If your Senator or Delegate sits on one of the committees hearing this bill ACT NOW on Care for Abused Animals.
Update 3/12/15: The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted favorably with amendments. The House Judiciary Committee can vote at anytime! If your legislator sits on this committee Act Now!
Update 3/4/15: The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today on this important bill and can vote at anytime! The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee held its hearing last week and can also vote at anytime! If your legislator sits on one of these committees Act Now!
One of the greatest obstacles to enforcing animal cruelty laws in Maryland is the expense of caring for the animals while cruelty charges are prosecuted. As it now stands, shelters are often forced to care for abused animals for extended periods. Abuse cases can go on for months, even years, and the care to help these abused animals is paid for by the shelters and taxpayers, instead of the people who abused the animals. That's wrong and needs to be fixed.
Maryland has one of the weakest "Cost of Care" laws in the country. It's one of the reasons Maryland is ranked in the bottom tier in the nation on its animal cruelty laws.
Meanwhile, the shelters are tasked with caring for abused and neglected animals and can be saddled with costs so steep they might not be able to afford to take in other animals, or provide other essential services to the community. ACT NOW and help get the Costs of Care bill passed and shift some of this finanaical burden to the owners of these abused and neglected animals!
The other sad reality of this situation is what happens to the animals. These animals have already suffered from neglect and abuse and, although they are safe and cared for in shelters, they can be caught in legal limbo that leaves them stuck in shelters for months-or even years while their alleged abuser is prosecuted for cruelty. This bill provides a hearing process that can require the person to post a bond to pay for care or relinquish the animals so they can be put up for adoption, thereby allowing seized animals to find a new home.
Please ACT NOW to provide much-needed relief to animal control agencies and taxpayers, and save the lives of countless animals!
