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An Act to Update the Animal Control Laws of Massachusetts
Are you a shelter or rescue? Sign up your organization as a supporter of this bill. Many of the laws that govern animal control date back to the 1800s. Currently, there are numerous problems with the outdated statutes that impact the animal control programs in our 351 cities and towns, leaving both the public and animals unprotected in many ways. More on the Bill: This bill would improve the mandatory spay/neuter law for shelters and animal control facilities, strengthen the dangerous dog ordinance (while preventing breed-specific policies), create a spay/neuter fund, update the kennel definitions and provide animal control officers with receive training are just a few of the components of this bill. Also, it would provide many updates to the laws to reflect the current state of animal control. For example, animal control was previously based on the structure of a county system, which is for the most part not used today. The term “dog officer” is still used, although in Massachusetts and nationally, the current term used is “animal control officer.” The bill was recently updated (October 2009) to remove the surcharge provision in the original draft that would have resulted in $3 from dog licenses to be used for spaying/neutering and for animal control officer training. This was replaced with a voluntary tax check off on state income tax forms to fund these important programs. The Animal Control Officers Association of Massachusetts (ACOAM), the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), the Animal Rescue League of Boston, the state’s Bureau of Animal Health within the Department of Agricultural Resources and the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) have worked together to draft these changes.
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