Chapter 312
2013 -- H 5492 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/15/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
ANIMALS AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY --
SPAYED OR
NEUTERED CATS
Introduced By: Representatives Hearn, Amore, and Kazarian
Date Introduced: February 14, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 4-19-16, 4-19-17 and 4-19-18 of the
General Laws in Chapter 4-19
entitled "Animal Care" are hereby amended to read as
follows:
4-19-16. Mandatory
spaying and neutering of dogs and cats adopted from a licensed
releasing agency. --
(a)(1) No licensed releasing agency shall release,
sell, trade, give away,
exchange, adopt out, or otherwise transfer with or without a
fee any dog or cat that has not been
spayed or neutered unless the adopting party executes a
written agreement with the licensed
releasing agency to have the dog or cat spayed or neutered in
accordance with subdivisions (2)
and (3) within
thirty (30) days of the adoption date or within thirty (30) days from the date
that
the dog or cat reaches sexual maturity, with the cost of
the spaying or neutering to be the
responsibility of the adopting party.
(2) The licensed
releasing agency is authorized to enter into a written adoption agreement
with the adopting party provided that at the time of
execution of the written agreement, the
licensed releasing agency collect from the adopting party an
amount equal to the cost to the
licensed releasing agency for the spaying or neutering of the dog
or cat to be adopted. The written
agreement must include the dog or cat's age, sex, and general
description; the date of the adoption
agreement was executed;
and the date by which the licensed releasing agency anticipates that
the
dog or cat must will be spayed or neutered;
the date by which the adoptive party shall claim the
dog or cat; the
adopting party's name, address, phone number, and signature; the licensed
releasing agency's name, address, phone number, and the dollar
amount of the deposit remitted to
the licensed releasing agency for the cost of spaying or
neutering the dog or cat.
(3) In addition to
executing the written agreement the adopting party must leave with the
licensed releasing agency a deposit of not less than twenty
dollars ($20.00) and not more than
forty dollars ($40.00). The amount of the deposit shall be
determined by the licensed releasing
agency. This deposit will be refunded by the licensed
releasing agency to the adopting party upon
presentation of a written statement or receipt from a licensed
veterinarian of the adopting party's
choice where the dog or cat was spayed or neutered providing
that the spaying or neutering was
performed within the thirty (30) day period. After execution of the agreement, the licensed
releasing agency shall cause the dog or cat to be spayed or
neutered and, when medically fit, shall
transfer custody of the dog or cat to the adopting party. Any
dog or cat that is not claimed by the
adoptive party within ten (10) days of the date enumerated in
the written adoption agreement
shall be considered unclaimed and may be offered for
adoption to another party.
(4) Alternatively,
the licensed releasing agency shall make appropriate arrangements for
the spaying or neutering of the dog or cat by a licensed
veterinarian and have the surgery
completed before releasing the dog or cat to the adopting
party.
(b) The following are
exemptions from the provisions of subsection (a):
(1) (i) A licensed releasing agency returns a stray dog or
cat to its owner.
(ii)(2) A
licensed releasing agency receives a written report from a licensed
veterinarian
stating that the life of the dog or cat would be jeopardized
by the surgery and that this health
condition is likely to be permanent.
(iii)(3) A
licensed releasing agency receives a written report from a licensed
veterinarian
stating that there is a temporary health condition, including
sexual immaturity, which would make
surgery life threatening to the dog or cat or impracticable,
in which instance the licensed releasing
agency shall enter into a written agreement for the
spaying or neutering of the dog or cat upon
resolution of the temporary health condition or the animal reaching
maturity and shall collect
from the adopting party an amount equal to the cost to the
licensed releasing agency for the
spaying or neutering of the dog or cat to be adopted. The
licensed releasing agency may then
allow the transfer of the dog or cat to the adopting party
who shall return the dog or cat to the
licensed releasing agency for spaying or neutering upon
resolution of the temporary health
condition or the animal reaching sexual maturity. The licensed
releasing agency may grant the
adopting party an appropriate extension of time in which to
have the dog or cat spayed or
neutered based on the veterinarian's report.
(iv)(4)
A licensed releasing agency transfers a dog or cat to another licensed
releasing
agency.
(2) The exemptions
provided in subdivisions (ii) and (iii) above are only applicable if the
licensed releasing agency receives a written report from a
licensed veterinarian within the thirty
(30) day period during which
the spaying or neutering would otherwise be required, or in the case
of a report contemplated by subdivision (ii), the report
may be provided to the licensed releasing
agency during any temporary extension period provided by
subdivision (iii) if the health
condition of the dog or cat has changed.
