BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1810
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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1810 (Maienschein)
          As Amended  June 2, 2014
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |71-0 |(March 28,      |SENATE: |35-0 |(June 16,      |
          |           |     |2014)           |        |     |2014)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    B., P. & C. P.

          SUMMARY  :  Permits a veterinarian or animal care facility to turn  
          over an abandoned animal to a public animal control agency or  
          shelter rather than euthanize it, as long as the shelter has not  
          refused to take the animal, and deletes the requirement that an  
          abandoned animal be euthanized 10 days after abandonment.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Permits an abandoned animal, as specified, to be turned 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 has been contacted and has agreed to take the animal.

          2)Clarifies that if unable to place the animal with a new owner,  
            shelter, or rescue group, the animal care facility may have  
            the abandoned animal euthanized. 

          3)Makes permissive, rather than mandatory, that a veterinarian  
            euthanize an animal abandoned with a veterinarian, or a  
            facility that has a veterinarian, and a new owner cannot be  
            found, as specified.

          4)Clarifies that an animal care facility or a veterinarian is  
            not required to euthanize an abandoned animal upon the  
            expiration of a 10-day period, as specified. 

          5)Clarifies that an abandoned animal cannot be used for  
            scientific or any other type of experimentation.

          6)Makes other technical and clarifying amendments. 

           The Senate amendments  make technical and clarifying changes to  
          specify who may receive an abandoned animal, clarify that an  








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          abandoned animal may be euthanized if a new owner is not found,  
          and clarify that an animal care facility or veterinarian is not  
          required to euthanize an abandoned animal upon the expiration of  
          a 10-day period, as specified. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.  This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the  
          Legislative Counsel.

           COMMENTS  :   

          1)Purpose of the bill.  This bill modifies current law to give  
            veterinarians and specified animal care facilities such as  
            kennels, pet groomers or animal hospitals the discretion to  
            decide whether or not to euthanize an abandoned animal after  
            it has been abandoned for at least 10 days, or to turn over  
            the abandoned animal to a public animal control agency,  
            shelter or designated humane association.  Current law appears  
            to require that veterinarians and animal care facilities  
            destroy abandoned animals after 10 days, and this bill is  
            intended to relax that requirement.  This bill is sponsored by  
            the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals  
            (ASPCA).
           
           2)Author's statement.  According to the author, "[e]xisting law  
            declares an animal abandoned if it has been left at an animal  
            care facility 14 days after it was supposed to be picked up by  
            its owner.  Following those 14 days, the animal care facility  
            is obligated to spend 10 days looking for a new home for that  
            animal and if a new home cannot be found the animal must be  
            euthanized.  Existing law also prohibits the animal from being  
            given to animal control.  
          [This bill] authorizes 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 [this bill] repeals the requirement that an animal  
            care facility 'shall' 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.  [This bill] does not change the timeline of 24  
            days before the facility can decide how to proceed with the  
            animal.  California has made great strides enacting laws aimed  
            at attaining more positive outcomes for abandoned animals [and  
            this bill] revises an outdated portion of the law to better  
            reflect our modern view of animal welfare."  








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          3)Deposited animals.  Under current law, if an animal is not  
            retrieved within 14 days after it was due to be picked up, the  
            animal is considered to be abandoned.  Once the animal is  
            determined to be abandoned, the service provider must keep the  
            animal for an additional 10 days while attempting to find the  
            original owner or a new owner.  If after the initial 14 days  
            and the additional 10 days (for a total of 24 days), the legal  
            owner has not retrieved the animal or the service provider has  
            been unable to locate a new home for the animal, current law  
            requires the service provider to "humanely destroy" the  
            abandoned animal.  

          According to the Humane Society of the United States, animal  
            shelters care for 6-8 million dogs and cats every year in the  
            United States, of whom approximately 3-4 million are  
            euthanized.  At this time, there is no central data reporting  
            agency for animal shelters, so these numbers are estimates.   
            Further, because there is no central data or data reporting  
            requirements for shelters or animal care facilities, and  
            because shelters or other rescue facilities are not required  
            to maintain data about the number of surrendered, reclaimed or  
            euthanized animals it is difficult to know the total number of  
            animals that may have been turned over to an animal care  
            facility if they were abandoned at places such as  
            veterinarians, pet groomers or other animal care service  
            facilities.
             
           4)Arguments in support.  The ASPCA writes in support, "[This  
            bill] will simply modernize existing law relating to animals  
            abandoned at animal care facilities - veterinary offices,  
            spay/neuter clinics, grooming facilities and so forth. Under  
            existing law, an animal is declared abandoned at an animal  
            care facility 14 days after when the owner was supposed to  
            pick up the animal. Current law obligates the facility to  
            spend 10 days trying to place the animal with a new owner.  
            After those 10 days, for a total of 24 days, existing law  
            mandates that the animal be euthanized. Additionally, current  
            law explicitly prohibits the animal care facility from turning  
            the animal over to a shelter."
             

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Elissa Silva / B., P. & C.P. / (916)  
          319-3301                                               FN:  
          0004001








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