Issue Position: Other Legislation

Issue Position

To help support the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals care for mistreated animals that come under the society's control, the Assembly passed legislation to require individuals convicted of or pleading to a charge of animal cruelty to be financially responsible for the SPCA's cost of caring for those animals.
Two other pieces of legislation dealing with animals were OKd by lawmakers. One, signed into law, will give the Department of Environmental Management greater and broader control over inspections of animals with contagious, infectious or communicable diseases. The other makes it a misdemeanor to confine any animal in a motor vehicle if done in a manner that places the animal in a life- or extreme health-threatening situation.
Stealing farm products and livestock is now a crime and, depending on the value of the stolen goods, a felony punishable by up to five years in jail, under legislation approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor.

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