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Lawmakers weigh H.578 changes to animal‑seizure timelines as shelters warn of collapse
Summary
A Judiciary committee reviewed H.578, focusing on how long owners have to reclaim seized animals and whether courts or a separate cost‑of‑care process should cover shelter expenses. Judges and shelter leaders urged clearer, shorter timelines to avoid bankrupting humane societies and to protect animals’ welfare.
The Judiciary committee on H.578 heard testimony Tuesday on how the bill would handle animal seizure, posting and civil forfeiture, with shelter officials and judges urging clearer timelines and practical procedures to keep seized animals safe and to prevent shelters from going bankrupt.
Lisa Millett of the Division of Animal Welfare told the committee the bill now lacks a fixed deadline for owners to post security and reclaim animals. "There needs to be a time frame in there for the person to pay in," Millett said, arguing courts usually set a concise period — "something like a 5 day period or something very or 3 day period" — so owners do not indefinitely delay resolution. Millett also urged that payments be routed through court cashiering systems rather than the Department of Public Safety, which she said "is not set up to take a $20 payment or a $100 payment from random…
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