DEAR PET TALK: Is there pending legislation to support pets and farm animals in Massachusetts? I know that the Legislature banned declawing for cats, but what else is being reviewed?
— ENGAGED ANIMAL LOVER
DEAR ENGAGED ANIMAL LOVER: This is exactly the kind of question we love, and we will answer this question over the next two weeks. In Massachusetts, as you know, there is the legislative branch (the House and Senate), and executive branch (the governor), and right now the Legislature is in session so there are bills pending in both chambers that concern animals, both pets and domestic animals.
A good place to learn more is the MSPCA-Angell (the Massachusetts Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals). This humane organization was founded in 1868, two years after the ASPCA was founded in New York. They are leaders in the animal welfare movement. Here is information from their page. The Legislature has a two-year session and “Legislators had until January 17, 2025 to meet the filing deadline. Around 6,800 bills were filed at the beginning of the legislative session; usually, another couple of thousand are filed late.”
Current pending legislation falls under these categories: Companion Animals, Cruelty Prevention — All Animals, Animals Used in Testing, Wildlife, Farmed Animals, Veterinary Medicine, Public Health.
Two proposed bills concern individuals in public housing, with one bill which “reinstates the existing elderly-state-aided housing program, language that was inadvertently removed when EOHLC (Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities) was created in 1923. H.4835, “An Act to codify pet-friendly elderly housing policies and ensure pet parity across housing authorities,” will also update a pet program “to apply across all state-aided housing (of which elderly housing is already two-thirds), without restrictions on dog breed, size, or appearance.”
I hadn’t looked at Local Housing Authority rubrics for a while, and found that the term “Emotional Support Animal” has transitioned to “Assistance Animal.” To quote from a letter sent from Department of Housing and Community Development in February 2023: “An Assistance Animal is a broader term than Service Animal. It is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or that provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified effects of a person’s disability.
“An Assistance Animal is not a pet and is permitted as a reasonable accommodation in order for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to participate in and enjoy the LHA’s housing and programs.”
Individuals in public housing will, of course, need to provide a deposit, proof of current rabies vaccination, spay/neuter status, and updated contact information as to whom the housing authority should contact if the owner of an assistance animal should be incapacitated.
For more information, visit: https://tinyurl.com/ywuyd5pa.
Next week, we speak to state Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster, who is co-sponsoring a bill banning the sale of puppies, kittens and rabbits in pet shops (with the proviso that such shops can partner with local shelters). The purpose of the bill is to eliminate animals coming “from substandard breeding facilities, which results in consumers unknowingly purchasing sick or genetically compromised pets.”
Sally Cragin is the director of Be PAWSitive: Therapy Pets and Community Education. Text questions to 978-320-1335.
Original article
Comments