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Rep. Tom Manning backs ban on using law enforcement to seize dogs over unpaid $20 license fee
Summary
A House bill author seeks to bar officers from seizing pets for unpaid dog-licensing fees; municipal clerks and animal-control officials testified that seizure is rare but licensing is important for public health and animal tracking. The Senate Judiciary Committee moved HB 240-FN to consent.
Representative Tom Manning, sponsor of HB 240-FN, told the Senate Judiciary Committee he wrote the bill after a Pelham constituent received a town letter threatening law-enforcement seizure of her elderly dog over a $20 unpaid license fee. “I thought was egregious is that we're gonna send law enforcement to somebody's house, potentially kick down the door, I don't know, to seize someone's family member over failure to pay $20,” Manning said.
Manning said his original draft sought only to remove the authority to seize an animal for nonpayment; the Office of Legislative Services and an Environment and Agriculture committee amendment changed language in…
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