Animal cruelty bill ‘terrible,’ says chief

CONCORD — Wolfeboro Police Chief Dean Rondeau describes an amended animal cruelty bill as “terrible” but those who raise working and show dogs say the amendment addresses many of the concerns raised during the debate over legislation prompted by the Great Dane case in Wolfeboro and German shepherd seizures in Bristol and Alexandria.

The amendment to Sen. Jeb Bradley’s bill (SB 569) by the House Environment and Agriculture Committee removed bond requirements for those accused but not yet convicted of animal cruelty. That provision of Bradley’s bill, aimed at saving the cost of care currently borne by taxpayers, was seen as a violation of due process rights.

Instead of requiring the accused to post as much as $2,000 per animal per month, or forfeit their pets, the amended bill establishes a study committee to figure out how to fund the animals’ care in a sustainable manner.

“This puts none of the burden of cost of care on the responsible parties, but holds the towns and taxpayers responsible for the bad acts of others,” Chief Rondeau said. “This is truly a sad day for the animals of the Granite State.”

He maintains that the amendment “completely guts all of the bipartisan work done by Sen. Bradley and stakeholders, including the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, to address animal cruelty. This amendment … weakens existing laws and facilitates animal cruelty.”

Others, including Angela Ferrari, who raises show dogs in Mont Vernon, say the amendment properly turns the focus from lawful breeders to those who are more likely to abuse animals: hoarders.

The amendment added a provision addressing the person who “negligently engages in animal hoarding which means keeping companion animals and failing to provide such animals with adequate living conditions, while demonstrating a reckless disregard for the health and safety of the companion animals.” That includes “not providing a sanitary environment which is dry and free of accumulated feces and free of debris and garbage that may pose a threat or danger to the health and safety of the companion animals.”

In Rondeau’s view, “It creates harsh and ineffective criminal penalties for people suffering from a hoarding disorder, a mental health disease, while making it harder to prosecute cases in which animals have been neglected.”

Ferrari noted that both the ASPCA and the Best Friends Animal Society, which rescues abused animals, have endorsed the inclusion of hoarding in animal cruelty statutes.

Abuse cases

Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) introduced the bill in the wake of the seizure of 75 Great Danes from Christina Fay, who was convicted on 10 counts of animal cruelty in Carroll County Superior Court.

In the Newfound Region, authorities in Bristol and Alexandria seized German shepherds from Jennifer “Bobbi” Choate of Bristol following two fires in which 36 dogs died.

Rep. Katherine Rogers (D-Concord) said, “After the extreme suffering these dogs endured at unregulated breeding facilities, responsible breeders and lawmakers should be strengthening the cruelty laws, not weakening them. Responsible breeders would not be impacted by the version passed by the Senate which makes you wonder what their real motives are in opposing these necessary protections.”

Perhaps the most controversial provision in the amended bill is the exception to the licensing rules for breeders of dogs for field work, drafting, guarding, working, herding livestock, hunting, or “any lawful dog event, including, but not limited to, conformation shows or obedience trials, field trials, agility events, hunts, or mushing, and those that have not transferred 10 or more litters or 50 or more puppies in any 12-month period.”

“It eliminates the weak but existing regulations that ensure basic animal care at commercial breeding facilities by giving a carve-out to every type of dog breeder,” Rondeau said.

Ferrari said the exception for dog breeders only refers to the seven breeding females allowed to those who do not have commercial kennels.

“If they meet the current commercial kennel definition, they would still need a commercial kennel license,” she said. “Responsible dog enthusiasts would not be targeted by this bill.”

The House committee also responded to concerns by farmers that a neighbor who objects to the farm operation could make an anonymous cruelty complaint under the provisions of the original bill. The amendment prohibits investigations into anonymous complaints and allows the accused to see what the complaint is.

Rondeau believes that will result in “exposing whistleblowers simply for speaking up for animal mistreatment.”

Ferrari counters that the Department of Agriculture’s policies make it a priority to investigate all complaints, whether they are anonymous or not. What the amended bill does is to recognize that, for the State Veterinarian’s Office to get involved, there must be a written complaint.

The biggest change from the Senate version of the bill is the provision to form a study committee to determine the best way to fund inspections and prosecution of animal cruelty cases.

The original bill sought a $452,000 appropriation to cover inspectors, attorneys, and other staffing needs to be able to prosecute cases. Before it left the Senate, the bill was amended to make a one-time appropriation of $200,000 for the Department of Agriculture, but the department would have to fund enforcement out of its general operating budget after that.

“What has changed here,” Ferrari said, “is the committee will be looking for a way to fund animal cruelty enforcement long-term, so the Department of Agriculture doesn’t stop receiving the money for inspections. We’re not only looking for a way to fund the cost of care so as not to put the cost on municipalities, but to ensure the long-term ability of the Department of Agriculture to complete inspections.”

According to opponents of the amended bill, the price tag on the care of the Great Danes is now more than $1.7 million dollars, and the cost to care for the German Shepherds rescued from Alexandria and Bristol has exceeded $85,000.

Ben Vihstadt, spokesman for Gov. Chris Sununu, said, “While the governor appreciates the effort the committee put into addressing inhumane hoarding, he is concerned with other aspects of the amendment.”

Lindsay Hamrick, state director of the Humane Society of the United States, said that, after four animal cruelty cases involving unlicensed dog breeders over the past 18 months, “citizens asked for a reform of New Hampshire’s animal cruelty laws. However, what our citizens received today was legislation that leaves animals even more unprotected than they were in Wolfeboro, Berlin, Bristol and Croydon last year, with the taxpayers footing the bill. We urge citizens to contact their representative(s) asking them to defeat this unacceptable committee amendment when it reaches the House floor next week and then move forward with real reforms to protect New Hampshire’s animals and taxpayers.”