A Look Back

Last year, countless ASPCA supporters like you stood up for animals by taking action on legislative and regulatory issues in your home states and before Congress. Whether you wrote letters to your legislators to express concern about a pending bill, signed up for text messages to keep abreast of important legislative alerts, or simply spread the word about our efforts to friends and family, we appreciate your dedication to making our world a better place for all living beings. Please scroll down to see a sampling of the legislative victories the ASPCA and our awe-inspiring Advocacy Brigade won for both companion and farm animals in 2011.

In the year 2011…

• ASPCA Advocacy Brigade membership cracked 2 million! You read that right—the number of advocates we’ve got speaking up for animals is roughly equal to the population of Houston, Texas.
• We sent those Brigade members nearly 90 targeted city, state and federal Advocacy Alerts on a wide range of animal issues, including (but not limited to) puppy mills, equine issues, humane livestock farming, and government funding for the enforcement of animal protection laws.
• Those Advocacy Alerts resulted in hundreds of thousands of personalized emails and countless phone calls to legislators and other decision-makers on behalf of animals. That’s what we call using your voice!

What’s Ahead

In addition to fighting for the passage of animal-friendly bills, we often must mobilize in opposition to bills that are bad for animals. Some of these bills are downright dangerous for people, too. For example, in 2011, four state legislatures considered bills that sought to protect factory farms (and, by logical extension, puppy mills) by criminalizing certain commonly used investigative and evidence-gathering techniques, such as taking a picture of a farm without the farm owner’s written permission. These anti-whistleblower bills are purely the products of the powerful agribusiness industry, which is desperate to keep its more disturbing (and sometimes, illegal) practices out of public view. While Florida, Iowa, New York and Minnesota all failed to pass their “ag-gag” bills last year, these bills continue to be a threat in 2012—and legislatures in other states are now jumping on this trend. Rather than prevent animal cruelty, ag-gag laws would simply ensure that the public never learns about it. The ASPCA remains vigilant in our opposition to these bills, and we hope we can count on you to join us.

The future also brings new challenges related to horse slaughter. In November 2011, Congress lifted a five-year-old ban on using federal money to fund horsemeat inspections. This decision means it is once again possible for horse slaughterhouses to operate in the U.S. We must continue to call on Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 2966/S. 1176), pending federal legislation that would prohibit all activities related to the slaughter of horses for human consumption, including the transport of American horses to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. Animal advocates, please stay alert and help us prevent the scourge of horse slaughter for human consumption from returning to our nation—and raise your voices to demand that the export of American horses for that purpose be brought to an end as well.

Want to get in on the action? Join the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade, an email group of more than 2 million “political animals” who help us get the job done!

Read on to learn about some of the best new laws for animals.

2011’s Greatest Hits (some of our favorite new laws)

Arkansas
Mandatory Sterilization of Adopted Pets (SB 550)
Effective Date: 7.27.11
Arkansas now requires pets adopted through a pound, shelter, humane organization, or animal rescue group to be sterilized before the adoption is complete. More than 30 states mandate spaying or neutering of cats and dogs prior to adoption from shelters or other organizations, which helps combat pet overpopulation.

California
Animal Neglect Penalties & Roadside Pet Sales Ban (SB 917)
Effective Date: 1.01.12
Signed into law in June, SB 917 prohibits the sale of animals at public outdoor venues such as roadsides and parking lots and increases penalties for animal neglect. The penalty for animal neglect is now the same as the penalty for animal cruelty (up to one year in jail per act).

Connecticut
Humane Care of Animals in Public Shelters (HB 6303)
Effective Date: 10.01.11
Passed unanimously in both the Connecticut House and Senate, this new law encourages public shelters to provide animals with better care by working with nonprofit rescue organizations and requires the state Department of Agriculture to investigate complaints against animal control officers regarding poor animal care. In addition, the law requires that a description or photo of shelter animals be posted online and offers civil immunity to veterinarians who discount their fees for treating shelter animals.

