another email, this one is from the ASPCA~ Hello New York Animal Advocates, paw_2 I’m Bill Ketzer, the ASPCA’s Senior Legislative Director for New York State, and I wanted to share some fantastic news. Thanks in part to your phone calls, letters, emails and personal visits to legislative offices, seven important measures passed the Legislature this year! Four of these measures were priorities during the ASPCA’s Voices for Animals Day in Albany on May 6—your voices were heard loud and clear. Several of the bills below saw significant opposition, but you rose to the challenge and gave our bill sponsors the support they needed to pass what I sincerely think is the most comprehensive animal agenda New York has seen in many years. Allow Local Governments Regulate Puppy Mills (A.740-A/S.3753-A) Ready for governor’s signature This bill would finally allow counties, cities and towns to enact additional requirements to allow greater local control and management of puppy mills and pet stores if desired. More and more, local governments have expressed a need go above and beyond the notoriously weak state pet dealer laws, yet currently they are expressly prohibited from doing so. Require Training for Municipal Dog Control Officers (A.1657-E/S.3537-D) Ready for governor’s signature This bill would require the Department of Agriculture and Markets to establish a training program for dog control officers (DCOs) in New York towns and cities. In recent years the actions of untrained DCOs has resulted in the abuse and death of dogs and cats all over the state. Help Shelters Care for Animal Victims of Cruelty (A.5113-A/S.2665-B) Ready for governor’s signature This bill would create a clearer, more effective judicial process for animal shelters seeking reimbursement for costs associated with caring for animals whose owners have been charged with animal cruelty. Increases Penalties for Killing or Injuring Police Dogs (A.2596-A/S.1079-A) Ready for governor’s signature This measure would make it a Class E felony to kill a police dog or horse in the line of duty. (This offense is currently a misdemeanor.) Improves Pet Store Lemon Law (A.1205-A/S.3955-A) Ready for governor’s signature This bill extends the 2-week pet owner timeframe for store/breeder accountability for congenital defects to 6 months. The current timeframe for consumer recourse is too short because most congenital issues take much longer to present in dogs and cats. Holds Pet Stores to Higher Standards (A.5114-B/S.3723-B) Ready for governor’s signature This bill requires an administrative hearing to suspend or revoke a pet dealer’s license after 3 consecutive inspection failures where critical deficiencies are found. This is the same protocol currently in law for live poultry markets. Prohibits the Possession, Sale or Transfer of Eurasian Boar (A.3767-A/S.5733) Ready for governor’s signature This bill would address a growing problem in New York State. Imported primarily for captive purposes in hunting facilities, Eurasian boars have been reported at-large in at least 39 Upstate counties; further evidence that the proliferation of this invasive species continues unabated. As noted above, ALL of these bills still need Governor Cuomo’s signature to become law. Please take a minute to contact his office at (518) 474-8390 to express your support. Historically, New York has led the way in many areas of animal welfare policy…let him know you want him to uphold that tradition! I’ll leave you with one final request: Please consider visiting your legislators in their home offices during the off-session! Visit ASPCA.org to find out who represents you and the locations of their district offices. Just because session is over doesn’t mean that your state assemblymember and senator are unavailable to talk about how important animal legislation is to you and others in our state. And don’t forget to thank them if they supported these bills or any others you fought for this year. It has been my pleasure to meet many of you personally and work together towards making New York a leader in animal welfare policy. Thank you again, and enjoy your summer! Bill Ketzer Bill Ketzer, ASPCA Senior State Legislative Director, Northeast Region
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:45:22 +0000
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