Putting a household pet in chronic or repeated serious physical harm is now a crime in Wyoming.
CHEYENNE -- Gov. Matt Mead signed a bill Thursday that adds "household pet animal cruelty" to state law.
Mead signed Senate File 100, the cruelty to animals bill. It is a companion to Senate File 10, which defines the responsibilities of the Wyoming State Livestock Board, said Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse.
That bill repeals a section of the existing law about the duties of the livestock board. It is no longer responsible for all dumb animals in the state, Wallis said. The board's responsibility is confined to traditional livestock like cattle, goats and sheep.
A void existed in law when that language was removed, she said: "There was no entity responsible for pets." So Senate File 100 came about, she said.
The bill signed Thursday is a substitute for the original, and it includes many changes. The original draft of the bill expanded the crime of animal cruelty to include animal hoarders and puppy mill operators
But that language is gone from the bill the Legislature approved.
Information posted on an American Kennel Club website in January opposed adding puppy mills and animal hoarders in the bill.
People commit household pet animal cruelty if they keep any household pet in a way that results in "chronic or repeated serious physical harm," the law says.
They also are guilty if they keep their pets in conditions that create a public health hazard.
The bill defines a household pet as a privately owned dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, mouse, gerbil, ferret, bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, invertebrate or any other species of domesticated animal kept as a pet.
The bill also will help county law enforcement agencies pay for the costs of animal cruelty cases.
The state will take $100,000 from its operating account to establish a fund to reimburse county law enforcement agencies for costs of pet animal cruelty cases.
The state's attorney general would develop rules for eligible expenses and decide how to reimburse the agencies. Agencies could be reimbursed up to 90 percent of the costs of any case.
The fund would be a permanent account in the state auditor's office.
www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2011/03/04/news/19local_03-04-11.txt
