BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1810| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 1810 Author: Maienschein (R) Amended: 6/2/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/10/14 AYES: Jackson, Anderson, Corbett, Lara, Leno, Monning, Vidak ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 3/28/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Deposits for keeping: abandoned animals SOURCE : American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals DIGEST : This bill authorizes veterinarians and animal care facilities to turn an 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 permits, instead of requires, the facility or veterinarian to have the animal euthanized. ANALYSIS : 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. CONTINUED AB 1810 Page 2 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. 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. 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. This bill authorizes 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 permits, instead of requires, 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. 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. This bill instead provides that an abandoned animal shall not be used for scientific or any other type of experimentation. 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 CONTINUED AB 1810 Page 3 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 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." 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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/11/14) American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (source) American Kennel Club California Animal Control Directors Association California Veterinary Medical Association Sacramento Council of Dog Clubs, Inc. State Humane Association of California ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 3/28/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, CONTINUED AB 1810 Page 4 Gray, Grove, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Garcia, Hagman, Harkey, Jones-Sawyer, Logue, Medina, Morrell, Yamada AL:d 6/11/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED