| Biker Dogs MC International USA - Canada - Japan - United Kingdom - Italy Founded September 27th, 2000 |
NEWS FLASH!
City of Hollister Runs Biker Dogs Out Of Town!
Again! Nine biker
dogs invade Hollister in 2003 to pawtograph their historic |
History and reason for the ongoing protest: At least three fellow biker dogs were ordered out of town during the annual Hollister Independence Rally July 4th weekend in 2002. This resulted in a historic protest run on the morning of July 5th, 2003 by nine rebelious biker dogs, one of whom was arrested! Read on... |
| What happened in 2002: Three fellow biker dogs were ordered out of town during the annual Hollister Independence Rally July 4th weekend in 2002 due to a new anti-dog ordinance passed that same year. Lady Harley of Oakley, a Shih Tzu, howled to us, "The Sheriff told us to get out of town. Did you know Hollister does not allow any dogs downtown during Biker Rally days? They have a specific ordinance that prohibits them from being downtown during the rally!". Lady Harley was not the only dog to be unfairly discriminated against. Two other biker dogs, two poodles named Annie and Harley, were also rudely ordered out of town, we've been informed. Houdini, the founder and Pack Leader of Biker Dogs Motorcycle Club bow-vowed to organize a demonstration ride for Hollister in 2003. The plan was for all biker dogs, whether club members or not, to meet at a predetermined place just outside of town, then ride into town at high noon to barkingly protest this ridiculous law. "We will not run from town with our tails between our legs this year!", Houdini growled. And we're not rolling over either, he padded.
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What happened in 2003: At the July 5th Howllister Protest, Pack Leader Houdini was arrested, just as we were getting ready to leave town. The "Notice To Appear" citation can be viewed below. Here is what happened: Before the protest run, the Biker Dog Motorcycle Club
and DogsOnBikes.com declared July 5th as "Canine Independence Day",
a new national holiday for dogs, who get to go anywhere
with their guardians on that day. Efforts
were made by guardians of club members to work with the city to change
the law without success. The Club notified local and national news media
with appropriate press releases about the planned protest event.
The Pinnacle News and San
Jose Mercury News picked up the story. On the historic morning of July 5th, 2003, we met in Gilroy, a half-hour's ride from Hollister. There were nine biker dogs and 12 people in our group, plus a hired videographer and photographer. We arrived in Hollister just before 9 am just in time to find parking in the center of the street outside Johnny's Bar and Grill, the site of the 1947 invasion of bikers. We didn't see one single police person anywhere! Someone quipped, "They're probably still at the donut shop." So we decided to take advantage of this lack of police
presence. First, we set up our 8-foot banner across our group of bikes,
which read "BIKER DOGS MOTORCYCLE CLUB -
HOWLLISTER PROTEST RUN". A group of bystanders started to gather out in front
of Johnny's so Jesse Lane donned his3-corner Paul Revere hat and addressed
the gathering crowd after powering up the PA system on my bike. He informed
them that we had come to town to protest Hollister's anti-dog law. More
people stopped to see what was going on; even people inside Johnny's
came outside. Jesse introduced each of the nine biker dogs. Then he
told the crowd about "Canine Independence
Day", July 5th, a day when all dogs get to go with their
guardians anywhere their guardians go. He told them that the dogs had
a proclamation for me to read and he pulled out a very official-looking
scroll with a gold & red ribbon, tassles, and dog-bone cornices.
Jesse proclaimed "Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye" as he unrolled
the scroll and read aloud "The Barklaration
Of Independence" (see below). At the completion of each
sentence, our supporters and the crowd cheered while Jesse paused to
wait for intermittent passing of rumbling bikes. By the end of the song, the bike traffic noise had increased so much that it became obvious we would not be able to do a repeat performance even if we had wished to. But we were ready for breakfast at Johnny's, whose staff had graciously invited us and the biker dogs to their outdoor patio. Houdini now wears one of Johnny's pins, which had been presented to him! We had accomplished our mission and not one single police person had showed up, yet. After breakfast, we went our individual ways to sight-see around the rally. Then Jesse started getting news that some of us were being kicked out. But Houdini, living up to his name, somehow kept escaping notice of the authorities, as one by one others were spotted and ordered out of town. Jesse, his fiance KC, and Houdini enjoyed visiting the vendors, watching the concert, looking at bikes, and finally we decided to go for a cool ride somewhere. Just as Jesse set Houdini on the bike, the police showed up. He politely and respectfully asked for a citation before we left so that Houdini could challenge the law in court! The police were very polite and genuinely good-natured about the whole affair, and even gave Houdini some pets at one point. So it looks like we'll be back in Hollister to fight the law in the courts! Our defense will probably be that the ordinance violates the Canine Bill of Rights.
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What happened in 2004: In direct violation of the American With Disabilities Act, Hollister police and other police agencies working at the rally order service dogs, assistance dogs, and medical alert dogs to leave town! See story about Kiera on our companion web site DogsOnBikes.com. |
The Barklaration Of Independence - historic proclamation of July 5th, 2003 WHEN in the Course of Canine Events, it becomes necessary for one Pack to improve the Political Bands which have connected them with Mankind, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Dogkind requires that they should declare July 5th as Canine Independence Day. WE hold these Tooths,
er, Truths to be self-evident, that all Dogs are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Treats -- That to secure
these Rights, Guardians are instituted among Men and Women, whose duty
it is to preserve these rights and to guide Dogkind along its inevitable
joint path of evolution with Mankind. And so, hear ye all, that henceforth, July 5th shall be known as Canine Independence Day, a day when all Dogs shall be permitted to accompany their Guardians wherever their Guardians choose to go! July 5th, 2003 |
| Pack Leader Houdini's historic letter to the City of Hollister: Subject: Growl! Woof! Arf! Barky, Arf-whine, Roof!!!
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<==== click here for Pinnacle news story and editorial
cartoon!
<==== click to see banner and Jesse Lane addressing
the crowd
<==== click to see Lady Harley pawtographing "The
Barklaration of Independence"
<==== click to enlarge arrest citation
Liberate a Dog !
We'd like to remind people that there are
a lot of wonderful dogs waiting to be adopted at your local animal shelter.
You can also offer to volunteer to walk sheltered dogs while they await adoption.
The dogs love getting to leave their cages for a walk!
Please visit our adoption page for featured
"Shelter-of-the-Month" and list of places to adopt.
Also visit Dogs On Bikes a website dedicated to motorcycle-riding canines!
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