The Humane Society – 2016 Progress Report
The Ohio State Legislature adjourned on December 30 after a productive two-year session with lots of progress for animals. Highlights from the session include: • The state legislature passed powerful animal welfare reforms, including SB 215, which grants civil immunity to people who forcibly enter a motor vehicle to rescue a pet or child in distress, and HB 60, which strengthens penalties for first-offense egregious acts of companion animal cruelty. • The state legislature also passed a provision that criminalizes bestiality and a significant provision that makes cockfighting a felony offense and upgrades one of the weakest anti-cockfighting laws in the country. • On a local level, Ohio saw the enactment of anti-tethering ordinances in cities and towns across the state. • Unfortunately, a bad provision known as SB 331 passed into law. Advanced by the Ohio-based pet store franchise Petland, this legislation bans local governments from prohibiting the sale of puppy mill dogs in pet stores. The gains we achieved would not have been possible without calls, letters and other efforts from advocates like you -- thank you! Together, I know we'll make even more progress for animals in the next legislative session. In the meantime, I invite you [...]