Senate advances animal shelter bill

A bill that requires animals’ shelter to protect them from exposure to heat or cold passed with a 8-5 vote Thursday in a Senate committee.

The bill, HB1625, patroned by Del. Robert D. Orrock, R-Caroline, would slightly alter current law that requires shelter to protect animals from the adverse effects of heat or cold.

At the moment, animal control can’t intervene unless they see animals suffering from the effects or heat or cold, such as shivering, Orrock told the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee . The addition of the word “exposure” will allow animal control to intervene earlier.

“Animal control can intervene before the animal is suffering, work with the dog owner to try to fix the problem and be more proactive,” he said.

Another of Orrock’s bills, that sets requirements on the length of tethers, was killed in the same committee with a 4-8 vote. That bill, HB1827, would have required tethers to be four times the length of the animal — current law says it must be three times the length — or 15 feet long, whichever is greater.

This requirement is included in SB1025, a bill patroned by Sen. Lionell Spruill, Sr., D-Chesapeake. Spruill’s bill also prohibits tethering, or tying an animal to a rope or chain, in extreme weather. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Rules on Jan. 29.

Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of cruelty investigations for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said that while PETA supports Orrock’s HB1625 — the one that passed today — because it would be “a slight improvement over current law,” it strongly supports Spruill’s bill.

The essential difference, Nachminovitch said, is that Spruill’s bill is more targeted toward the problem of tethering and addresses tethering in extreme weather conditions, which has been a persistent issue.

“We know from our work in the field that there are countless tethered dogs across Virginia whose entire lives consist of a pile of dirt that they sleep, eat, and do their business on,” she said.

Nachminovitch said PETA sees tethered dogs get tangled up, unable to reach water during extreme heat and eventually die of heat exhaustion.

Orrock said that PETA’s ultimate objective is to ban tethering.

“My bill protects all dogs, regardless of how they are kept,” Orrock said.

Spruill’s bill would be hard to enforce, he added. For example, if people don’t have air conditioning, it may be cooler for the animals to be outdoors rather than indoors, he said.

Nachminovitch said that while adding the word “exposure” to the definition of “adequate shelter,” is a step forward, “it leaves a world of discretion to the animal control officer tasked with enforcing the code.

Spruill’s bill places responsibility on the animal owners, instead of the animal control officers, she said.

“What we are looking to do with SB1025 is yes, give animal control officers more authority to decide which animals are in danger, but also to educate the public about their basic duty of animal care.”

Del. Kaye Kory, D-Fairfax is a co-patron of both Orrock’s HB1625 and Spruill’s SB1025. She founded the Animal Welfare Caucus in the House last year to bring together advocates — including Nachminovitch — to talk about these issues. Kory rescued a dog from Southern Virginia who was tethered until he was one and a half.

“I think we need to have more laws that protect our animals,” she said.

Nachminovitch echoed the statement.

“It’s time for Virginia to move animal welfare forward with this basic step of legislating that in extreme weather, these dogs don’t have anyone to count on except for their owners,” she said.