Two bills of interest to Kentucky dog owners are advancing in the Kentucky legislature. While the American Kennel Club (AKC) continues to monitor positive developments with House bill 258, we urge Kentucky dog owners to express support of an important amendment to Senate Bill 157.
House Bill 258 is an animal cruelty bill that seeks to define “serious physical injury or infirmity,” redefine “torture,” provide that torture of a dog or cat is a Class D felony, and provide that each act may constitute a separate offense. Existing law and HB 258 include necessary exemptions, and this bill would specifically exempt breed-specific alterations such as cropping ears, docking tails, and declawing a cat when performed by a veterinarian. A Committee Substitute bill was reported favorably by the House Judiciary Committee. Additional fiscal impact statements are pending, and the bill will next be considered by the House Rules Committee. AKC supports House Committee Substitute 1, and continues to monitor this legislation.
Senate Bill 157 seeks to require retail pet shops to sell only dogs and cats that are obtained from animal shelters and qualified breeders. Following a favorable report by the Senate Agriculture Committee, AKC requested a friendly amendment that strikes references to “hobby breeder” in the bill. As a result, Senate Floor Amendment 1 was filed on February 20, which seeks to ensure that dogs offered for sale in retail pet shops are obtained only from federally licensed and regulated breeders that are held to the heightened standard of having no direct violations indicated by USDA inspection reports in the last two years, or from animal shelters. SB 157 also would preempt certain local pet shop laws. The bill will next be heard in the Senate Rules Committee. AKC supports and urges enactment of proposed Senate Floor Amendment 1.
How to view the text of each bill and its amendment: Click here to access the Kentucky Legislature bill search page. For “Sessions,” select 2024 Regular Session. For “Bill Type,” select either House Bill or Senate Bill, then enter the number of the bill in “Bill #.” Click “Search,” then scroll down for links to the original bill and to its amendments.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Kentucky dog owners who wish to support these bills as amended are urged to contact their elected officials and the members of the committee that will next consider each bill. For Senate Bill 157, please be sure to state that you “support Senate Floor Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 157.”
Click on the committee links above, then click on each committee member’s name for contact information. Visit Find Your Legislator to identify your Kentucky state Representative or Senator and to view their contact information.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact AKC GR at pvs@akc.org.