The Hatch family who blew the whistle on the Snohomish puppy mill and Audrey Long and Thersea Edwards, two 7th graders from Ballard, who brought Kohl-Welles the idea for legislation two years ago, attended the bill signing with Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles
Gov. Gregoire signed into law two bills Thursday that aim to prevent animal cruelty and get tough on violators.
“We have all been outraged by the shocking scenes of animal abuse over the last year,” said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. “I’m very pleased that the measures signed today by the governor will help to prevent these horrendous events from ever happening again.”
Senate Bill 5651, sponsored by Kohl-Welles, prohibits an individual from simultaneously possessing more than 50 non-neutered dogs older than 6 months. The bill also sets kennel size, exercise, sanitary conditions, veterinary care and basic care standards. The basic standards include providing clean food and water, allowing dogs to leave their cages for at least an hour a day and having clean housing. Anyone who violates the parameters set by this bill would be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
“Animals are not a commodity, and they should not be treated as such,” Kohl-Welles said. “Subjecting dogs to inhumane conditions for financial gain is nothing less than animal cruelty. This will end because of the measure signed today.”
The bill signing was attended by the Hatch family who blew the whistle on the Snohomish puppy mill and Audrey Long and Thersea Edwards, two 7th graders from Ballard, who brought Kohl-Welles the idea for legislation two years ago.
Senate Bill 5402, sponsored by Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Bellevue, places new restrictions on violators of Washington’s animal cruelty laws. Under current law, violators are prohibited from owning or caring for like animals for up to two years following a violation. But they are not prohibited from owning or caring for similar animals.
Aiming to crack down on repeat offenders, Tom’s bill defines “similar animals” and increases the restrictions on when violators can own or care for such animals again.
The prohibition would be permanent for a first conviction of first-degree animal cruelty and would last two years for one conviction of second-degree animal cruelty. The prohibition would be permanent for a second such conviction, though violators could petition to have their rights restored after five years.
The bill permanently bars abusers from owning or caring animals of the same genus if they are convicted of animal abuse in the first degree. Those who are convicted of animal cruelty in the second degree are permanently prohibited from owning like animals after their second conviction.
“There just no excuse for this kind of behavior,” Tom said. “There’s just no reason to treat animals the way some people are treating them.”