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January 13, 2017 Deborah Stone

Deborah Stone and her dog (Photo provided)

Animal bills expected to come before the General Assembly this year

It’s that time of year again. On Jan. 11, Maryland lawmakers gathered in Annapolis to begin their 2017 General Assembly session.

Over the course of the 90-day session, our state’s delegates and senators will act on more than 2,500 pieces of legislation, and, just like every year, some of those bills will involve animal welfare.

Among those working for passage of some of those bills will be the ASPCA.

According to Chloe Waterman, the ASPCA’s Senior Manager of State Legislation, in most years, there are about 25 animal welfare bills each session. This year, Waterman expects there will be even more.

Here are just five of the ASPCA’s legislative priorities:

You might be surprised to learn there’s currently no statewide oversight of animal shelters in Maryland. Maryland is in the minority of states in this regard, and the ASPCA wants to change that. The organization’s top priority this legislative session is a bill that would create statewide oversight of all of our state’s animal shelters.

The program would be modeled after the Horse Industry Board program, which licenses and inspects horse stables in Maryland.

Another bill returns this session after failing to pass in 2016. It would require research institutions that use dogs and cats for research purposes to ensure these animals are adopted once they’re no longer needed for research.

Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland opposed it last session. Johns Hopkins plans to oppose the bill this session as well, saying it’s duplicative of existing efforts. I was unable to learn whether University of Maryland will do the same.

Another piece of legislation would require Maryland veterinarians to report cases of suspected animal cruelty.

Another bill would force more breeders to be licensed in order to operate. Currently breeders that have 15 or more un-spayed females must attain a county license. The new bill would require breeders with as few as eight un-spayed females to be licensed.

According to Waterman, one of the strongest deterrents to agencies prosecuting large-scale animal abuse cases is the cost of caring for animals that are seized. Currently that cost falls to the jurisdiction involved. The ASPCA is supporting a bill to establish a state fund to compensate animal control agencies for the care of these animals.

These are just five of the bills to be considered this General Assembly session. If you want to be informed on animal welfare legislation and its progress,

Chloe Waterman will add you to her email list. Reach out to her at chloe.waterman@aspca.org.

And you might not realize how much of a difference you can make in efforts to pass animal welfare legislation. Watch this short interview with Chloe Waterman to find out how your voice can have a real impact.