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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 8, 2016 09:58 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative William C. Kortz, II |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Legislation Regarding Lost Dogs (former HB 1819) |
| In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation (former HB 1819) that would help dog owners recover their dog when it is lost. Currently, Act 225 of 1982, otherwise known as the Dog Law, requires a minimum of a 48-hour holding period when authorized officials find an unlicensed dog that is running at large. After this period, the dog “may be humanely killed or given to a humane society or association for the prevention of cruelty to animals.” In some instances, when an unlicensed dog is running at large, the owner may be away for the weekend, and unbeknownst to them, their dog has left their property. Therefore, the 48-hour period may elapse while the owner is away, thus permitting their dog to be euthanized or turned over to an animal rescue group without the owner ever realizing their dog was missing. The legislation that I will be re-introducing would help rectify this problem by extending the 48-hour holding period to 96 hours (excluding weekends and official holidays). Additionally, it would require police departments to maintain a list of dogs (licensed and unlicensed) found running at large within their jurisdiction and require that this information be made available to the public. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. Previous co-sponsors: Rozzi, Cohen, Harkins, Thomas, Diamond, Frankel, McNeill, W. Keller, Schreiber, Gillespie, V. Brown, James, Pashinski, Schlossberg, Millard, Kauffman, Killion, O'Neill, O'Brien, Readshaw, Sainato, Mahoney, Goodman, Harhai, Gibbons, Murt, Donatucci, Watson, Milne and Farry |
Introduced as HB1044