Washington state passes bill to protect animals

On Monday, the state House in Washington state passed a bill that would "extend the protections of domestic violence restraining orders to pets owned by the person who secures the order." (full story here) The bill was passed 96-1 and will now go to the Senate.

This bill would allow courts to decide custody of jointly owned pets in the case of domestic violence. If a restraining order is filed, it would not allow the person it is against to have contact with the pets!

The sponsor of the bill (Rep. Brendan Williams) said, "the measure merely closes a loophole. The property of those who take out such protection orders is already protected; extending that protection to animals only makes sense."

What do you think of this bill in WA state? Do you know if your state has a similar law? I don't know for sure about Colorado, but I would certainly support the idea! I'm glad to hear that animals are being given protections from violence too!

--Tammy

Comments

[Tammy]

I looked up Colorado state law about this. It says:

"Domestic Violence means an act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence also includes any other crime against a person, or against property, including an animal..."

It also says that under a restraining order, the person cannot be near or touch the animals of the person who submitted the order!

[Dana Durrance]

I'm encouraged to see this type of legislation. Anytime our legal system makes a move towards safeguarding our pets it elevates the stature of our society and culture.

At our pet hospital, we rarely see domestic abuse (we're quite fortunate). I would imagine that pet hospitals who regularly deal with this issue are fairly stressful environments. It becomes complicated between the veterinarian's code of ethics and supporting families in need. Clearer protocols for these situations would be tremendously helpful for those working in the veterinary care profession.

[turtlecookie]

I think it's great that they've passed a law protecting pets. Sometimes a person uses another person's love of a pet to get to that person, abusing the pet in order to hurt the person. Way to go, WA!

Turtlecookie

[Laurel]

I'm in favor of laws to protect animals, and I know it is also creating more of a specialty area for attorneys, expert witnesses, etc. This is probably good, in the long run, as it will provide more credibility to the incidence of animal abuse. We also know that people who abuse animals often go on to abuse people, so it may act as more of a preventative measure and society will benefit.