LCO No. 6054 1 of 2
General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6226
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6054
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT LIMITING THE LENGTH OF TIME SEIZED ANIMALS MAY BE
HELD IN AN ANIMAL SHELTER OR MUNICIPAL POUND.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) Notwithstanding any 1
provision of title 54 of the general statutes, no animal seized as a result 2
of a court order shall be held in a municipal animal shelter or dog pound 3
for a period of more than ninety days without the engagement by such 4
shelter or pound of an animal rescue organization that offers and agrees 5
to provide temporary in-home fostering of such animal and that is 6
approved for such purpose by the Department of Agriculture. The 7
Department of Agriculture may retain a list of such approved animal 8
rescue organizations and may establish criteria and application 9
procedures for any such approval. 10
(b) No municipal animal shelter or dog pound shall refuse to accept 11
volunteer assistance from such an approved animal rescue organization 12
in furtherance of the purposes of this section. Any such municipal 13
animal shelter or dog pound shall authorize representatives of such an 14
approved animal rescue organization to assist with the care of any such 15
seized animals and, prior to the engagement requirements of subsection 16
Committee Bill No. 6226
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(a) of this section, allow such representatives to visually inspect the 17
municipal facility where any such seized animal is housed. 18
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure animals seized as a result of a court order are offered
reasonable care, a safe temporary foster home by an accredited rescue
organization and allow volunteers to help care for animals while they
are awaiting legal disposition.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. LINEHAN, 103rd Dist.
H.B. 6226