On the morning of Wednesday, February 3, 2021, three animal bills will be reviewed by the New Hampshire House Committee on Environment and Agriculture. The American Kennel Club (AKC) strongly encourages those who reside in New Hampshire to contact the committee to express support.
9am: HB 250 would increase, from 25 to 35, the number of dogs you could transfer in one year before needing to obtain a state pet vendor license from the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture. It also provides a person who has previously not met the requirements for licensure as a pet vendor but who intends to transfer more than 35 dogs in a year with the opportunity to apply to the commissioner for an exemption from licensure as a pet vendor if criteria are met proving they do not consistently transfer dogs over this limit.
10am: HB 249 clarifies which exceptions to the state’s requirement that health certificates accompany a dog at transfer apply to animal shelters. It also requires that shelters contact a microchip owner of record as soon as possible, and within 72 hours, alert the owner that their animal has been taken in and is available to be reclaimed.
11am: HB 366 requires judges to order psychiatric evaluation and if appropriate, mental health treatment, when a defendant charged with animal cruelty is determined to be suffering from animal hoarding disorder. Without treatment, those with this mental illness reportedly repeat their pattern of collecting animals while denying their inability to care for them or themselves.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: New Hampshire residents are strongly encouraged to email committee members at HouseEnvironmentandAgricultureCommittee@leg.state.nh.us to express support for these bills.
Anyone wishing to testify on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, at the times designated above for each bill may sign up at http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
For more information on these or other legislative issues in New Hampshire, contact AKC’s Government Relations Department at 919-816-3720 or doglaw@akc.org; or the Dog Owners of the Granite State at dogs.nh@gmail.com.