Page 1 of 330 The Monthly National Legislation Report 7/5/2010 ...

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The Monthly National Legislation Reporthttp://mnlreport.typepad.com/Page 214 of 3307/5/2010MISSOURINo Report for Missouri.MONTANAConrad - (5/12/09) - The U.S. Postal Service and your local Post Office are once again asking for the public’s support in keeping your dogs restrained year round; for the safety of your lettercarriers and community, and to help prevent dog bites. A total of 3,100 letter carriers nationwide were bitten or received OSHA recordable dog bite attack-related injuries in 2008-an averageof 10 dog bites per day, but that does not include the many threatening encounters, or loose dog situations, where letter carriers fortunately escaped injuries. The Postal Service treats loosedog situations very seriously. Because of the safety danger to your letter carrier, failure to restrain your dog on a regular basis can result in a temporary stoppage of mail delivery to your homeand mailbox, or worse yet, to your whole neighborhood, block or street, depending on how serious the problem is. “Dogs are protective in nature and may perceive a letter carrier handingmail to its owner as a threat,” says Conrad Postmaster Ryan Christiaens. “We ask our customers, and especially, to instruct their children to refrain from collecting the mail from their lettercarrier in the presence of their pet.”So please be responsible dog and pet owners, and restrain your dog. The USPS, the Conrad Post Office, and your letter carriers greatly appreciate your support.NEBRASKA(5/23/09) - Friday, Governor Dave Heineman signed a bill into law giving stricter punishments to those whose dogs are deemed dangerous, no matter the breed,because they've attacked before.York - LB494 - (5/1/09) - The City of York already has regulations and penalties in place when it comes to vicious dogs. But those rules could be enhanced by an advancing bill at the statelegislature that would hold the owners of those dogs more accountable. This week, state lawmakers advanced LB 494 that would charge the owner of a dangerous dog with a Class 4 felony if adog mutilates a person or causes the loss of a body part. A Class 4 felony carries a possible maximum prison sentence of five years and/or a $10,000 fine. Sen. Beau McCoy, who introducedthe bill, said the increased penalties would not pertain to an owner whose dog has no previous record of committing or attempting to commit a violent act. The Judiciary Committee offered anamendment that would exempt owners from penalties if the attack resulted from abusing, assaulting or tormenting the dog or if the victim was trespassing on the owner’s property. Thecommittee amendment would also exempt police dogs from the bill’s provisions.NEVADASB 132 - (5/20/09) passed the Assembly The bill will now be sent to the GovernorAB199 Signed by the GovernorAB15 Sent to the Governor for veto or signatureNEW HAMPSHIRELegislative UpdatesEliminating Plan A from the spay/neuter program -SB 137 had previously been the bill to create an animal friendly license plate to help fund the state’s spay/neuter program.Senator Roberge recognized that the license plate initiative needed more work and amended the bill on the floor of the senate to delete the license plate initiative. Now, the new SB 137eliminates Plan A from the state spay/neuter program thereby providing additional funding for Plan B. Plan A allows the animal shelters to provide a voucher to reduce the cost ofspaying/neutering a dog/cat that is adopted at a shelter. There are no income criteria for being able to qualify for a Plan A voucher. SB 137 retains Plan B that provides dog or catspay/neutering for a nominal co-pay for persons that participate in certain low-income programs. Click here for a copy of the bill.Initiative to Merge Certain State Agencies - SB132 establishes a commission to develop implementation plans for merging the department of cultural resources, the department ofagriculture, markets and food, the department of fish and game, the division of parks and recreation, and the division of forests and lands into a newly established department of natural andcultural resources; and transfers all law enforcement functions of those departments to the department of safety. Click here for a copy of the bill. STATUS: House Executive Departmentsand Administration Committee Subcommittee voted to recommend the bill be “Inexpedient to Legislate” (killed).NH is winding down. Here is a summary thus far this session:Bills passed by both the House and the SenateHB 148: Relative to health certificates as evidence of the transfer of dog, cat or ferret. Requiring an annual vet statement for exemption from rabies vaccination.HB 247: Changes the law pertaining to complaints filed due to the abuse of domestic animals. Instead of the state veterinarian being the first contact, the complaintshall be initially filed with the local law enforcement agency, animal control officer, state police, or sheriff, with jurisdiction over where the animal is kept. At therequest of the contacted law enforcement agency, the state veterinarian shall assist in a secondary capacity in enforcing the provisions of law and investigating saidcomplaints.HB345: Allowing physical therapists to practice on animals.SB 13: Declaring the Chinook the state dog.SB 137: Deletes the automatic eligibility of a state resident who has adopted a dog or cat from an animal shelter to participate in the animal population control(spay/neuter) program and requires that all participants be means tested.SB 156: Relative to the commission to study the creation of an animal care worker classification.Bills Retained in Committee for Study and Action in 2010HB 630: Prohibits live greyhound racing in NH. House Local & Regulated Revenues CommitteeHB 431: Requiring certain engine coolants to include an aversive agent. House Commerce Committee.Defeated Bills (Killed)
