Colorado will ban those are not treating animals well from owning a pet. The Governor Jared Polis signed the law HB19-1092, a few days ago. Therefore, all those who doesn’t take care of their animals will be ban to own pets up to five years.
Under the new legislation, a court could now “order prohibiting a person convicted of felony animal cruelty from owning a pet animal for a period of 3 to 5 years.” A judge could also take in consideration if it is necessary for a owner to complete an anger management program, CBS News reports.
“It will increase restrictions of people convicted of felony pet animal cruelty, and facilitate mental health and treatments to address the underlying factors that drive tragic animal cruelty,” the Governor said.
For animal lovers, the law means things are moving into the right direction. And Caitlyn Bennett, an Adoptions Counselor at Denver Dumb Friends League, thinks the same. A big part of her job is finding caring homes for pets in need, including animals brought to the shelter from those type of situations, CBS News reports.
“Owning an animal is a privilege,” she told CBS4. “If you don’t take that privilege seriously then there should be repercussions. ”
“The basis of this bill was to help animals, obviously,” Representative Alex Valdez, said, “but also to help the people who [act in this way] to not become more dangerous in the future.”
“It would have to be a report that [the offender] is in possession of an animal or during a routine check they would find that, but we’re not creating a ‘doggie police force’ or anything like that,” he added.
The Governor Jared Polis also announced a new effort called the People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Committee in Colorado this week. Which, according to him would be “an opportunity to look at what Colorado can do to protect our animals from cruelty and ensure their well being.”
