Health, Wellness and Fitness for People & Pets JUNE 2015 | Page 57

THE LINK… IN THE LEGISLATURES

Bills We’re Watching:
Domestic Violence/Pet Protection Orders

H.R. 1258 – the Pets And Women’s Safety (PAWS) Act – was re-introduced with a new
number and 48 co-sponsors (12 Republican, 36 Democrat). The bill would expand existing
federal domestic violence protections to include pets of domestic violence victims. It would
prohibit crossing state lines to harm a domestic partner’s pet, and establish a federal grant
program to provide assistance and housing to victims’ pets in need of emergency shelter. Supporters are
seeking a few more Republican co-sponsors to help keep sponsorship bipartisan.
Alaska HB 147 would allow victims to petition the court for a protective order that the
abuser may not remove, harm or dispose of any animals in the household, and to grant her
exclusive care and custody of them. Peace officers investigating domestic violence cases
must inform victims of this provision. The bill would also declare pets to be marital property and give
courts authority to decide individual or joint custody when people divorce, with consideration of what
would be best for the animal. The bill was held over in the House Judiciary Committee when the
Legislature adjourned and will be revisited in January 2016.
Michigan SB 28 would make it a crime to knowingly kill, torture, mutilate, maim, disfigure, or
poison an animal, or threaten to do so, with the intent of causing mental suffering or distress to
a person or to exert control over a person. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee and is in the
Committee of the Whole.
Michigan HB 4478 would allow courts to issue protection-from-abuse orders preventing
respondents from injuring, torturing, neglecting, threatening, or removing the petitioner’s
animals. It would apply to current or former spouses, individuals with whom the petitioner has a
child in common or where has been a dating relationship, or an individual presently or formerly residing
in the same household. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice.
New Jersey A 494 would provide specific statutory authority to allow courts to include animals
in domestic violence restraining orders. The bill affects animals belonging to either party or a
minor child in the household. The bill is in the Assembly Women & Children Committee.
New Mexico S 178 was approved. The measure will appropriate $300,000 ($50,000 recurring
funding per year over six years) to provide temporary safe havens for the animals of domestic
violence survivors. Funding will become part of the budget of the Children Youth & Families
Department and disbursed for service provision to the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence
and Animal Protection of New Mexico’s Companion Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) program.
Wisconsin companion bills AB 141 and SB 97 would add household pets under the provisions of
temporary restraining orders or longer-lasting injunctions that can be issued by courts to protect
victims of abuse, harassment or threats. The bills would also allow the petitioner or a designee
to retrieve household pets. The Senate bill has passed the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public
Safety and the full Senate and is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly.

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