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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2136 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1056 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Mark C. Montigny |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to improving enforcement for tethering violations. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Mark C. MontignySecond Bristol and PlymouthJack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/26/2023 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2136 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1056 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Montigny, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1056) of Mark C. Montigny and |
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| 19 | 19 | | Jack Patrick Lewis for legislation to improve enforcement for tethering violations. The |
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| 20 | 20 | | Judiciary. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 1099 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act relative to improving enforcement for tethering violations. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 174E of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2Official Edition is hereby amended by striking in paragraph (a) the first and second sentences |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3and replace with:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4 (a) No person owning or keeping a dog shall chain, confine, or tether a dog outside and |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5unattended (1) for longer than 5 hours or (2) outside from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6 “Outside and unattended,” for the purposes of this section, shall mean any dog who is |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7exposed to the elements for a duration of longer than 15 minutes and not in visual range and |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8physical presence of the owner. This expressly includes, but is not limited to, a dog in a securely 2 of 3 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9fenced-in yard, a dog in a kennel, or a dog tethered. For purposes of this section a dog shall be |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10considered “outside” regardless of access to an outdoor doghouse or similar structure. |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 No person owning or keeping a dog shall tether, confine or chain a dog in a manner that |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12allows the dog to leave the owner's, guardian's or keeper's property. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13 SECTION 2. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by inserting after |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14the word “chains”, in line 7, the following words:- , pinch collars, choke collars, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15 SECTION 3. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out, in |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16line 7, the words “lines or” |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17 SECTION 4. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by inserting after |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18the word “feet”, in line 19, the following words:- per dog |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19 SECTION 5. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out, in |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20lines 35-37, the words “provided, however, that a choke collar and a pinch collar shall not be |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21used to tether a dog to a cable run;” |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22 SECTION 6. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out the |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23words “in accordance with subsection (b)”, in lines 52-53, and inserting in place thereof the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24following words:- and unattended |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25 SECTION 7. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out in |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26paragraph (c) the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27entrance to the shelter shall allow the dog's entry and exit, and in adverse weather have a flap or |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28other mechanism sturdy enough to block entry of weather elements. 3 of 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29 SECTION 8. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by inserting after |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30the word “outside”, in line 64, the following words:- and unattended |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31 SECTION 9. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out, in |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32lines 69-70, the words “, unless the tethering is for not more than 15 minutes” |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33 SECTION 10. Section 174E of chapter 140 is hereby further amended by striking out, in |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34line 90, the word “and” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- or |
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