Subcommittee agrees to retain HB 153 and form study committee to design statewide animal-cruelty training and protocols

A House Environment and Agriculture subcommittee agreed on Feb. 14 to retain HB 153 and pursue an amendment to create a study committee charged with developing statewide protocols and training resources for animal-cruelty investigations.

The subcommittee chair, speaking as the bill sponsor, said the bill would require at least one sheriff or deputy and one state trooper in each county to be trained in animal-cruelty law and investigative procedures. "I had put in a bill this year ... to require a sheriff or deputy in each county and 1 state trooper in each county be trained in animal cruelty," the chair said, explaining the intent is to create widely accessible expertise across the state.

The bill sponsor and multiple stakeholders told the panel that gaps in knowledge and uneven availability of animal-control officers leave animals and communities without consistent, timely responses. "When there's an animal in distress because someone is acting criminally cruel to this animal, ... there should be a police officer trained in animal cruelty that can respond to…