It was a busy end of September for MSPCA Advocacy, as we testified at 2 hearings in favor of 5 pieces of animal protection legislation, just this week! (More info on the numerous other hearings we testified at this summer, below!)
On Tuesday, our testimony was heard before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of S. 989, sponsored by Senator Mark Montigny, and H. 3772, sponsored by Representative Tram Nguyen.
S. 989: An act enhancing the issuance of citations for cruel conditions for animals, would amend a current law that allows civil citations to be written for certain cruel conditions. This bill will protect all domestic animals by allowing these citations to be written for animals, other than just dogs. Adding citations for all animals is a tool police and animal control officers can use to address cruel or dangerous conditions for animals before it escalates to felony animal cruelty. This bill mirrors H. 1822, heard before the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government in June.
H. 3772: An Act relative to protecting animals from abusers, prohibits a person who is convicted of animal cruelty from owning, possessing, exercising control over, adopting, or fostering an animal for any length of time that the court deems reasonable.
On Thursday, we testified in favor of 3 bills that would end dog breed discrimination by insurance companies (S.595 and H. 1037), sponsored by Senator Anne Gobi and Representative Jack Patrick Lewis, and in housing (H. 1038), also sponsored by Representative Jack Patrick Lewis.
S. 595, H. 1037: An Act concerning the use of certain insurance underwriting guidelines pertaining to dogs harbored upon the insured property, will prevent homeowners insurance companies from discriminating (deny, cancel, refuse to renew, or charge a higher premium) based solely on breed of dog owned.
H. 1038: An Act to prohibit housing discrimination against responsible dog owners, will prevent certain properties that allow dogs from discriminating against dogs based on breed, weight and size.
If you are passionate about these issues, please reach out to your state legislators, and ask them to support these animal protection bills! You can find who represents you at www.wheredoivotema.com. You can also see where your legislator stands on animal protection issues by checking out our Animal Scorecard.
We are very grateful for the advocates who took the time out of their days and time off of work to come to the State House in support of this animal protection legislation. We could not do our jobs without you!
See all the legislation we are working on this session.
Read about other hearings we have attended this summer:
