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How did your Legislators Vote on the Floor of the House or Senate?
Find out how your legislators voted on animal protection bills when the bills finally get out of committee and make it to the floor of the House or Senate. While Maryland is a "committee-driven" state (meaning that most bills that get a favorable report in committee pass and become law) sometimes lawmakers break with the committee recommendation and vote against a bill. And sometimes they even change their vote, voting against animal protection in committee (when they think no one is watching) but voting for it on the floor when they know that the bill is going to pass. Ah, politics.
Please check the voting records of your delegates and state senator on the links below. If they voted against an animal protection bill, please contact them to politely ask why they voted against the bill. Likewise if they voted for the bill, please contact them to say thank you. When they find out that animal advocates are really paying attention to their voting records it will make a difference in how they vote on animal protection in the future.
2011 Animal Bills (with links to floor votes) in the House and Senate:
Passed! - Puppy Mills, H.B. 940/S.B. 839: Requiring a person to obtain a kennel license if the person owns or has custody of 15 or more unspayed female dogs over the age of 6 months kept for the purpose of breeding the dogs and selling their offspring and sells dogs from six or more litters in a year; requiring each county to collect and maintain specified information for each kennel license issued; requiring each county to report specified information to the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation on or before January 15 each year; etc.
Passed! - Animal Cruelty, H.B. 227/S.B. 115: Authorizing a court, as a condition of probation for specified violations concerning animal abuse, neglect, or cruelty, to prohibit the defendant from owning, possessing, or residing with an animal.
Passed! - Spay/Neuter Task Force, H.B. 339/S.B. 639: Establishing a Task Force on the Establishment of a Statewide Spay/Neuter Fund; specifying the membership, chair, and staff of the Task Force; requiring the Task Force to review specified spay/neuter programs, develop a specified spay/neuter program, and make recommendations regarding a spay/neuter fund; requiring the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and specified committees of the General Assembly on or before January 1, 2012; terminating the Act at the end of June 30, 2012; etc.
Passed! - Pet Protective Orders, SB 747 & HB 407: Authorizing a District Court Commissioner, in a specified interim protective order, and a judge, in a temporary protective order or final protective order, to award temporary possession of any pet of a person eligible for relief or a respondent.
Passed! - Antifreeze Safety, HB 897, Prohibiting a person, after January 1, 2012, from selling or offering for sale engine coolant or antifreeze that contains more than 10% ethylene glycol unless it contains not less than 30 parts per million nor more than 50 parts per million denatonium benzoate; granting immunity from liability to persons that manufacture, process, distribute, recycle, or sell engine coolant or antifreeze with denatonium benzoate in concentrations required by the Act, except under specified circumstances; etc.
Passed! - Dogs in Restaurants, HB 941, Authorizing a restaurant with an outdoor dining area to allow a patron's dog to accompany the patron in the outdoor dining area of the restaurant during specified hours; requiring specified restaurant owners to give notice to local health departments under specified circumstances; authorizing restaurant owners to make specified determinations and to limit the size and type of dog that may accompany a patron into the outdoor dining area; requiring specified restaurant owners to post a notice; etc.
welfare protection. The success of animal rights legislation was due in large part to the dedication and efforts of Maryland Votes for Animals."