UPCOMING PUBLIC HEARINGS & MEETINGS
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.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
- 9 AM – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Room 102 LOB – Public Hearing: HB 1231: Removing restrictions for sale of chicks, goslings and ducks.
- 9:45 AM – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Room 102 LOB – Public Hearing: HB 1336: Regarding nonresident reciprocity for bear hunting with dogs.
Legislative Status Report
HB 1231: Repeals the prohibition on sale of chicks, ducklings, goslings under 4 weeks old and in quantities of less than 12 to any individual.
DOGS Position: DOGS provided information that repealing the quantity and age requirements may be reasonable for chicks, ducklings and goslings but not for rabbits. The amended bill retains the restriction for rabbits in the statute.
STATUS: Passed the House as amended. Public hearing on April 5th in Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
A copy of this bill can be obtained on-line at: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1231.html
HB 1336: Regarding nonresidents use of bear hunting dogs. Nonresidents from states or Canada which allow the training or taking of bear with dogs, and who do not limit or prohibit NH residents from training or hunting bear with NH dogs, shall be the only nonresidents allowed to bring dogs into New Hampshire to train or take bear.
DOGS Position: Based on feedback from our “hunting/sporting” members, the amended version of the bill passed by the House, corrects an existing flaw in the reciprocity statute.
STATUS: Passed the House with amendment. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee public hearing on April 3rd. A copy of the amended bill can be obtained on-line at: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1336.html
SB 370: 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.
DOGS Position: Opposed to the original bill. Supporting the Senate amended bill to provide for clarification of local law enforcement jurisdiction to investigate complaints of animal abuse.
STATUS: House Environment & Agriculture Committee subcommittee meeting on 4/3/12 at 10am. A copy of the bill as amended by the Senate can be obtained at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/SB0370.pdf
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 dogs, cats and ferrets being imported to the state for transfer 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 the amendment, proposed by Rep. Tara Sad at the Senate public hearing, that would prohibit dogs with contagious diseases from being transferred.
STATUS: Awaiting 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 (currently, in statute). 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 permanently 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.
DOGS had discussions with the State Veterinarian and the Town Clerks Association. Both agree that the municipality must receive verification of current rabies vaccination.
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
