Bill Text: VA HJR68 | 2020 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Companion animals; DACS to study the need for regulations on care.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - Left in Rules [HJR68 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HJR68-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, owners of companion animals often keep their pets, particularly dogs, out of doors; and
WHEREAS, Virginia's animal welfare laws have long required owners to provide shelter that protects each animal from "the adverse effects of heat or cold"; and
WHEREAS, state law also requires an owner to provide shade in hot weather and a windbreak in cold weather but does not provide any standard for temperature; and
WHEREAS, high and low temperatures are dependent on season, altitude, terrain, and other factors and thus vary considerably throughout the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, animal breeds vary widely, and different types of animals are affected differently by extreme high and low temperatures; and
WHEREAS, companion animal owners, animal control officers, animal welfare advocates, and other interested parties cannot agree on whether temperature ranges should be regulated or, if they are to be regulated, what temperature ranges would be appropriate; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services be requested to study the need for animal care regulations addressing temperature extremes.
In conducting its study, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (the Department) shall convene a work group consisting of representatives from the Virginia Animal Control Association and the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association to identify (i) means for regulations to account for the variety of high and low temperatures throughout the Commonwealth and the variety of ways in which they affect different types of animals and (ii) possibilities to address the lack of consensus on regulations addressing temperature extremes.
All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department for this study, upon request.
The Department shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2020, and shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
