Update Mar. 5, 2010: The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 8-1 to pass S.B. 139.

We can still stop this bill which would give pro-slaughter special interests tax dollars. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO 

A bill to improve requirements for shelter for dogs kept outdoors passed the New York state Assembly last year but died in the Senate last month.

The bill is now being voted on again by the Assembly with amendments.

For the second time in just two years, Alaska's legislature is moving to strengthen the state's animal cruelty laws. 

SB 214 would make it a felony on the first offense to "knowingly" inflict severe and prolonged physical pain or suffering on an animal.

The West Virginia puppy mill bills, House Bill 4333 and a Senate version, S.B. 147, are both stuck in Agriculture Committees. These bills were filed this year on the heels of a puppy mill raid at the misnamed Whispering Oaks Kennel that held 1,000 dogs in horrific conditions.

Watch Wind Chill's story below and help pass Wind Chill's Law! 

Update March 4, 2010: The Wisconsin Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Corrections, etc. held a hearing on Wind Chill's Law, S.B. 555. on March 3.  No vote yet. Also no vote by the committee hearing the  Assembly version of the bill, A.B. 747.

The Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee chaired by state Sen. Tim  Corder has  passed a bill he has championed to improve the state's weak animal cruelty laws. Idaho has one of the weakest animal cruelty laws in the U.S.

In a time where bipartisanship is rare, California state Sen. Dean Florez hopes a love of animals will bring the parties together. Florez is the chair of the state Senate's Food and Agriculture Committee and an animal welfare advocate.

Update Feb. 24, 2010: As USA Today notes a trend in increasing restrictions on chaining dogs, the Hawaii House of Representatives' Committee on the Judiciary has voted unanimously to pass H.B. 2724 with amendments!   (The Senate version,  S.B.

An Illinois bill, S.B. 2580, introduced by state Sen. Linda Holmes, would amend the Humane Care for Animals Act to ban tethering outdoors, whether to a stationary object or on a running line, of (1) dogs under 6 months of age and

Update Mar. 3, 2010: Oklahoma's black market breeder bill, S.B. 1712, has now passed the state Senate by a vote of 38-8 (engrossed version attached below). The bill is now in the House.

In the meantime, the Oklahoma Pet Quality Assurance and Protection Act, H.B. 2745 has passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 63-30. The bill now goes to the state Senate. 

Update Mar. 3, 2010: H.B. 398 has now passed the Kentucky House and is before the state Senate Agriculture Committee. This fast tracked bill would create a board openly named for the pro-horse slaughter organization, Equine Health and Welfare Alliance.

What the Equine Health and Welfare Board will do

Sulphur Springs, Texas city councilor Craig Johnson stepped up to lead an effort to ban the use of carbon monoxide gas chambers in that city's animal shelter. 

And he won.

A bill is pending in the Maryland legislature, S.B. 505, that would prohibit pet stores from selling dogs under 9 months of age. The definition of "retail pet store" is broad and would include any place that sells dogs for a profit.

Violators would face fines of up to $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Update Mar 4: The Utah House of Representatives has passed a substitue version of H.B. 185 that would restrict the means of killing shelter animals to "lethal injection" and carbon monoxide gas chambers with certain restrictions. The bill has moved to the state Senate. 

Only one week remains in the Utah 2010 legislative session.   

Update Mar. 3, 2010: The Senate as well as the House have now passed Utah bill, H.B. 107, which would make pound seizure discretionary instead of mandatory for Utah public shelters and also improve laws requiring public shelters to search for owners and find homes for animals.  

Update Feb. 3, 2010: The West Hollywood City Council has voted unanimously to ban pet stores from sellling dogs and cats. One outlet for sales of dogs and cats trapped in the pet trade has been cut off in West Hollywood.

For more on the ordinance, read Animal Law Coalition's report below.

Update Mar. 5, 2010: After 6 hearings, the Ohio House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee has passed H.B. 414, legislation to implement Issue 2.  

Part 1 of a 3 part series by Katia Louise (reprinted with permission)

Bills pending in Virginia would open the door to appointment of volunteer humane investigators by a court, not only at the request of local animal control but also shelters and rescues. Humane investigators could also be re-appointed.  

Update Feb. 20, 2010: After listening to a debate about live bait dog training, during a public hearing on Feb. 17-18, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) issued a decision to draft regulations for this practice of encouraging dogs to tear apart fox and coyote trapped in pens or running enclosures.

The effort to strengthen animal fighting laws, to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools to go after those who would so cruelly torture dogs and other animals, continues in the 2010 legislative session.

Update Feb. 3, 2010: The City of Toledo has filed an appeal of Judge Goulding's decision to strike several provisions of the city's vicious dog ordinance particularly those related to "pit bulls" and "pit bull mixed breeds".  

Loopholes in Indiana regulations still allow what some call "live bait dog training", meaning coyotes and red foxes are used as bait to train dogs to hunt, though in many cases, it is considered a "sport" where hunters place bets and prizes are awarded. What is the sport or mode of "training?

and would also ban confinement in too small outdoor cages or pens. 

A bill is pending in the Washington state legislature, H.B. 2387, that would ban all unattended chaining or tethering of dogs except for an hour each day or up to 3 hours if the owner is engaged in a temporary task.

by Michele C. Hollow, Pet News and Views, a blog for pet and wildlife lovers (reprinted with permission) 

Help support Love-a-bull's petition drive to stop BSL in Texas! 

Texas state law, Texas Health & Safety Code §822.047, currently prohibits breed-specific legislation, or BSL.

Many places in the U.S. are experiencing bitter cold now, and yet, dogs remain chained or tethered outside.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) has joined with several oil and gas and mining companies in filing a Petition for Review in the D.C. federal court under the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §7607 to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's final rules issued this month regarding greenhouse gases. 74 Fed. Reg. 66,496 et seq. (Dec. 15, 2009)

An effort is underway to gather 100,000 signatures needed to place the "Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act" on the November, 2010 ballot in Missouri.  If the ballot initiative is approved by voters, it would be a new law regulating commercial dog breeders in Missouri.  

WHAT YOU CAN DO

A California Superior Court has ordered the City of Los Angeles to halt what was described as an effort to "secretly and unofficially" promote TNR or trap neuter return, the practice of trapping feral cats, spaying/neutering as well as vaccinating them, and returning them to a feral cat colony cared for by a volunteer caregiver.

The state of Oklahoma is one of a handful of states that actually bans breed specific legislation.  Click here for a list of the other states. 

Courtesy of Equine Welfare Alliance 

CHICAGO, (EWA), - European horses sent to slaughter require a passport that chronicles every drug the horse has received since birth.

Hunting is actually allowed and even promoted by the US Fish & Wildlife Service on many refuges within the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Trapping is even allowed.  

An undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals has revealed horrific animal cruelty at a factory farm owned and operated in Pennsylvania by Country View Family Farms (CVFF). A misnomer for sure.

by Joanne Byrnes (Tucson, AZ), for  http://www.greenhorn-horse-facts.com/ 

A U.S. Dept. of Agriculture regulation, 9 CFR 309.13(b), has meant brutally cruel treatment for veal calves. The regulation states that "[v]eal calves that are unable to rise from a recumbent position and walk because they are tired or cold may also be set apart and held.... The U.S.