An Act To Amend the Animal Welfare Laws To Add Provisions Relating to the Surrender of Animals
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §3906-B, sub-§11, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 502, Pt. C, §12, is amended to read:
The commissioner may decide, based on the facts of a particular case, to waive costs and fees associated with the surrender of animals, and may further decide that the case should not be sent to the attorney for the State, if the person who is the subject of the investigation has voluntarily surrendered the animals to the department and if the person has not previously been charged with cruelty to animals or charged with animal neglect. If the commissioner waives costs and fees associated with the surrender of animals or decides that the case should not be sent to the attorney for the State, the commissioner shall require the person to sign an affidavit stating that the person will never again possess or own any animals of the same species as the animals that were surrendered.
Sec. 2. 17 MRSA §1023, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
summary
This bill allows the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry in cases of alleged cruelty to animals to waive costs and fees associated with the surrender of animals, and to decide that the case should not be sent to the attorney for the State, as long as the person who is subject to the investigation has voluntarily surrendered the animals to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and has not previously been charged with cruelty to animals or charged with animal neglect. If the commissioner waives such costs or fees or decides that the case shouldn't be sent to the attorney for the State, the commissioner shall require the person to sign an affidavit stating that the person will never again possess or own animals of the same species as the animals that were surrendered.