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House committee considers making animal abandonment a misdemeanor, adds feral‑cat exemption
Summary
A House committee reviewed a bill to remove abandonment from the cruelty definition and make abandoning a dog or cat a class A misdemeanor; sponsors moved an amendment to exempt trap‑neuter‑return feral‑cat programs and members raised enforcement and shelter capacity concerns.
A House committee discussed a bill to change how the law treats abandonment of dogs and cats, proposing to remove abandonment from the cruelty definition and make abandoning a dog or cat a class A misdemeanor. During the hearing a sponsor moved an amendment to exempt groups that trap, neuter and return feral cats.
The bill’s sponsor told committee members the change aims to reduce people leaving animals by roadsides or otherwise abandoning them. ‘‘I had several groups reach out about this. Apparently, there's a lot of groups that go around catching feral cats in the areas and stay in and return…
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