The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 70 last Thursday. This bill would add several actions against a person’s companion animal or service animal to the definition of abuse for protection from abuse (PFA) proceedings, including engaging in cruelty, inflicting physical injury, and engaging in a course of alarming or distressing conduct.
SB 70 also would provide Family Court the authority to include provisions in a protection from abuse order that grant a petitioner exclusive care, custody, or control of a companion animal and order a petitioner to stay away from the companion animal.
According to the Animal Welfare Center, 37 states currently provide for pets to be included in protection from abuse orders.
The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk.
| Senate Bill 70 – Protecting Pets from Domestic Abuse | Currrent Status – Senate Passes 21-0. House Passes 34-0-7. Sent to the Governor. |
| House Sponsors – Griffith, Heffernan, Lynn, Williams, Baumbach, Bolden, Romer // Short | Senate Sponsors – Poore, Hansen, Walsh, Hoffner, Sokola // Richardson |
| House Yes Votes – Baumbach Bolden Bush Carson Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Harris Heffernan Johnson Lambert Longhurst Lynn Morrison Neal Parker-Selby Phillips Romer Schwartzkopf Williams // Briggs King Collins Dukes Gray Hensley Postles Ramone Short Shupe Smith Spiegelman Yearick | Senate Yes Votes – Brown Gay Hansen Hoffner Huxtable Lockman Mantzavinos McBride Paradee Pinkney Poore Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh // Buckson Hocker Lawson Pettyjohn Richardon Wilson |
| House No Votes – None | Senate No Votes – None |
| House Absents or Not Voting – Hilovsky, Matthews, Minor-Brown, Morris, Osienski, Moore, Vanderwende, Wilson-Anton | Senate Absent or Not Voting – None |
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