A hearing has been schedule in the Massachusetts Legislature's Municipalities and Regional Government Committee.
Many bills that are directly related to the mission of MAC and to many of its members will be heard this day. It is important for the Committee members to hear first hand about the impact these pieces of legislation could have. Please consider attending.
A complete list of bills that will be heard can be found on the
state's website. While MAC members' feelings about specific bills may vary, below is some information about bills that we know are of interest to MAC members:
S. 1033, An Act further regulating municipal animal control
This is the comprehensive animal control bill that was drafted by many organizations and experts. Highlights include:
- Create a statewide spay/neuter program to reduce the number of homeless animals This would be funded by the surcharge on dog licenses; New Hampshire has reduced their euthanasia rate dramatically with a similar program;
- Add enforcement provisions to section 139A (the spay/neuter deposit law for animals adopted from shelters and animal control facilities);
- Require animal control officers to receive training;
- Prohibit carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gas as a means to euthanize dogs and cats;
- Reduce dog bites by improving the dangerous dog law (while preventing ineffective breed-specific ordinances);
- and make other updates and revisions.
H. 1041, establishing a Massachusetts cat and dog spay/neuter fund
This bill would create a fund, through voluntary donations on tax forms, to assist persons meeting income limit standards to sterilize and vaccinate dogs and cats, including feral cats, to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering.
H. 561 and H. 1445, An Act relative to the regulation of animal sheltersThese identical bills would authorize the Department of Agricultural Resources to regulate all aspects of sheltering and rescue. You can read an updated summary of what we sent out last year about these bill
here.
Other bills include: a bill that would amend the cruelty statute (H. 2326); a bill that would prevent the sale of puppies under 8 weeks (H. 2886); a bill that would create a seized animal fund to care for dogs (H. 2887), bills that deal with parts of the dangerous dog law (H. 1455; H. 562), and one that relates to cats and spaying/neutering and to feral cats (H. 1437). For a full list, visit the
state's website where bill text and more information can be found. Several bills have more detailed descriptions on the
MSPCA's site.
