AN ACT CONCERNING ROAMING LIVESTOCK AND PUBLIC SAFETY.

This bill explicitly broadens the authority of the chief animal control officer (ACO) and municipal and other ACOs to impound animals under certain circumstances.

By law, ACOs may impound any dog found injured on any highway, neglected, abandoned, or cruelly treated. Current law refers to “any other animal” taken into custody, but is unclear as to when these animals may be impounded. The bill explicitly authorizes ACOs to impound other domestic animals that are injured, neglected, abandoned, or cruelly treated and requires the exact same process after impoundment as existing law requires for dogs. The bill defines “other domestic animal” as any animal commonly kept as a pet, excluding livestock or ratite (e. g. , ostrich or emu).

The bill also allows ACOs to impound livestock or ratite that pose a threat to public safety, property, or other animals. The officer must follow similar impoundment and processing procedures as he or she follows with impounded dogs. By law, livestock includes cattle, camelid (e. g. , llamas and camels), and hooved animals a person raises for domestic or commercial use.

The bill allows municipal ACOs to fine the owners or keepers of impounded livestock or ratite up to $ 500 depending upon the (1) frequency of offense and (2) closeness in time to prior offenses.

*Senate Amendment “A” requires ACOs to impound “other domestic animals” as they find suitable, rather than at the local pound, and eliminates the requirement that the Department of Agriculture commissioner determine a suitable place, other than the local pound, to impound livestock or ratite.

By law, an ACO must impound a dog, under certain circumstances, at a pound where it is taken (see BACKGROUND), unless a licensed veterinarian decides the dog's injuries or disease warrants it being destroyed. In that case, the ACO may have the dog mercifully killed by a licensed veterinarian or disposed of as the state veterinarian directs. The bill allows an ACO to impound “other domestic animals” at a suitable facility that the ACO determines or have it mercifully killed for the same reason when he or she finds one injured on any highway, neglected, abandoned, or cruelly treated.

By law, a municipal ACO may euthanize, sell, or place as a pet, a dog, cat, or other animal in his or her custody if its owner has not claimed it within seven days after the ACO published notice of the animal's capture in a newspaper that circulates in the municipality where the animal was found. Any veterinarian who euthanizes a dog must be paid from the dog fund account (see BACKGROUND). The bill extends this payment to veterinarians who euthanize other domestic animals under the same circumstance.

Existing law allows the ACO to have a licensed veterinarian spay or neuter unclaimed dogs in custody after the seven day period, before selling or placing them as pets (it is unclear if this extends to other animals). The bill explicitly extends the spaying or neutering right to include other domestic animals. Existing law and the bill waive liability for veterinarians who spay or neuter animals in this situation.

The bill allows ACOs to impound livestock or ratite that pose a threat to public safety on highways, public or private property, or other animals. The livestock or ratite must be impounded at the local pound or another suitable facility, unless it is so injured or diseased that it should be destroyed immediately. As with dogs and other animals, livestock or ratite must be mercifully killed by a veterinarian or disposed of as the state veterinarian directs. Under the bill, a veterinarian who mercifully kills the animal and a person who disposes of it cannot be held criminally or civilly liable.

If the owner or keeper of the livestock or ratite is known, the bill requires the municipal ACOs to notify him or her of the impoundment immediately. If the owner or keeper is unknown, the officer must immediately tag or employ another suitable way to identify the animal as the chief ACO sees fit. The officer must then promptly publish a description of the livestock or ratite in the lost and found column of a newspaper having a circulation in the town where the animal was impounded.

The bill allows a municipal ACO to sell healthy livestock or ratite not claimed by and released to its owner or keeper within 14 days after the newspaper notice publication. The sale must be to a person who the officer is satisfied is purchasing the animal for domestic use and can give it proper care.

The municipal ACO may retain the livestock or ratite for an additional time that he or she thinks is advisable to place the livestock or ratite. If any livestock or ratite is not claimed by and released to the owner or keeper or bought for domestic use, the officer may offer the animal to a public or private nonprofit animal rescue or adoption organization.

The bill allows any ACO to fine the owner or keeper of impounded livestock or ratite, regardless of the number of animals impounded, as follows:

1. up to $ 60 for the first offense,

2. up to $ 250 for a second offense occurring within 15 days of the first offense, and

3. up to $ 500 for a third offense occurring within 30 days of first offense.

The owner or keeper of the impounded livestock or ratite is also responsible for the costs associated with the transportation and care of the animals until they are returned to the owner or keeper.

By law, ACOs 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 agriculture commissioner or regulation relating to rabies; or (3) any dog found injured on any highway, neglected, abandoned, or cruelly treated.

Each town treasurer or fiscal officer must keep a separate dog fund account of all fees received from the town clerk and all receipts from, and expended by, the municipal ACO in his or her duties. On September 1 annually, the town treasurer or fiscal officer must pay the agriculture commissioner 50% of all funds he received from (1) the sale of dog licenses that the town clerk sold before July 1, (2) transfer or replacement tags, and (3) kennel licenses. However, if a municipality chose to have its ACO undertake a survey of unlicensed dogs as allowed under CGS § 22-349, the treasurer may instead choose to pay 40% of all funds to the commissioner. Either way, the treasurer must include with the payment a statement of the number of licenses issued during the year.

Additionally, all funds received from licenses sold after June 30 and all funds received from the municipal ACO must be kept by the town treasurer or other fiscal officer in the separate dog fund account. The town treasurer or other fiscal officer must also, on the ensuing September 1, send 50%, or 40% as the case may be, of all license fees in such account to the commissioner, including any penalty fees.

SB 497 (File 414) requires anyone who purchases an unclaimed dog from a municipal pound to pay for the cost incurred by the animal control officer in searching for its owner.

Yea

Nay

(02/18/2009)

Yea

Nay

(03/20/2009)