Legislation in NH Concerning Animals

2018 Animal Protection Legislation

The 2018 New Hampshire legislative session begins on January 3rd and will be a transformative year for animals in the Granite State.  Here are the bills we’ll be working on.  Action alerts are highlighted in yellow.

Support

• Relative to Animal Cruelty – sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) and, with the backing of half of the New Hampshire Senate, this bill will strengthen commercial breeder regulations, implement a cost of animal care law to allow a Judge to determine a reasonable amount for a defendant to pay to care for animals seized in a cruelty investigation, and strengthen felony animal cruelty penalties.
• Senate Bill (SB) 48: Establishing a commission to study changes to the Fish & Game Commission & Department.  Sponsored by Senate Majority Leader, Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), this bill was introduced in 2017 and would simply create a study committee to review the financial sustainability and governance structure of the Department of Fish & Game.  The Department depends on hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from the general fund to operate, yet only allows citizens who hold a hunting, trapping or fishing license to serve on the Commission, which makes all policy decisions for the Department.  This policy has an impact on fair representation and financial stability for the Department.Click here for details on the Department’s funding.  It passed unanimously through the Senate and was retained by the House Fish & Game Committee through the summer.  In October, the committee voted 12-4 to kill this bill.  This bill will be up for a House floor vote on January 3rd or 4th.  Please contact your state Representative(s) and urge them to support the passage of this bill.  Click here to look up your state Representative(s).
• House Bill (HB) 1394: Relative to Animals in Motor Vehicles. Sponsored by Representative Brian Stone (R-Northwood), this bill would allow Good Samaritans to intervene when an animal is suffering in a hot car when law enforcement has been notified and cannot arrive quickly.
• SB 451: Relative to wildlife trafficking.  Sponsored by Senator David Watters (D-Dover), this bill would ban wildlife trafficking, thus protecting elephants, rhinoceros, whales, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, pangolins, sea turtles, sharks and rays from exploitation. This bill will have a hearing in front of Senate Energy & Natural Resources on January 16th.
• HB 1723: Relative to the reckless beating of an animal.  Sponsored by Representative Dan Hynes (R-Merrimack), this bill reduces the burden of proof needed in felony animal cruelty cases from purposeful torture, mutilation, beating and whipping to recklessbehavior.  It also allows for felony penalties when an animal dies from cruelty.
• HB 1238: Relative to animal cruelty and costs to care for such animals.  Sponsored by Representative William Marsh (R-Wolfeboro), this bill would allow liens on defendant’s property to pay for costs incurred to care for animals seized in a cruelty investigation.  It would also allow law enforcement to seize an animal if the officer witnesses cruelty.
• HB 1412: Relative to cruelty to non-captive wildlife.  Sponsored by Representative Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham), this bill would add native wildlife to New Hampshire’s felony animal cruelty provisions allowing charges when a native wild animal is purposely beaten, whipped, tortured or mutilated.
• HB 1343: Relative to the protection of beavers.  Sponsored by Representative Carolyn Matthews (R-Raymond), this bill would simply require the Department of Fish & Game to list non-lethal, humane and effective alternatives to trapping beavers when their natural behavior interferes with roadway on their website and create a reporting structure to track beaver dam conflicts.