The legislative season is upon us once again and with School House Rock’s “I’m just a Bill” melody running on  loop in their head, everyone is furiously working to push their notion of a good idea through the process. Some, of course, are better than others.  Then, there are the well-intended bills that turn out to be not-so-great in execution.

In New Hampshire, a bipartisan bill was filed to require a new state license for any person to sell or transfer even a single animal which means that the person is subject to warrantless searches of their home by a multitude of officials. Additionally, all such people must provide records of their animals to anyone who asks, including a member of the public.  I don’t know about you, but I suspect that this burden of record-keeping and opening to public critique (not to mention warrantless searches) may deter some folks from taking in a dog or cat (or ferret, snake, or iguana) and finding it a home when they find it on the street.

While I am sure we all would advocate for best care available for all animals, this might not be a good plan.  This bill is why we should all pay attention to legislative efforts in our local, state and federal government and get involved!

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