Making it illegal to kill animals rescuers want to save
In other news: Another week, another pet food recall. Most voters couldn’t be bothered to spare dogs who have done nothing wrong. Dog wins gold at the Winter Olympics. U.S. Air Force neglected/killed dogs. Despite criticism, congressman doubles down on dogs. Florida moves to expand animal abuser registry. Eating meat without harming animals.
These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
Utah animal rescue act clears senate
A bill to make it illegal for Utah pounds to kill animals who rescue groups are willing to save has passed the Utah Senate and is now before the House. The bill, modeled after The No Kill Advocacy Center’s Animal Rescue Act, requires “shelters” to notify qualified groups two days before killing and allow them to rescue them. If passed and signed into law, it will save lives, save money, spare rescuer suffering, and bring in millions of dollars in tax and adoption revenue.
In California, for example, a similar law has been on the books since 1998. It has increased the number of animals transferred to rescue groups rather than killed from 12,526 a year before the law went into effect to 99,783 after — a nearly 700% increase, all at no cost to taxpayers.
In fact, it resulted in a potential cost savings of over $3,000,000 statewide for killing and destruction of remains (these savings do not include additional savings relative to the cost of care). Over 2,000,000 animals have been saved since the law’s inception.
While Best Friends issued a press release applauding its passage in the Utah Senate, it has opposed and helped defeat nearly identical bills in other states, such as Bowie’s Law in California and Oreo’s Law in New York, at the behest of its regressive partners, consigning tens of thousands of animals to death every year.
The No Kill Advocacy Center has model legislation for individuals seeking to enact a similar law in their city, county, or state.
Most voters couldn’t be bothered to spare dogs who have done nothing wrong
