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Ways & Means panel backs bill expanding animal-cruelty penalties and requiring upfront security for seized animals
Summary
A Ways & Means committee voted 11-0 to report a bill that expands criminal and civil penalties for animal cruelty and requires people whose animals are seized to post an upfront security to cover care costs; the Joint Fiscal Office said no fiscal note could be estimated.
A Ways & Means committee on the bill voted to report H 5 78 favorable after hearing that the measure would broaden the conduct covered by misdemeanor and felony aggravated animal-cruelty statutes, expand civil sanctions judges can impose on conviction, and require an upfront security when an animal is seized.
Unidentified Speaker 1, who summarized the bill at the meeting’s start, said the proposal has three main parts: expanding the types of conduct that fall under criminal prohibitions; creating additional court-imposed sanctions — such as forfeiture of the animal, future possession bans and consent to periodic…
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