(c) If requested to do
so, a licensed releasing agency shall refund deposited funds fees
collected for the purpose of spaying or neutering the dog or
cat to the adopting party upon
reasonable proof being presented to the releasing agency by the
adopting party that the dog or cat
died before the expiration of the period during which
the spaying or neutering was required to be
completed.
(d) Any and all
licensed releasing agencies:
(1) May enter into
cooperative agreements with each other and with veterinarians in
carrying out this section; and
(2) Shall make a good
faith effort to cause an adopting party to comply with this section.
4-19-17. Forfeited
deposits Forfeited fees. -- Upon request, the adoptive party
shall
receive a refund for the fee collected by the licensed
releasing agency under the provisions of
subsection 4-19-16(a) provided that the licensed releasing
agency has not caused the dog or cat to
be spayed or neutered at the time the request for such refund
is made. Deposits required by
section 4-19-16 and section 4-19-12 which are unclaimed after
sixty (60) days from the date of
adoption or sixty (60) days from when the dog or cat reaches
sexual maturity, whichever is later,
will be forfeited by the adopting party and retained by
the licensed releasing agency and shall be
used for the following purposes:
(1) [Deleted by P.L.
2005, ch. 125, section 1 and P.L. 2005, ch. 203, section 1].
(2) To spay and
neuter dogs and cats that are available for adoption
by the licensed
releasing agency; and
(3) A follow-up
program to create tracking procedures to assure that dogs and cats
adopted from the licensed releasing agency are spayed or
neutered; and
(4) [Deleted by P.L.
2005, ch. 125, section 1 and P.L. 2005, ch. 203, section 1].
4-19-18.
Penalties for violations. -- (a) Violations of the
provisions of section 4-19-16 or
the written agreement executed pursuant to section4-19-16
by an adopting party are punishable
by a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00) for the first
offense, one hundred fifty dollars ($150) for the
second offense and four hundred dollars ($400) for the third
and subsequent offenses. Each and
every incidence of non-compliance by an adopting party
which continues unremedied for thirty
(30) days after written
notice of a violation under this section constitutes a subsequent offense
and the attendant penalties will apply. Second and
subsequent offenses may constitute grounds
for seizure and forfeiture of the dog or cat, which
seizure will be conducted by a dog officer or a
police officer for the city or town in which the adopting
party resides, and the seized animal will
be returned to the licensed releasing agency from which
it was adopted, which licensed releasing
agency will be free to adopt out or euthanize the seized dog
or cat. The adopting party loses all
ownership rights in the seized dog or cat, forfeits all rights
to any fee or deposit paid for the dog
or cat, and shall have no claim against the licensed releasing
agency or any other person for any
expenses incurred by the adopting party for the dog or cat's
maintenance. The provisions of
sections 4-19-16 -- 4-19-18 will be enforced against an
adopting party by a dog officer or a police
officer for the city or town in which the adopting party
resides. Licensed releasing agencies must
notify the animal control officer or police officer in the
city or town in which the adopting party
resides, in writing, within fourteen (14) days of any violation
of the provisions of section 4-19-16.
(b) Violations of
section 4-19-16 or 4-19-17 by a licensed releasing agency are
punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for the first
offense, two hundred fifty dollars
($250) for the second offense and five hundred dollars
($500) for the third and subsequent
offenses. The third and subsequent offenses may result in the
temporary or permanent revocation
of the licensed releasing agency's license to operate.
Compliance by the releasing agency with
sections 4-19-16 -- 4-19-18 will be monitored as to the
licensed releasing agencies by the state
veterinarian. The provisions of sections 4-19-16 through
4-19-18 will be enforced against a
licensed releasing agency by the division of law enforcement
of the department of environmental
management.
(c) All fines collected
under subsection (a) will be remitted to the town or city clerk of
the municipality where the adopting party of the dog or
cat resides. These fines shall be used by
the municipality only for programs for the spaying or
neutering of dogs or cats. All fines
collected under subsection (b) will be remitted to the general
treasurer and placed in a separate
fund within the general fund to be called the "Animal
Health Fund" which shall be administered
by the general treasurer in the same manner as the
general fund. All funds deposited in the
"Animal Health Fund" shall be made available
to the department of environmental management
division of agriculture to defray any costs or expenses
incurred by the state veterinarian in the
enforcement of sections 4-19-16, 4-19-17 and 4-19-18.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01066/SUB A/2
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