STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID W. WOLFE
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain veterinarians to provide written notification to animal owner if boarded animal will not be subject to 24-hour supervision; "Betsy's Law."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the unsupervised boarding of domestic companion animals and designated as Betsy's Law, and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Domestic companion animal" or "animal" means any animal commonly referred to as a pet or one that has been bought, bred, raised or otherwise acquired, in accordance with local ordinances and State and federal law, for the primary purpose of providing companionship to the owner, rather than for business or agricultural purposes.
"Veterinarian" means any person engaged in the licensed practice of veterinary medicine as defined by R.S.45:16-8.1.
"Veterinary boarding facility" means any place or establishment where a domestic companion animal not owned by the proprietor is temporarily sheltered, fed, and watered for veterinary purposes.
2. A veterinarian who does not provide domestic companion animals in a veterinary boarding facility with 24-hour supervision by a person physically on the premises shall, prior to assuming care or custody of an animal, provide written notification to the animal's owner advising the owner of the lack of 24-hour supervision. This notification shall include the following specific language: "This facility does NOT provide 24-hour supervision for any boarded animals. Your signature on this document confirms that you have been notified of the lack of 24-hour animal supervision at this facility, and further signifies your understanding that, in the event that you choose to leave your pet at this facility, your pet may be subjected to injury, illness, or accidental death due to the absence of 24-hour animal supervision." This notification shall be signed and dated by the animal owner.
3. A copy of the signed notification shall be retained by the veterinarian for a period of two years following the release or accidental death of a boarded animal, except that following the election of the humane disposal of an unretrieved animal pursuant to P.L.1979, c.354 (C.45:16-13 et seq.), any signed notification may be immediately destroyed.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
"Betsy's Law" requires any veterinarian who boards domestic companion animals in a veterinary boarding facility to provide written notification to an animal owner if the boarded animals will not be subject to 24-hour supervision by a person physically on the premises. Animals left unattended are more likely to be injured, to become ill, or to suffer accidental death than those that are supervised. Accordingly, notification regarding the lack of supervision is necessary to assure that animal owners are made aware of the risks of leaving their animals for an unsupervised stay in a veterinary boarding facility. This bill specifies the language that is to appear in the written notification provided to an animal owner, and it requires that veterinarians obtain the animal owner's signature on the notification form in order both to verify that notice has been given, and to confirm that the owner fully understands the dangers of leaving their animal for an unsupervised stay in the veterinary boarding facility.
This bill has been drafted in specific response to an incident involving the death of dog, which belonged to a New Jersey resident. Following a minor veterinary procedure, and upon advice from the presiding veterinarian, Betsy, a beloved family pet, was boarded at a veterinary facility for the purposes of overnight veterinary observation. On the following morning, the veterinarian telephoned Betsy's owner, informed her that Betsy had hung herself as a result of a lack of animal supervision, and requested payment for his services.
By requiring veterinarians to give notice regarding the lack of 24-hour animal supervision at a veterinary boarding facility, and by thereby providing animal owners with the ability to make an informed choice regarding their authorization of an unsupervised veterinary stay for their animal, this bill helps to prevent veterinarians from misleading animal owners about the safety of these boarding conditions, as was done in Betsy's case.