"Ravenous" pets soon to be illegal in Deleware?
Dover, Del. —
Effective Jan. 1, animal shelters in Delaware are subject to a new law that creates uniform standards for how they must care for animals they take in.
Specifically, the law mandates how and when they must administer vaccinations and veterinary examinations, as well as outlines all the steps that must be taken to attempt to find a good home for a pet before it can be euthanized.
The shelter standards bill and other animal rights legislation enacted last year have caught the attention of national groups.
Supporters of "no kill" animal shelters say Delaware's law is a step toward becoming the first no-kill state, and recently, Delaware placed 25th in the Humane Society of the United States' annual ranking of states based on the strength of their animal rights laws.
"This euthanasia bill is amazing, Delaware has one of the strongest spay neuter laws in the country also," said Tami Santelli, state legislation director with the HSUS. "Delaware is one of only five states where there's no exceptions to it."
Santelli also praised Delaware's penalties for animal fighting, which were beefed up last year to include longer jail sentences for those who organize, sanction, train for or attend animal fights.
"Animal fighting laws, Delaware got all the checkmarks for that," Santelli said. "In 2008 and 2010 animal fighting laws were passed strengthening the penalties."
Animal protection advocates in Delaware are also happy with the progress the legislature has made in recent years with bills related to their field.
"I do think we are becoming more progressive about animal welfare in Delaware," said Anne Cavanaugh, executive director of the Delaware SPCA. "The new shelter standards law is definitely going to be an improvement in the plight of some shelter animals."
Room for improvement
Even with significant legislative gains in recent years, local and national animal protection groups want to see Delaware make more changes to its animal laws.
Murrey Goldthwaite, director of the Kent County SPCA, said the progress is good, but there are some discouraging loose ends.
"Ever since 1996 we have looked at all of our companion animal laws to make them stronger where they need to be and ensure that the loopholes are closed," he said. "We've really increased legislation in housing for dogs, but cats still seem to be weak. Actually, out of three state departments, nobody can give a clear definition of how you classify a cat."
The Kent County SPCA has animal control contracts for the whole county, as well as numerous municipalities, and Goldthwaite said problems with stray cats and feral cat colonies are growing.
Without penalties for housing numerous cats, and guidelines to measure proper care, there isn't much Goldthwaite's animal control officers can do.
Santelli said Delaware also lost points in the Humane Society's rankings because the state's laws are weak when it comes to exotic animals.
"Right now Delaware doesn't have any prohibition on the keeping of exotic pets, which is kind of surprising," she said.
Exotic animals include venomous snakes, big cats, primates, bears and wolves, and Goldthwaite agrees the laws related to them need to be stronger.
"It is a weakness, we are improving that with the Department of Agriculture, they have started to tackle that and make them stronger definitely on dangerous exotic animals," he said. "Those that are harmful to the public, to humans — poisonous or ravenous."
Cavanaugh and Goldthwaite both are hopeful that a bill related to the tethering of animals outdoors, which died last year, will come back for consideration in the new legislative session.
"Last year there was a tethering bill that didn't get passed to keep animals from being tied up 24 hours a day, which is not against the law in Delaware," Cavanaugh said.
Goldthwaite said the tethering bill died because of some vagueness in the language related to the type of rope or cable that could be used to tether an animal, and the amount of time a person could keep a pet tethered outside.
"There was some controversy about how it was worded and time limits and so forth, it just was not all there," he said. "It really needed to be looked at and it's something we're doing right now, to make sure it's a good law."
www.doverpost.com/newsnow/x493322541/Delaware-gets-good-marks-for-pet-protection-laws