The Monthly National Legislation Reporthttp://mnlreport.typepad.com/Page 215 of 3307/5/2010HB220: Adding a civil forfeiture process to the animal cruelty violations.HB 278: Increases the penalty from a class A misdemeanor to a class B felony for cruelty to service animals.HB 337: Requiring temporary vendor permits for certain animal sellers.HB 427: Requiring licenses for horses.HB 559: Requiring Fish & Game Advisory Council to have an animal rights’ representative.HB 59: Requiring employers of employees with service dogs to signs prohibiting other dogs into the establishment.HB 653: Relative to definition and functions of service animals.SB 19: Relative to governmental immunity from liability lawsuits for municipal dog parks.SB 140: Allowing chiropractors to practice on animals.Thanks to "DOGS" - Dog Owners of the Granite State for updates. Further information is available at their website. Click here to visit their site now !NEW JERSEYCherry Hill - (5/24/09) - Aside from recent outreach into Camden, the Camden County Animal Shelter has worked for several years to reduce feral populations across the county throughthe method of trap, neuter and return. The trap, neuter and return method prevents feral populations from increasing and avoids the vacuum effect caused by moving or euthanizing apopulation. While some municipalities like Gloucester City have supported the method, Camden officials haven't been as supportive. Iraida Afanador, director of Camden Code Enforcement,said she doesn't support trap, neuter and release as catching a stray cat and then returning it to a feral colony only serves to continue the problem. "We'll have the same problem," she said. "Itwill be a round robin. Like a dog chasing its tail." Colin Campbell, the state's Senior Public Health Veterinarian, said there aren't any state laws regarding the method. State legislation callingfor a study on the practice is pending. Afanador said she was studying the matter further and planned to introduce an ordinance regarding trap, neuter and release to City Council on Tuesday.Afanador did not respond to questions about the specifics of the ordinance.Princeton - (5/27/09) - Some local dog lovers think proposed and existing township regulations governing canine behavior are unkind to four-legged friends and their owners. "Thereseems to be this hysteria over dogs," said a township resident. "Princeton has always been a comfortable place to walk dogs and enjoy the community, but now it is almost gestapo. You haveto keep the dog in the house, it can't bark, it can't do anything." A few other dog owners showed up at a recent township committee meeting to oppose a new ordinance setting higher fines fordogs that "bite, threaten, menace or molest" a person or another animal. But dog owners said the language in the proposed ordinance is too vague, questioning what constitutes a doggiethreat or menace. Resident Marco Gottardis said many dogs growl as a warning but never bite, and dogs that bite often don't growl. Deputy Mayor Chad Goerner said the ordinance is meantto promote safety, but he also agreed the ordinance should be revised for clarity's sake, eliminating the words threaten, menace and molest, and suggested the committee table and revise it,which the committee did. Under the proposed ordinance, the owner of a dog that bites would be fined $250 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. The ordinance was intendedto create more serious consequences in the case of a dog that bites so that owners will have a stronger incentive to regulate their animals' behavior. Officials said they will look at possiblyreconvening the task force. A public hearing on the revised dog ordinance will be held June 8.Union County - (5/30/09) - The dogs of Union County will get their new park, but it won't be a pooch palace, as previously planned. Bowing to pressure from residents -- including dogowners -- and the economic recession, the Union County Board of Freeholders has decided to abandon a planned $586,972 renovation project for Echo Lake Dog Park in Mountainside.Upper Freehold - (5/20/09) - Township residents who allow their animals to repeatedly run at large may face fines up to $2,000 if the governing body heeds recommendations by theBoard of Health. The Board of Health unanimously voted on May 12 to suggest the Township Committee make changes to the animal control ordinance. Board Secretary Betty Tindall said thecommittee would have to introduce the ordinance with the proposed changes and hold a public hearing. There are also proposed changes that would give the pound master the right tohumanely euthanize an impounded dog. The pound master would be able to destroy any dog detained for seven days after the owner has received notice of seizure if the owner does not claimthe dog, pay all detention expenses or produce a license or registration tag for the animal. The detention costs would not exceed $12 per day, according to the proposed ordinance changes.However, the costs of any medical treatment deemed necessary while a dog is impounded would also be the do owner's responsibility. The proposed changes to the township's animal controlcode would also affect dog license and registration tag fees.NEW MEXICOKASHA-KATUWE TENT ROCKS NATIONAL MONUMENT - (5/21/09) - It doesn't matter if a dog is on a leash or not - it's not allowed at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks NationalMonument between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The Bureau of Land Management says dogs are banned at the monument as of Saturday. Public hearings on the ban are planned later. Manyowners aren't abiding by the monument's rule that dogs must be leashed, and they aren't picking up after their dogs. The ban does not apply to assistance dogs.Silver City - (5/23/09) - A proposed animal control and care ordinance being written by Silver City Town Councilor Tom Nupp will not apparently become law anytime soon. Following acouncil work session Wednesday night, Mayor James Marshall decided to take the measure off the agenda for the next council meeting, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday. During the two-hour worksession, only a few pages of the 32-page proposed ordinance were addressed. The mayor said he feels Nupp needs more time to work on the document and maybe more public work sessionsare needed as well, although no time or dates were set. The meeting room at the Grant County Administration Center was packed with more than 100 people who wanted to give their input onthe proposed ordinance. The general consensus was that most people were responsible pet owners. Of the few topics in the proposed ordinance covered Wednesday, the one that drew themost comments would limit the number of pets a person can have in the town limits. Under the current ordinance, the limit is two. The new ordinance would allow up to four. Many residentsadmitted they are in violation of the present ordinance.NEW YORKNOTICE !! NY A7218, a "dock/crop bill" - has NOT passsed Legislature and will NOT go into effect 8/1/09 !Here is what you need to know and can pass along to others who expressed concern over this issue:A 7218 -- the NY bill on DOCKING (does not mention cropping) remains stalled in the NYS Assembly Committee on Agriculture. It is a ONE HOUSE proposal, in a TWO HOUSE legislature. Ithas not even been considered by the NYS Committee on Agriculture, much less passed by the entire NYS legislature. See link for bill history here.That said, let's move on to other important issues in New York !Thanks to the Dog Federation of New York for updated information. Interested persons can visit their website/blog here or join their pet law publicdiscussion group here.
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