**** Upcoming Hearing ****
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
The House Environment and Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on SB415 – (New Title) requiring appropriate hydration be made available to certain animals and establishing a committee to study harmful weather conditions for dogs.
When: 1 p.m. Where: Room 303, the Legislative Office Building.
SB415 – (New Title) requiring appropriate hydration be made available to certain animals and establishing a committee to study harmful weather conditions for dogs.
SB415 adds “appropriate hydration” to the definition of animal cruelty in RSA 644:8, III(a).
Additionally, the original commission has now been changed to a legislative study committee which will “review the publication entitled, “Animal Cruelty Investigation and Prosecution: A User Manual for New Hampshire Law Enforcement” from the governor’s commission on the humane treatment of animals in order to identify if research dictates temperatures above or below which dogs should be brought inside or any other weather conditions which could be harmful to dogs. The committee may solicit the advice or testimony of any organization with information or expertise relevant to its study.”
DOGS POSITION: While DOGS supports the addition of appropriate hydration, we do not support a legislative study committee to determine what weather conditions should mandate that dogs have to be brought inside.
A dog’s ability to deal temperature extremes is based on many factors including age, health, physical conditions, metabolism as well as acclimation. Dogs who live outside full time adapt to temperature ranges much the same as humans do. Adequate shelter, ventilation and shade (already covered by New Hampshire law) are much more important to a dog’s ability to withstand weather conditions than a citing a specific temperature.
Please email the House Environment and Agriculture Committee asking that the study committee be removed from the bill.
Update on Recent Bills
At the Senate Judiciary Committee a hearing on HB1547 – prohibiting bestiality, both the Farm Bureau and the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food asked for bestiality to be moved into the Animal Cruelty statutes and for the exceptions to be changed to mirror Maine’s law. The committee is considering the bill and the testimony.
