Press Room

All good pups can be a family's best friend, regardless of breed

(BOSTON—9/25/2024) On Thursday September 26, the Massachusetts Senate will take up legislation to ensure families can foster a child regardless of the breed of dog in the foster home.

Under the new law, the Department of Children and Families would consider factors such as a pet's history of dangerous behavior and their health records, instead of a pet's breed. Currently, a family who is thinking of adopting cannot do so if they own breeds including Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, German Shepherds, or a dog which mixes at least two of these three breeds.

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a dog's breed is a poor predictor of behavior, and is uninformative with regard to how easily a dog is provoked by something frightening or uncomfortable.

According to 2021 census data, nearly one in every three households (30%) in Massachusetts has a dog. Boston ranked eleventh nationally among metro areas with the highest pet ownership ranks, with 38.7% of households owning a pet.

The legislation also clarifies that human service workers are able to report instances of animal abuse when acting in their professional capacity.

H.4911, An Act relative to animal welfare and reporting of animal cruelty, abuse or neglect, was previously passed by the House of Representatives in July 2024. The Senate’s version of the legislation that will be taken up on Thursday makes only non-substantive technical changes to the House-passed version of the legislation.

The Senate's Thursday session will begin at 11:00 a.m. EDT, and be streamed live at malegislature.gov/Events/Sessions/Detail/5006.

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