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May 13, 2009
View legislative update (PDF)
As many state legislatures begin to adjourn this spring, bills are making their way to governors' desks. Out of more than 140,000 bills introduced so far this year, 14,000 have been enacted. Several recently signed bills are noteworthy to those interested in animal health and veterinary medicine:
- Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation prohibiting local governments from adopting any regulation regulating crop management or animal husbandry practices involved in the production of agricultural or farm products on private property. "Encroachment, both physical and political, is one of the most dangerous things affecting agriculture," said Rep. Tom McCall, the measure's sponsor.
- Maine has new legislation prohibiting, effective 2011, a person from tethering or confining a sow during gestation or a calf raised for veal for all or the majority of a day in a manner that prevents the animal from lying down, standing up and fully extending the animal's limbs, and turning around freely.
- Maryland became the latest state to authorize the creation of a trust to provide for the care of an animal after the owner's death.
- New Mexico approved legislation authorizing euthanasia technicians to purchase, possess and administer controlled substances for the euthanasia and pre-euthanasia of animals.
- North Dakota and Oklahoma adopted the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act to provide health and veterinary services in times of declared emergency.
- Tennessee legislation requires veterinarians and other health care providers who have good reason to believe a person has obtained or attempts to obtain prohibited controlled substances to report such activity within three business days to a local law enforcement agency. The bill provides immunity from civil liability for good faith reporting.
- Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law a bill that closes a loophole that has prevented licensed veterinary technicians from preparing and administering legend drugs and controlled substances under the supervision of a veterinarian. She also signed a bill allowing courts to include pets in domestic violence protection orders.
- West Virginia exempted from consumer sales and service tax drugs purchased by veterinarians to be dispensed on prescription for medical treatment of animals.
Commercial dog breeders
Many bills have been introduced this year on this subject, and two have been signed into law recently. Indiana approved a measure regulating commercial dog breeders who maintain more than 20 unaltered female dogs who are at least 12 months old, and commercial dog brokers, who are defined as Class B licensees who sell at least 500 dogs in a year. The bill contains requirements for registration, exercise and housing standards, and recordkeeping.
Washington State also enacted legislation that sets standards for commercial dog breeding operations, including housing and exercise. The new law prohibits ownership of more than 50 dogs with sexually intact organs over the age of six months. The standards apply to persons who own or control at least ten dogs with intact sexual organs over six months old, and who keep the dogs in an enclosure for the majority of the day.
Equine-related legislation
The unwanted horse issue continues to generate a lot of attention at the state level. Montana HB 418 became law after Gov. Brian Schweitzer did not veto it. The measure allows investment in horse slaughterhouses in Montana, limits court injunctions that would stop or delay construction on environmental and other grounds, and awards attorney and court fees to plaintiffs in cases that courts find as harassing or without merit. Gov. Schweitzer earlier vetoed the limits on legal action, but both houses voted overwhelmingly in favor of the original legislation. Bill sponsor Rep. Ed Butcher said that the governor's amendments would make the bill "an empty shell because nobody's going to invest five to six million in a business in Montana if they're going to be harassed." He also stated that three communities have contacted him to express their interest in a slaughterhouse. Lawmakers and the governor received a flood of letters, e-mails and telephone messages from across the country, both in support and against the bill.
Montana Gov. Schweitzer signed into law HB 655, allowing a horse owner to surrender ownership of a horse to the state Department of Livestock at a licensed livestock market, if the owner is unable to provide food and water to sustain the animal's normal health.
North Dakota appropriated $50,000 to fund a feasibility study to determine if any existing facilities could be converted into an equine processing facility and to determine the nature and scope of existing and potential markets for equine meat and other byproducts.
Court watch
In a highly anticipated decision, the Vermont Supreme Court issued its opinion in Goodby v. Vetpharm. The court held that non-economic damages, such as loss of companionship and society and severe emotional distress, cannot be recovered when a pet dies due to negligent or wanton acts. The court also found that the recovery under a theory of negligent infliction of emotional distress is not available where the plaintiffs, the animal owners, were not in physical danger themselves, nor had any reason to fear for their own well-being. The justices expressed reluctance to extend non-economic damages when they are not allowed for "loss of a broad variety of critically loved human beings," or create rights "where the Legislature chose not to do so."
The plaintiffs alleged that their two cats died as a result of refill tablets containing the wrong dosage of a drug. They also alleged that defendant veterinarians failed to diagnose the toxicity and improperly treated the cats after the onset of the toxic responses. The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims for economic damages so they can purse the non-economic claims on appeal.
The AVMA and Vermont Veterinary Medical Association submitted an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief opposing non-economic damages, as did the Animal Health Institute, American Kennel Club, Vermont Federation of Dog Clubs and Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council. The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a brief supporting the plaintiff's position that companion animals should be considered more as family members than personal property, so that recovery of non-economic damages should be similarly available as for the wrongful death of next of kin.
The link at the top or bottom of the page will take you to the latest chart of significant pending bills and regulations from around the country.
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