UPCOMING PUBLIC HEARINGS & MEETINGS
Thursday, March 29, 2012
- 10:45 AM, Senate Transportation Committee, Room 103, Legislative Office Building – HJR 22 Resolution urging manufacturers to add an aversive agent to vehicle coolant products.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
- 10 AM, House Environment & Agriculture Committee, 303 Legislative Office Building
- Subcommittee Meeting – SB 370 Clarifying that local law enforcement’s authority to enforce dog abuse statutes.
Legislative Status Report
SB 370: No longer Dog breeding and care requirements. Amended in the Senate to remove the original wording and replace it with wording that clarifies the current powers of law enforcement. The bill as amended in the Senate is intended only to make clear that local law enforcement has the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute suspected violations pertaining to the domestic animal abuse statutes. A copy of the bill as amended by the Senate can be obtained at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/SB0370.pdf
- DOGS Position: Opposed to the original bill. Supporting the Senate amended bill to provide for clarification of local law enforcement jurisdiction.
- STATUS: House Environment & Agriculture Committee subcommittee meeting on 4/3/12 at 10am.
HB 325: As amended by the House, allows purchasers to accept a sick or injured animal if the transferee has knowledge of the sickness or injury, and requires that imported dogs, cats and ferrets be held for 48 hours at a licensed facility before being transferred in order to assess health status.
- DOGS Position: DOGS believes that the new provisions are an improvement to the current law in order to address the challenges of dogs being imported into NH from other states and countries. DOGS supports an amendment, proposed by Rep. Tara Sad, that would prohibit dogs with contagious diseases from being transferred.
- STATUS: Awaiting possible amendments in Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. This bill was held over from last year and amended in the House. A copy of the bill is available at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB0325.html
HB 1362: As passed by the House, retains the current exemption from licensing and registration fees for service dogs and retired armed services dogs. The bill creates a one-time registration/licensing option for service animals that have been certified as such and properly tagged by the governor’s commission on disability. Requires the Governor’s Commission on Disability to issue and administer service animal permanent registration tags.
DOGS Position and Concerns: DOGS supports the exemption from licensing fees for service animals. DOGS has concerns regarding the new procedure such as:
- The Commission does not have the authority to revoke registration if the service dog’s rabies vaccination is not current after the dog is registered.
- A municipality will have no way to identify or verify current rabies vaccination for a permanently registered service dog that is running at large.
This past week, DOGS had discussions with the State Veterinarian and the Town Clerks Association. Both agree with us that verification of rabies vaccination with the municipality needs to be included in the bill.
STATUS: Passed the House with amendment (14-0 committee vote). Awaiting a public hearing in the Senate. A copy of the amended bill can be found on-line at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1362.html
