WEST LEBANON — Gov. Kelly Ayotte has vetoed a pet foster care bill, despite expressing support for its main premise: to allow dog and cat moms, and newborn puppies and kittens to live in a temporary home environment as they await adoption.
But before the pet fostering bill reached her desk, legislators voted to attach language to it from a livestock cruelty bill that sought to grant more investigative authority to the state.
For the Upper Valley Humane Society in Enfield, providing constant care for animals with these additional needs is less than ideal when foster homes offer more individualized care.
“The issue needs to be addressed,” the Humane Society’s executive director, RayLynn Bradigan, said. “… But certainly the bigger issue regarding animal cruelty and how that’s handled had to take precedent.”
Ayotte’s July 15 veto came with dissatisfaction over what she described in her decision as “problematic language” added during the legislative session in the hopes she would sign both into law.
Introduced earlier this year, Senate Bill 475 sought to qualify pregnant and nursing animals and neonatal puppies and kittens for foster care. Current state regulation designates foster care as an option only for medical or behavioral rehabilitation needs.
HB1766, first introduced by state Rep. Barbara Comtois, R-Center Barnstead, called for a state-appointed professional to assist with investigations; animal seizure only by law enforcement; and for humane societies to only house the livestock in question if they are not participating in the investigation.
While Comtois proposed the bill to strengthen and formalize the investigation process, Bradigan worried it would leave those with case information and care resources out of the equation.
“Veterinarians who work directly with the animals need to be given the authority to make the decisions for them without the state feeling that it needs to intervene,” Bradigan said Monday by phone.
Comtois argued in a May interview that humane societies may still contact police with concerns and assist in investigations. Housing the animals involved is also permitted so long as the shelter is not involved with the investigation. A state veterinarian, tasked with designating someone to assess the welfare of an animal, could appoint a humane society employee who has expertise.
With the possibility HB1766 failing to earn the governor’s approval alone, proponents attached the precise language of that bill to SB475 in the hopes the two would pass together.
However, Ayotte shot down the bill in her decision, stating that the language of HB1766 “makes it harder to respond to animal abuse and neglect cases, costs taxpayers more money, and could lead to forced euthanasia of abused but otherwise healthy animals.”
“Sometimes one thing is sacrificed for another,” said Sen. Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon, who supported the pet fostering element and opposed the livestock investigation element.
Despite having passed through both chambers and verbal support from Ayotte, there were also concerns over the idea of additional pet fostering.
The regulation excluding neonatal or nursing status as a medical exemption, AGR 1705.05, had been interpreted differently by some humane societies across the state. Department of Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper specified in a letter late last year that those animals do not qualify and technically never have.
“Most of our enforcement issues are with rescues and shelters,” Jasper wrote. “The common response we hear during our enforcement actions is that ‘we are trying to save animals.’ There is no exemption from state law for trying to save animals.”
Neonatal pets, including the five orphaned kittens the Upper Valley Humane Society welcomed back in May, need care every few hours, requiring staff to return at night, Bradigan said at the time.
Jasper noted in his letter that fostering animals does not create more space for others in shelters, considering there’s an expectation to hold their places. His primary concern with fostering is a lack of inspection and oversight throughout the process.
Bradigan argued, however, that fostering is an important opportunity for kittens and puppies to adapt to a home environment and socialize. Foster families also provide critical information about the animal’s behavior ahead of adoption.
“Even if there was evidence that puppies and kittens raised by fosters had better people skills, our concern is with animal health,” Jasper wrote in the letter.
For Prentiss, the next step is to pressure the Department of Agriculture Commissioner to enact an emergency administrative rule to allow foster home placement while legislators wait for the next session to reintroduce the bill, she said.
“What I’m hearing from constituents in the humane society, is he is not bringing a helpful approach to this,” Prentiss said Monday of Jasper.
Comtois did not respond by deadline to a Monday phone message and email.
Ayotte’s issues with the livestock cruelty bill outweighed her support for expanded pet foster care. “I think the governor was responsible with her veto, and now we have to manage a situation with the humane society,” said Prentiss.
