OLR Bill Analysis

SB 497

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REIMBURSEMENT OF MUNICIPAL ADVERTISING COSTS AND PET ADOPTIONS.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires anyone who purchases an unclaimed dog from a municipal pound to pay for the cost incurred by the animal control officer (ACO) in searching for its owner (see BACKGROUND).

Also under current law, the dog's purchaser must pay a $ 5 fee. The bill appears to eliminate the $ 5 fee for people who purchase dogs that are not unclaimed (e. g. , when the town knows the dog's source).

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009

BACKGROUND

ACOs' and Towns' Responsibilities Concerning Roaming or Stray Dogs

By law, ACO may take into custody (1) any roaming dog; (2) any dog not (a) having a tag or plate on its collar, (b) leashed, or (c) confined or under control as required by any order of the commissioner or regulation relating to rabies; or (3) any dog found injured on any highway, neglected, abandoned, or cruelly treated. The ACO must impound such a dog at the municipality's pound where it was found, unless a licensed veterinarian decides the dog's injuries or disease warrants it being destroyed. If so, the ACO may have the dog mercifully killed by a licensed veterinarian or disposed of as the state veterinarian may direct (CGS § 22-332).

If the ACO knows the owner or keeper of a dog or animal that he takes into custody, the ACO must immediately notify him that his or her dog or animal was impounded.

If its owner or keeper is unknown, the ACO must (1) immediately tag or use another approved means to identify the dog or animal and (2) promptly publish a description of the dog or animal once in the lost and found column of a newspaper that has circulation in the municipality where the dog was found. The municipal treasurer or other fiscal office must pay for the advertising cost to locate a dog's owner from the town's dog fund account.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Environment Committee

Joint Favorable