BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
AB 1810 (Maienschein)
As Amended June 2, 2014
Hearing Date: June 10, 2014
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Deposits for keeping: abandoned animals
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires a veterinarian or animal care facility to
try and find a new owner for an abandoned animal, as specified,
for a period of not less than 10 days. If the veterinarian or
facility cannot find a new owner for the animal, it must
humanely destroy the abandoned animal.
This bill would authorize veterinarians and animal care
facilities to turn the abandoned animal over to a public animal
control agency or shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty
to animals shelter, humane society shelter, or nonprofit animal
rescue group, provided that the shelter or group has been
contacted and has agreed to take the animal. If unable to place
the animal with a new owner, shelter, or group, this bill would
permit, instead of require, the facility or veterinarian to have
the animal euthanized.
BACKGROUND
During the past 15 years, many California communities have made
meaningful strides to reduce the deaths of homeless and
abandoned animals. Public and private sources have funded
affordable programs for dog and cat spaying and neutering,
public education campaigns have promoted the importance of
adopting pets, and a growing number of private rescue groups
have been formed to increase assistance to shelters in finding
new homes for animals. However, according to the Humane Society
of the United States, approximately three to four million
(more)
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animals are still euthanized each year. (California Sheltering
Report, Charting a Path Forward: Reaching California's policy to
save all adoptable and treatable animals, April 30, 2014.)
In 2012, Governor Brown proposed repealing certain existing
state laws affecting animal shelters in California due to
budget-related issues, prompting the formation of a diverse
group of stakeholders. This group sought to identify meaningful
ways to realize California's policy "that no adoptable [or
treatable] animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into
a suitable home." (Civ. Code Sec. 1834.4.) The resulting
legislative recommendations addressed misunderstandings of what
is and is not permissible under current law, and suggested
clarifications to better help California achieve its goal of
ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets. These recommendations
relied heavily on permissive language rather than mandatory
language to give communities flexibility to pursue additional
life-saving tactics for animals that might currently be
prohibited by state law.
Similarly, this bill seeks to provide veterinarians and animal
care facilities with the flexibility to place abandoned animals
in shelters or rescue groups if a new owner cannot be found, and
would make euthanasia of such animals permissive rather than
mandatory.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
1.Existing law requires a depositary of living animals to
provide the animals with necessary and prompt veterinary care,
nutrition, shelter, and to treat them kindly. A depository
that fails to perform those duties may be liable for civil
damages. (Civ. Code Sec. 1834.)
Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State that
no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted
into a suitable home and no treatable animal should be
euthanized, if the animal could become adoptable with
reasonable efforts. (Civ. Code Sec. 1834.4.)
Existing law deems an animal "abandoned" if an animal is
delivered to any veterinarian, dog kennel, cat kennel,
pet-grooming parlor, animal hospital, or any other animal care
facility pursuant to a written or oral agreement and the owner
does not pick up the animal within 14 calendar days after the
day the animal was due to be picked up. (Civ. Code Sec.
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1834.5.)
Existing law requires the animal care facility or veterinarian
into whose care the abandoned animal was placed to first try
for a period of not less than 10 days to find a new owner for
the animal, and, if unable to place the animal with a new
owner, humanely destroy the animal. (Civ. Code Sec. 1834.5.)
This bill would authorize the animal care facility or
veterinarian into whose care the animal was placed to turn the
animal over to a public animal control agency or shelter,
society for the prevention of cruelty to animals shelter,
humane society shelter, or nonprofit animal rescue group, if
the shelter or group has been contacted and agreed to take the
animal.
This bill would permit, instead of require, the animal care
facility or veterinarian into whose care the animal was
placed, if unable to place the animal with a new owner,
shelter, or group, to have the animal euthanized.
2.Existing law specifies that an abandoned animal, as specified,
cannot be used for scientific or any other kind of
experimentation and may not be turned over to a pound or
animal or regulation department of a public agency. (Civ. Code
Sec. 1834.6.)
