Current Animal Legislation: HB 5902
On July 28th, the Joint Municipalities Committee of the Massachusetts House produced HB 5092 an animal legislation Bill: You can read the whole bill here but in short the bill:
- Imposes mandatory spay/neuter of all dogs over 12 months of age;
- Require the annual purchase of an intact animal permit at a cost of up to $500 per dog.
- Limit the number of reproductive events per female dog to one litter per year, with few exceptions.
- Require the reporting of all sales of puppies to local jurisdictions.
- Limit the amount of time a dog can be tethered (tied in a single place, not on a run) to three hours.
- Allow towns and cities to impose breed-specific ordinances.
- Require all dogs be kept up to date on Rabies Vaccine.
- Establish strict nuisance laws that prohibit dogs barking for more than a 1/2 hour as an irritant to neighbors
Over the next few weeks, RTP will be breaking this bill down point by point to show the pros and cons of each section so that our readers can more actively take part in the legislative process. A lot of controversy and false information has been put out over this bill, so proceed with care when educating yourself regarding this issue.