[ SHOWGSD-L ] WA - FWD w/specific permission A: Summary of bills introduced so far in legislative session
- From: Stormy Hope <Stormy435@xxxxxxx>
- To: freelist LIST <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:02:00 -0800
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WA: Summary of bills introduced so far in legislative session
Posted by: "Sylvie McGee" sylviemcgee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:47 pm (PST)
I wrote this summary for Timberland Valley Dog Fanciers' Association,
for
which I'm the legislative liaison and thought some members of this group
might be interested in it as well. Lots of action, much of it a carry
over
from last year.
Well, the session started this week, and there are already several
dog-related bills introduced - some of them problematic.
1. Probably most tro ubling, House Bill 1936 is the companion bill to
Senate
Bill 5651 that we fought and got amended last year. But we ultimately
lost
on it. It passed into law - this is the limit law on keeping intact dogs
that is the ground on which the proposed county regulations are being
built.
House Bill 1936 has been reintroduced from last year, and is the
*original*
version of the bill. So it includes the following provisions, which we
managed to get blocked last year - so presumably we will need to fight
it
out again....<sigh>
- A lower limit on dogs - 25 versus the 50 in current law.
- Adds a requirement for working smoke alarms in "housing facilities and
primary enclosures", and refers to sprinkler systems, although it
doesn't
specifically require sprinkler systems.
- Adds specific language about temperatures that must be maintained in
kennels (not under 50 degrees, nor over 85 degrees) - current law says
that
shelter must prote ct "from extreme temperatures and weather
conditions that
may be uncomfortable or hazardous to the dogs";
- Adds very specific language about the construction of flooring, while
current law states that "floors are constructed in a manner that
protects
the dogs' feet and legs from injury". The House bill would specify
width of
slats, or use of poured concrete.
- Requires veterinary exams of breeding dogs at least once a year, and
of
bitches at least once a year OR prior to each breeding attempt.
- Limits bitches to a single litter per year.
- Requires that ear cropping, tail docking, debarking and surgical
births be
conducted under anesthesia and by a licensed veterinarian.
- Adds warrantless searches - since any animal control officer or other
authorized public health or safety official can investigate "upon his
own
motion".
2. House Bill 2202 was read once last year, and referred to the
Judiciary
Committee, wh ere it died without a hearing. It has been reintroduced
this
year.
In brief, it requires the department of agriculture to adopt and
maintain
rules that set a vaccination schedule for dogs under 12 months, and the
process and schedule for treating dogs under 12 months for worms and
parasites, and a timeline for separating a dog under 12 months from its
mother or litter. *Any* breeder who sells a dog under 12 months of age
would
be subject to complying with these regulations. It also requires the
department of agriculture to provide a way for anyone to report
sellers who
are suspected of violating the requirements, and to investigate those
allegations.
This is a fairly scary bill, since there is a lot of diversity of
opinion
and practice about vaccination schedules and worming protocols by
legitimate
and thoughtful breeders.
3. House Bill 2387 has been reintroduced from last year. It was
originally
introduced in la te April, referred to the Judiciary committee, and
stayed
there - but that may be because it was introduced so late in the game.
This is an anti-tethering bill. It makes it illegal to "leave a dog
outside
and unattended by use of a restraint such as a tether, chain, rope,
cord or
other device used to tie an animal to a running cable or pulley system
or to
a stationary object" for more than an hour each day unless the owner
is in
the company of the animal; for any length of time in adverse weather;
in a
manner that keeps the animal out of shelter in whether below 40
degrees or
above 85 degrees or during rain, hail, sleet or snow; in a location
within
100 yards of a school. It also requires that any tethering be attached
to a
harness or fixed length collar. Penalties are: $100 first offense, $250
second offense; $500 for any third or subsequent offense.
The bill also requires that "a dog owner who keeps the owner's dog in an
enclosure for the majority of the day" (i.e. kennels their dogs) must
comply
with the housing and enclosure requirements of SB5651. In this section,
essentially the law applies the requirements passed to address large-
scale
breeders to any dog owner who kennels their dog.
4. Engrossed Senate Bill 5200, Senate Bill 5870, and Senate Bill 6291
all
got hung up in wrangling between the House and Senate last year over
which
version of the bill would be passed. They all address an old
agricultural
law requiring (1) an owner to kill his dog if notified the dog has
killed a
domestic animal; and (2) requiring a sheriff's deputy to kill dogs found
running loose between August and March. ESB5200 has been made eligible
for a
third reading (at which point a vote is generally taken) as of two
days ago.
It will, if I'm getting it right (it's confusing, because there have
been a
bunch of competing bills and wrangling between House and Senate)
repeal t he
old law entirely.
5. In some good news, Substitute House Bill 1831 has been reintroduced
this
year, after dying in the House Rules Committee last year as the session
wound down. If passed, the bill will protect the rights of residents of
unincorporated rural counties to continue to own and possess their
pets and
livestock if their area is annexed. It applies to "rural counties",
which it
defines has having fewer than 100 persons per square mile. The right
to own
their pets beyond the new jurisdiction's limits applies only to the pets
actually owned at the time of annexation.
6. Substitute Senate Bill 5063 has been reintroduced this year, after
dying
in the Senate Rules committee last year. This would allow cemeteries to
allow burial of pets with their owners in plots owned by the pet
owners. It
would not require cemeteries to offer this service, but would allow it.
7. Senate Bill 5329 and House Bill 1406 (co mpanion bills) have also
been
reintroduced this year. They both died in committee last year. These
bills
would impose a fee, paid by pet food distributors, that would be used to
fund a *voluntary* spay-neuter fund. Proceeds would pay for spay/
neuter of
companion animals belonging to low income individuals, and for spay/
neuter
of feral/free-roaming cats. The fee in the bill comes to about 3 cents/
pound
of food.
8. Finally, on a lighter note, Senate Bill 5192 has also been
reintroduced -
it states simply that the holder of a beer, wine, spirits or tavern
license
may allow well-behaved, leashed dogs accompanied by their owners on the
premises during business hours. So if this one passes, no matter what
happens in the rest of the session, we can take our dogs with us to
celebrate or to drown our sorrows, as the case may be.
Sylvie McGee
sylviemcgee @comcast.net
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