HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1323        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1273

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Lori A. Ehrlich

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to Protect the Health and Safety of Animals in Cars.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Lori A. Ehrlich

8th Essex

1/15/2015

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

9/16/2019

Mark J. Cusack

5th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Susan Williams Gifford

2nd Plymouth

9/16/2019

Louis L. Kafka

8th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Ann-Margaret Ferrante

5th Essex

9/16/2019

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

9/16/2019

John J. Lawn, Jr.

10th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Paul Tucker

7th Essex

9/16/2019

Colleen M. Garry

36th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Barbara A. L'Italien

Second Essex and Middlesex

9/16/2019

Peter V. Kocot

1st Hampshire

9/16/2019

Alan Silvia

7th Bristol

9/16/2019

Michelle M. DuBois

10th Plymouth

9/16/2019

Jay D. Livingstone

8th Suffolk

9/16/2019

Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.

12th Hampden

9/16/2019

Joseph W. McGonagle, Jr.

28th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Marjorie C. Decker

25th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Angelo L. D'Emilia

8th Plymouth

9/16/2019

Carole A. Fiola

6th Bristol

9/16/2019

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Thomas J. Calter

12th Plymouth

9/16/2019

James M. Cantwell

4th Plymouth

9/16/2019

William Smitty Pignatelli

4th Berkshire

9/16/2019

William N. Brownsberger

Second Suffolk and Middlesex

9/16/2019

Diana DiZoglio

14th Essex

9/16/2019

William C. Galvin

6th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Stephen L. DiNatale

3rd Worcester

9/16/2019

Aaron Michlewitz

3rd Suffolk

9/16/2019

James B. Eldridge

Middlesex and Worcester

9/16/2019

James J. Dwyer

30th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Michael D. Brady

Second Plymouth and Bristol

9/16/2019

Tom Sannicandro

7th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Michael O. Moore

Second Worcester

9/16/2019

Cory Atkins

14th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Timothy R. Madden

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket

9/16/2019

Thomas M. Stanley

9th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

9/16/2019

Bruce E. Tarr

First Essex and Middlesex

9/16/2019

Walter F. Timilty

7th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Frank A. Moran

17th Essex

9/16/2019

Denise C. Garlick

13th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Paul R. Heroux

2nd Bristol

9/16/2019

Gailanne M. Cariddi

1st Berkshire

9/16/2019

Jonathan Hecht

29th Middlesex

9/16/2019

John W. Scibak

2nd Hampshire

9/16/2019

Kimberly N. Ferguson

1st Worcester

9/16/2019

Jennifer E. Benson

37th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Theodore C. Speliotis

13th Essex

9/16/2019

Harold P. Naughton, Jr.

12th Worcester

9/16/2019

Michael S. Day

31st Middlesex

9/16/2019

Kathleen O'Connor Ives

First Essex

9/16/2019

Kate Hogan

3rd Middlesex

9/16/2019

Marc R. Pacheco

First Plymouth and Bristol

9/16/2019

Daniel Cullinane

12th Suffolk

9/16/2019

Brian M. Ashe

2nd Hampden

9/16/2019

Alice Hanlon Peisch

14th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Paul Brodeur

32nd Middlesex

9/16/2019

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

9/16/2019

James M. Murphy

4th Norfolk

9/16/2019

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

9/16/2019

James Arciero

2nd Middlesex

9/16/2019

Daniel J. Ryan

2nd Suffolk

9/16/2019

Bruce J. Ayers

1st Norfolk

9/16/2019

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

9/16/2019

Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

26th Middlesex

9/16/2019


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1323        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1273

By Ms. Ehrlich of Marblehead, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1273) of Lori A. Ehrlich and others relative to confining animals in a motor vehicle.  The Judiciary.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

 

An Act to Protect the Health and Safety of Animals in Cars.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after Section 77B, the following new section:

Section 77C:

(a) No owner or person shall confine an animal in a motor vehicle in a manner that could reasonably be expected to threaten the health of the animal due to exposure to extreme heat or cold. without proper ventilation or other protection from such heat or cold.

(b) In order to protect the health and safety of an animal, an animal control officer, law enforcement officer or fire fighter who has probable cause to believe that this section is being violated shall have the authority to enter such motor vehicle by any reasonable means necessary under the circumstances, after making a reasonable effort under the circumstances to locate the owner or other responsible person. A law enforcement officer or animal control officer may enter the motor vehicle for the sole purpose of release of the animal and may not search the vehicle unless otherwise permitted by law.

(c) An animal control officer, law enforcement or fire fighter animal control officer who removes an animal in accordance with this section shall, in a secure and conspicuous location on or within the motor vehicle, leave written notice bearing the officer's or agent's name and office, and the address of the location where the animal may be retrieved. The owner may retrieve the animal only after payment of all charges that have accrued for the maintenance, care, medical treatment, and impoundment of the animal.

(d) A law enforcement or animal control officer who removes an animal from a motor vehicle pursuant to this section is immune from criminal or civil liability that might otherwise result from the removal.

(e)  A law enforcement or animal control officer may seek a complaint against the owner or keeper of an animal who is found to have violated the provisions of this section. This section shall be subject to enforcement under the provisions of section 21D of Chapter 40.

1. The penalty for the first violation shall be $75;

2. The penalty for the second violation shall be $100 dollars;

3. The penalty for the third and each subsequent violation shall be $300.

(f) Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution for a violation of section 77 of Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws.