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Legislative Priorities 2009

Progress in improving the state animal protection laws has been slow and Kentucky lags far behind its neighboring states such as West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee in progressive animal protection legislation. In fact, a recent study of all state statutes pertaining to animal cruelty has revealed that Kentucky ranks in the bottom 5 of all states in the nation because of inadequate or non-existent animal protection laws. Reasons for this low ranking include:

Additional legislation needed:

Forfeiture and Bonding - requires defendant to post bond for care, animal forfeited if bond not posted. Guilty finding, acknowledgment of guilt or Alford plea requires forfeiture of animal. Would like to prohibit future ownership as well (2 years). Update: A bill has been introduced that would remedy this - HB 428.

Cats - include cats in stray holding period requirements. Currently cats do not have to be held for a specific period at shelters, so they can conceivable be euthanized the day of intake, giving owners no opportunity to reclaim.

Shelter for a dog - current cruelty statutes do not require shelter - just food, water, space, health care. Need to add shelter to the statutes, at least for dogs. Update: A bill has been introduced that would remedy this - HB 137.

Horse soring - current statutes on horse soring minimal and ineffective (current fine $10 and only at horse show).

Mandatory spay/neuter from shelters - shelters are adding to influx by releasing unaltered animals for adoption. Update: A bill has been introduced that would remedy this - HB 240.

Antifreeze - bittering agent needed. Many children and animals are poisoned - accidentally or intentionally - with antifreeze due its sweet taste. A bittering agent (cost 1 cent/gallon) would prevent this. Update: A bill has been introduced that would remedy this - HB 182..

Animal shelters - more $$ in budget for facilities/equipment and spay/neuter programs

Animal fighting - felony penalty for attendance at dog fights. Hard to catch dog fighters without provision making everyone in attendance felons. Increase penalties for cockfighting

Review of animal care and control laws - modernize and codify (this would be a resolution)

Increase cruelty officers available - Ag bill that did not pass last session would give peace officer status to Ag (this would help for horse abuse cases). Since this is a request to simply add peace officer status to existing Ag inspectors, and not a request to hire more people, this would not cost any additional money for the state.

Commercial animal breeding operations - require registration and inspection of dog/cat/bird breeders engaged in commercial operations. These operations are often in violation of cruelty statutes, pollute local water supplies, and avoid federal, state, and local taxes.

Inspections of charitable humane societies, sanctuaries, shelters, etc. - allow inspections of facilities for animals held at organizations deemed charitable by state of KY and/or IRS (consumer protection and animal welfare).

HCR 121 (BR 1726) - Urge the Department of Education to consider the introduction of instruction on the humane treatment and protection of animals into public school systems.

Thank you to the HSUS for this list.