Legislative committee hears ACIAB report urging consolidated animal-welfare division; director to file plan in eight months

The House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry on an unspecified date received the annual report from the Animal Cruelty Investigation Advisory Board outlining steps to consolidate animal-cruelty investigations and set uniform standards for shelters and rescues across Vermont.

The advisory board’s representative, Erica, a member of the Animal Cruelty Investigation Advisory Board and representative of the Central Vermont Humane Society, told the committee that “we need a comprehensive, plan” because current responses are fractured and inconsistent across jurisdictions. She said the advisory board recommends creating a Division of Animal Welfare, registering or licensing shelters and rescues, and addressing the transportation of animals brought into the state.

The report recalls legislation the board helped draft (H.626) and the most recent enactment, referred to in the presentation as Act 167. Erica said Act 167 set the next step in motion by establishing a director for the new…