Shortly after 1 p.m. on Jan. 7, the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee met in an early session with the Department of Public Safety to hear from Commissioner Jennifer Morrison and Lisa Millett, the new director of the Division of Animal Welfare. Millett said she expects to deliver a comprehensive report to the committee next week.

Millett, who described her background as a law professor and practitioner who has worked on municipal shelter reform and state animal‑welfare legislation, framed her approach as incremental and focused on cost and process efficiencies. "I hope to have it to you at some point next week," she told the committee.

Why it matters: Millett said the report will be a "menu" of options — some requiring funding and others focused on savings or process changes — intended to reduce disparities in how animal incidents are handled across the state and to improve coordination among municipal animal control, police, the Vermont State Police and Fish and Wildlife.

Millett summarized data she reviewed from state systems and law enforcement records: "there were about 400 animal incident calls in 2024," she said, and she coded roughly 200 of those as "potential cruelty" cases while noting that only "about, I think, 7 or 8 cruelty cases charged total." She cautioned that those counts reflect VSP and Fish and Wildlife records and do not include some municipal or constable responses that are not entered into the same records system.

On resources, Millett told the committee the position's appropriation is insufficient. She described the gap in staff and operating costs as "about $30,000 a year short" to cover salary, benefits and necessary equipment. Committee members said those estimates provide a starting point for the budgeting process.

Millett also discussed large‑scale seizures and capacity questions. She said she accompanied law enforcement on a June seizure that removed roughly 30 horses and that a civil‑forfeiture hearing on that seizure had taken place recently. She flagged the practical challenge of caring for seized animals and asked the committee to consider how to ensure sufficient space and support when large seizures occur.

Prevention and partnerships were a recurring theme. Millett said many potential cruelty cases stem from preventable neglect tied to economic stressors; she cited examples such as people losing access to food assistance and noted existing community resources (for example, a hay bank) are not consistently publicized. She recommended leveraging grants and partnering with humane societies to create short‑term kennel solutions so people experiencing housing instability can temporarily safeguard pets without becoming homeless.

Several committee members asked how widespread the worst cases are. Millett said high‑profile incidents tend to be more visible but that most recorded incidents involve one or two animals. She compared the limits of incident reporting to domestic‑violence reporting: "You only know what gets reported," she said, and that likely represents a fraction of the underlying need.

The session was conversational and concluded with Millett’s pledge to provide a finalized plan to the committee in the near term. The committee adjourned to continue floor business and the governor’s address.

Attribution: Direct quotes and data in this story come from remarks delivered to the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on Jan. 7 by Jennifer Morrison, Commissioner of Public Safety, and Lisa Millett, Director of the Division of Animal Welfare.