Florida
Sexual Abuse of Animals (SB 344/HB 125)
Effective Date: 10.01.11
In 2011, a new Florida law defined sexual “conduct” and “contact” with animals and prohibited such acts. Furthermore, a person may not “knowingly organize, promote, conduct, advertise, aid, abet, participate in as an observer, or perform any service in the furtherance of an act involving any sexual conduct or sexual contact with an animal for a commercial or recreational purpose.” Florida joins the more than 30 states that have specific laws against this form of animal abuse.

Maryland
Puppy Mill Licensing (SB 839)
Effective Date: 10.01.11
A new state law requires Maryland’s commercial dog breeders to be licensed by the county in which they operate and requires counties to report basic information about these commercial breeders to the State annually. Lack of documentation related to these facilities has hindered the ability of sympathetic Maryland legislators to advance measures to protect puppy mill dogs. Enactment of this law is a significant step toward ending this information drought.

New York
Animal Fight Attendance (A.4407/S.3237)
Effective Date: 9.03.11
This new law strengthens preexisting state laws against animal fighting and makes attending a dog- or cockfight in New York a misdemeanor offense. Prior to passage of this law, attending an animal fight in New York was merely a violation penalized by a small fine and did not result in a criminal record.

New York City
Excessive/Cruel Tethering (Intro 425)
Effective Date: 5.01.11
It is now illegal in New York City to tether an animal for more than three hours in a 12-hour period. Also prohibited is the usage of certain inhumane restraints for tethering, such as heavy steel chains and choke or pinch collars. First-time violators will receive a summons or, if the animal is injured, a fine of up to $250. Repeat offenders face fines of up to $500 and three months in jail.

Texas
Commercial Dog and Cat Breeders Act (HB 1451)
Effective Date: 9.01.11
The Texas Commercial Dog and Cat Breeders Act will help ensure that large-scale dog and cat breeders in the state comply with humane standards. The Act covers all breeders who keep 11 or more breeding female dogs or cats and sell the offspring as pets. For the first time, commercial breeders in Texas must obtain a license and be inspected by the state’s Department of Licensing and Administrative Procedures.

Bad Bills Defeated!

Illinois
Repeal State Prohibition on Breed-Specific Laws—DEFEATED (HB 1080)
A state law called the Illinois Animal Control Act wisely prohibits cities and counties from enacting ordinances or regulations that target or ban specific breeds of dogs. In 2011, the ASPCA helped prevent the passage of legislation to amend this law to give communities the power to regulate dogs based simply on their breed. There is no evidence that breed-specific laws reduce dog bites or increase public safety, while there is significant evidence that well-enforced, breed-neutral laws do.

Maryland
Creation of State Livestock and Poultry Advisory Board—DEFEATED (SB 254/HB 676)
Two farm industry-backed 2011 bills that would have placed all control over Maryland livestock with a new advisory board were defeated in committee. The proposed Livestock and Poultry Care Advisory Board would not have been required to accept input by citizens, animal control experts or even the Maryland General Assembly when deciding how animals should be treated.

New Jersey
Eliminate 7-Day Hold at Animal Shelters—DEFEATED (S.2923)
The ASPCA asked for and received the governor’s conditional veto of bill language that would have eliminated the state’s current mandatory seven-day hold on all animals entering shelters. If the bill had been enacted as written, an animal could legally have been euthanized immediately upon entering a shelter due to any "age, health, or behavior" reason.

North Carolina
Eliminate Animal Welfare Section—DEFEATED (FY2012 Budget)
North Carolina Agriculture Department officials proposed eliminating the agency’s Animal Welfare Section, which enforces laws meant to protect pets, dogs in puppy mills, homeless animals and animals in shelters. Following public outcry, the North Carolina House of Representatives not only restored these critical animal welfare funds, it also added three additional inspector positions!

Utah
Permit the Killing of Feral Animals—DEFEATED (HB 210)
A disturbing state bill that would have allowed anyone in unincorporated areas to kill feral animals—or animals they thought were feral—passed the Utah House but died in the Senate.