL), and the HSUS’ caterer finally appeared to set up.

We had arranged to meet where the two main corridors in the Capitol office building cross. Our first contingent, including a film crew from The Animal Herald, and members of We the People for Pets and California Animal Voters Alliance (“CAVA”), had moved on to the event site, and Jan Dykema was handing out our new “George Washington was a dog breeder” brochures while we waited for stragglers, when a CHP sergeant asked us to follow him to his office. The sergeant advised us that it was against the rules to hand out materials on Capitol grounds without a permit. So much for First Amendment rights in The People’s House. Undeterred, we handed off our unused materials to other members of the team.

When Jan and I arrived at the event site in the basement rotunda, our first contingent (who had arrived before the caterer and was seated on benches) were being peacefully escorted out of the event site by the CHP and the HSUS event coordinators were hastily putting up screens between the event and the public. Outdoorsmen (and women) from Native Hunt, dressed in utility shirts and camo hats, also received the bum’s rush from the HSUS thugs. Jan and I attempted to enter the HSUS event, but were detained at the registration desk. (A flyer, with an RSVP telephone number, had been sent to each member of the Assembly and Senate announcing the event. However, no where on the flyer did it indicate that the event was by invitation only. Earlier, we had contacted a number of Assembly members and Senators seeking help getting on “the list.” In each case, we were told that they had not received a call back. Hmm, do you think the HSUS might have wanted to discourage less-than-friendly legislators from attending?) We were finally told by “Crystal” whose identification still remains a bit of the mystery (she doesn’t work for the legislature or the HSUS, or so she said) that we would not be allowed into the event. She also said, “I’ve seen all of your emails, Chuck, so I know what you’re up to.” Well, nice to meet you, too, Crystal!

I know it sounds like it was a melee, but it was all very peaceful – except for the sweating on the other side! It turns out that between 15 and 20 protesters showed up. We had the chance to watch each HSUS attendee as they arrived. And we got it on film. (Oh, yes, it turns out that one of the entrees served at the reception was Chicken.) It was hard to gauge the attendance at the HSUS event. I suspect that they were disappointed – hey, they were competing with a “find a cure” rally on the north side of the Capitol and a speech by Sara Palin in Redding.

At 6:00 all of us repaired (well, actually, the Capitol closes at that time and we were asked to leave – booted yet another time!) to the Pyramid Alehouse to debrief and share some fellowship. I was right about one thing, hefeweizen washes away the bad taste left by AR glitterati.

All in all, I would declare our protest a success. We showed Pacelle and his cronies that Californians are not pushovers, and perhaps more importantly, we solidified our friendships by breaking bread and raising a glass in common cause together.

Written by :Chuck Bridges

Prologue: After the event the Native Hunt Crew (after Sam and Michael jumped up and down several times) broke the elevator in the parking garage and were stuck between floors for an hour until Sacramento fire crews came and rescued them!  (them boyz obviously don’t get to go to the city much)