Legislative Efforts: Working on Lasting Changes
The Center for Animal Litigation exists because laws involving animals are outdated, have failed to be adequately challenged, and do not provide animals the legal status that today’s society demands. Laws that determine how long a companion animal is held by the government before “disposing” of the animal need to be closely examined. That is, if a dog or cat is taken into custody for the crime of being “lost” or otherwise homeless, how long does the law dictate an animal control officer must hold the animal before it can be “disposed”?
In Connecticut, for example, a domestic animal that is not claimed and released to the owner or otherwise adopted can be “mercifully killed” within an appalling seven days of public notification. One week can often not be enough time to reunite an animal with its owner, and if unowned, seven days is simply not sufficient time for shelters, animal rescues, and concerned citizens to organize an effort to rehome the impounded animal. We are in the process of garnering grassroots support and proposing changes to Sec. 22-332 of the Connecticut Statues. Although ultimately we would prefer a “zero kill” status everywhere for these innocent creatures, the amendments to the law propose to extend the time period post-notification to at least twenty-one days, with the expectation that more animals will be reunited with their owners or be allotted ample time to be adopted out to suitable families. We will push hard for legislators to agree that the lives of these animals are worth at least an extra 14 days of food and water.
Similar statutes exist in almost every state, and our plan is that this effort will be used as a model to amend and update these laws as well.
The current state of Sec. 22-232 can be found here:
The proposed amendments can be found here:
Proposed Amendments to CT Statutes Sec. 22-232
Raised BILL: An Act Prohibiting the Use of Wild or Exotic Animals in Traveling Animal Acts
