Commentary on Animal Law and Legal Issues
Just a quick update about some recent blogs describing proposed bills in New Jersey.
Governor Christie pulled the plug on the NJSPCA signing S3558 into law which removes the association’s…
Continue Reading Updates about the fate of New Jersey animal-related bills
NJ Bill S3558, which strips the NJ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) of law enforcement authority, passed both legislative houses and only awaits the Governor’s signature…
Continue Reading It is time to pull the plug on the NJSPCA
Senator Lesniak introduced S3558 to address deficiencies in the enforcement of New Jersey’s animal cruelty laws by state and county societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Several state…
Continue Reading Senator Lesniak’s bill that would transfer law enforcement authority from NJSPCA’s to professional law enforcement officers and agencies receives broad support.
Today, lawmakers in Trenton, New Jersey did not have the opportunity to reject an attempted override to Governor Christie’s condition veto of Senator Lesniak’s so-called “puppy mill bill,” one of…
Continue Reading Requiring professional law enforcement oversight of animal cruelty investigations will actually help animals-banning humanely raised, healthy puppies will not.
At the request of New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA), New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES), and New Jersey Farm Bureau, State legislators adopted a law in 1996 “which…
Continue Reading New Jersey Livestock owners concerned about the humane care of their animals
New Jersey Assemblyman Troy Singleton, sponsor of “Moose’s Law,” an animal abuse registry law which I have discussed several times, has proposed another animal cruelty-related bill. This time, in Assembly…
Continue Reading Proposed expansion of animal cruelty offenses in New Jersey to include “endangerment of a domestic companion animal.”
In New Jersey, Senate Bill 2454 would “[p]rovide for confiscation and forfeiture of animals involved in animal cruelty violations, and for [the] cost of their care while being held,” all…
Continue Reading Bill would permit seizure of animals without Court order based on accusation of animal cruelty
Three fairly recent incidents in Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Jersey reveal different approaches to the enforcement of these states’ animal cruelty statutes.
In April, 2014 the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in…
Continue Reading More on the Enforcement of Animal Cruelty Statutes
Following the lead from New York City, the enforcement of New Jersey’s Animal Cruelty Statute should be placed squarely under the authority of state and local police, with animal control…
Continue Reading New Jersey State and Local Police Should Take Over Enforcement of the Animal Cruelty Statute
Animal cruelty laws in New Jerseyare due for a check-up, better, a complete overhaul. The original statute, adopted nearly 150 years ago, was intended to protect animals, mostly horses, against…
Continue Reading On the Status of New Jersey’s Animal Cruelty Statute