This bill would instead provide that an abandoned animal shall
not be used for scientific or any other type of
experimentation.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
Current law does not reflect our modern view of animal
sheltering and requires that adoptable animals be euthanized
if the animal care facility cannot find them a home in a
pre-determined amount of time. [This bill] would authorize
animal care facilities to turn over an abandoned animal to
animal control, humane society or society for the prevention
of cruelty to animals, provided that the shelter has been
contacted and has not refused to take the animal, and would
repeal the requirement that an animal care facility "shall"
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euthanize an abandoned animal after 24 days, granting
facilities more flexibility to find a new home beyond those
initial 24 days while retaining their current authority.
2.Would provide veterinarians and animal care facilities with
alternatives to euthanizing abandoned animals
Existing law requires that veterinarians and animal care
facilities in possession of an abandoned animal must try, for a
period of 10 days, to find a new owner for the animal. If a new
owner cannot be found within that 10-day period, the
veterinarian or facility is required to have the animal humanely
destroyed. This bill would authorize veterinarians and
facilities to additionally release abandoned animals to
agencies, shelters, or groups, and would allow the veterinarian
or facility time beyond the 10-day period to find an owner or
placement for the animal.
Arguably, since the governing statute was last amended in 1971,
many alternatives have been created for abandoned animals,
including animal rescue groups and humane society shelters, and
the expansion of pet adoption. The American Kennel Club writes
in support that they "believe AB 1810 more accurately reflects
the care Californians want to provide to the animals in the
community and will allow veterinarians and animal care
facilities the ability to make the appropriate decision for each
situation."
3.Would clarify when an animal is abandoned
Under existing law, an animal is considered abandoned if the
animal is not retrieved within 14 days after it was due to be
picked up. The California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
contends that this statute has been widely misinterpreted to
allow for the 14-day time period to start anew after each
contact with a veterinarian or animal care facility. CVMA
writes that people "will wait until day 13 for example, call the
veterinarian to claim they will retrieve the animal soon, and
then allow the 14 day 'clock' to restart so that they can
prolong paying the bill and retrieve the animal. In many cases,
this abuse of the 14-day 'resetting' allows owners to put off
claiming the animal for many months, or they may never claim the
animal." The California Veterinary Medical Board, the
regulatory and licensing entity overseeing the veterinary
profession, has posted the following interpretation of the
statute which raises questions about the timing of the 14-day
period upon recontact by a pet owner:
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An animal cannot be considered to be abandoned if the owner
contacts the veterinary facility or gives notice of intent to
retrieve the animal within the initial 14-day period, even
though the veterinarian's bill has not been paid. If, however,
the animal is considered abandoned and the owner contacted the
veterinarian, the 14-day period begins to run from the day,
arranged during the recontact, on which the animal was to be
picked up. (
as of May 21, 2014>)
In an effort to better understand how the statute should be
applied, CVMA requested an opinion from Legislative Counsel
clarifying the 14-day period. Legislative Counsel issued an
opinion explaining that a unilateral communication from a pet
owner should not begin the 14-day period anew. In relevant
part, the opinion reads:
In the event that the owner of an animal and an animal care
facility have agreed that the owner will pick up the animal on
a particular date, such that this 14-day period has commenced,
you asked whether, under Civil Code Section 1834.5, a new
14-day period commences if the owner of the animal contacts
the facility during the original 14-day period and conveys an
intent to pick up the animal, but the owner and the facility
did not reach a new agreement for the animal to be picked up
at a later date.
In our view, based upon the plain meaning of Civil Code
Section 1834.5, the unilateral communication you describe
would not be deemed a new agreement between the animal owner
and the animal care facility; consequently, that communication
would not cause a new 14-day period to commence pursuant to
this section.
Consistent with that opinion, this bill would further clarify
that recontact from an owner does not start the 14-day period
anew by stating that if an owner does not pick up an animal
within 14 days from the date the animal was initially due to be
picked up, that animal is deemed abandoned.
Support : American Kennel Club; California Veterinary Medical
Association
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
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Source : American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA)
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : AB 1279 (Fletcher, 2011), would have changed
and deleted obsolete terminology dealing with the seizure,
impounding, rescue, adoption, and euthanasia of abandoned and
surrendered animals by animal shelters and rescue organizations.
This bill was held at the Senate Desk.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Floor (Ayes 71, Noes 0)
Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee
(Ayes 14, Noes 0)
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