Arizona’s legislative session is now in full swing, and AHS remains committed to protecting the animals of Arizona. We need your continued support on several important legislative initiatives.

 

horseHouse Bill 2587 & Senate Bill 1267/Livestock; Animal Cruelty; Violation
These bills redefine the definition of an animal and limit the protections of many livestock breeds – including horses, chicken, goats and sheep – from animal abuse. It’s our firm belief that it shouldn’t matter whether we are talking about a horse or a cat, cruelty is cruelty and should be punished to the fullest extent possible.

 

AHS is strongly opposed to both HB 2587 and SB 1267 and are meeting with key legislators over the next few weeks to educate them in hopes of earning opposition to these bills. To read more about how HB 2587 and SB 1267 will negatively impact the animals of Arizona, click here.

 

House Bill 2242/Commercial Dog Breeders; Pet Dealers
As the state’s leading animal welfare agency, AHS is spearheading efforts to crack down on puppy mills and large scale breeding operations in Arizona through House Bill 2242, which passed out of the House last week by a vote of 51-9! The bill now moves on to the Senate where it is double-assigned to both the Committee on Government and Environment and the Committee on Natural Resources. We expect a first committee hearing in the coming days.

 

House Bill 2302/Unlawful Public Sale of Animals
House Bill 2302, which expands the unlawful public sale of animals to all counties in the state, also passed out of the House by a vote of 44-16 last week. AHS supports HB 2302, which will now be assigned to a Senate committee.

 

Senate Bill 1035/Dogs; Licensing; Vaccinations
Senate Bill 1035 authorizes county boards of supervisors to require a dog with a medical condition preventing vaccination against rabies to be licensed. While AHS  believes all animals should be registered, the bill’s language in its original form was extremely prohibitive from both a cost and resource standpoint for our shelter. AHS proposed amendment language that reduces the requirement on shelters from licensing to merely reporting the names and addresses of individuals who adopt dogs to the county on a quarterly basis, and the bill passed out of the Agriculture and Water Committee with this language included.

 

For more information on all of AHS’ legislative initiatives, visit our advocacy page.

February 27, 2014
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