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Panel recommends recognizing animal control officers as first responders, with follow-up on training and costs

Utah Senate Health and Human Services Standing Committee · January 21, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The committee voted to pass SB 102 out favorably, a bill to include animal control officers in the state's definition of first responders. Testimony from animal-control professionals and nonprofits emphasized front-line work, co-response with police and fire, and access to grants and mental-health resources.

Senator Plumb presented SB 102 to clarify that animal control officers perform first-responder duties and to improve their access to training, equipment and support.

"If there's a dangerous dog, I want somebody there that knows how to control and get that dog out of there before somebody gets hurt," Plumb said, arguing recognition would improve clarity of roles in incident command and could open grant…

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