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Witnesses urge stronger oversight, rulemaking authority in H.841 animal-welfare bill
Summary
Stakeholders testifying on H.841 told the House committee that Vermont needs an empowered Division of Animal Welfare with rulemaking authority, registration and inspections for shelters and rescues, a clarified rabies-vaccinator program under veterinary oversight, and funding and training to handle rising surrenders and livestock neglect.
House Committee members heard more than three hours of testimony on H.841 on animal-welfare procedures, with shelter operators, clinic directors and animal-response trainers urging clearer statutory language and more resources to allow a new Division of Animal Welfare to function.
Erica Hall, co-executive director of the Central Vermont Humane Society and chairperson of the Animal Cruelty Investigation Advisory Board, told the committee the new director should be given explicit rulemaking authority so many routine standards could be set by regulation rather than repeatedly returned to the Legislature. "We would really like to see our new director of the division of animal welfare ... be given authority for rulemaking," Hall said, adding rulemaking would still include public hearings and outside input.
Hall and other witnesses pressed for registration and inspection of shelters and rescues. "We don't know how many [rescues] there are. We don't know who they are," Hall said, arguing that registration would let the division track organizations…
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