HB673: Animals; clarifies several standards of welfare.

Chief Patron

Kenny Alexander (D-89)
Norfolk, VA
Served: 2002–

Progress

	Introduced
	Passed Committee
	Passed House
	Passed Senate
	Signed by Governor
	Became Law

Status

03/02/2008: signed by governor

View Entire History

Summary

Animal welfare standards. Clarifies several standards of animal welfare. The amount of time an animal must be deserted to be considered "abandoned" is shortened from five consecutive days to 24 consecutive hours. "Adequate shelter" for tethered animals will require an enclosure large enough to provide separate eating and sleeping areas, both of which shall be at least 10 feet from a toilet area. "Adequate space" for tether animals will require that the tether is no more than 1/8th the weight of the animal and at least 20 times the length of the animal. "Adequate water" will require refreshment at least once every 12 hours and a container that cannot be overturned. The definition of "adoption" is broadened to include transfers of ownership from dealers.

View Full Text »

Video

Votes were cast on this bill on the following dates for which Richmond Sunlight has video: 01/17/2008, 01/30/2008, 01/30/2008, 01/31/2008, 02/01/2008, 02/01/2008, 02/04/2008, 02/04/2008, 02/05/2008, 02/19/2008, 02/19/2008, 02/20/2008, 02/21/2008, 02/22/2008, 02/22/2008 and 02/25/2008.

Comments

Bob Kane writes:

Any animal "not cared for," e.g. without daily freshen water or droppings removed, for a period of 24 hours is "abandoned" and the owner is subject to prosecution. A dog tether must be 60+ feet long and a horse tether must be 140-150 feet long. Virginia dogs and cats are no longer bought and sold, they're adopted and unadopted? Norfolk politician Alexander has introduced similar ill-considered bills each of the last three sessions.

Posted 6 months ago. #

Robin Harrison writes:

A tether a whopping 20x the length of the animal, but no more than 1/8th its weight. Real slick way to BAN tethering without actually saying it's what you're doing!

Separate eating, resting, and toilet areas.
Uhhh... are folks in the habit of strictly toilet training their animals up to human standards over in Del Alexander's Norfolk? Our hillbilly horses and dogs over here on the Southside just eliminate where they please. Most of us who own them have a shovel for that. Should we ship them to Richmond so delegates will have a far more effective method for dealing with nonsense bills like this?

Posted 6 months ago. #