Animal Welfare Legislative Update: 2011 Session

Prepared by Washington Alliance for Humane Legislation

The 2011 Washington State Legislature considered numerous bills affecting the welfare of
animals.  Summaries of key bills are presented below.   

For additional information on any bill, visit the Washington State Legislature’s bill search page
at: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/.  Enter the bill number.  On the bill’s web page you will find a
list of the bill’s sponsors; its progress through the legislative process; copies of the bill and any
amendments or substitutes; and bill digests, reports, and fiscal notes.   

Bills that did not pass during the 2011 legislative session may be reconsidered during the 2012
legislative session.     
 
Legislation:  HB 1226, Companion Animal Spay/Neuter Assistance
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Referred to the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee.  A hearing was
held in that committee on March 3, 2011.  No further action was taken on the bill in the 2011
session.
Purpose:  HB 1226 would create a companion animal spay/neuter assistance program within the
Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to pay for spaying and neutering of dogs and
cats owned by low income individuals, and spaying and neutering of feral and free roaming cats.
The bill would establish a spay/neuter assistance account funded by a fee of $50 per ton of cat
and dog food distributed in Washington.  The fee would be paid by pet food distributors.  
Approximately $10 million per year would be generated by the fee, an amount sufficient to
support the costs of surgical sterilization of up to 65,000 eligible animals each year.   
Notes:  This bill is nearly identical to SB 5151. The primary difference between HB 1226 and
SB 5151 is that HB 1226 designates DSHS as the lead agency while SB 5151 designates the
Washington State Department of Health as the lead agency.  The Washington Alliance for
Humane Legislation and a large network of other organizations are lobbying for passage of HB
1226/SB 5151.  See www.savewashingtonpets.org for more information.
 
Legislation:  SB 5151, Companion Animal Spay/Neuter Assistance
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Referred to the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections
Committee.  No further action was taken on the bill in the 2011 session.
Purpose:  Identical to HB 1226.
 
Legislation:  SSB 5065, Preventing Animal Cruelty
Companion Bill:  HB 1147
Status:  Passed the legislature.  Signed by the governor on April 27, 2011.  Effective July 22,
2011.
Purpose:  The primary goal of the bill was to correct gaps and weaknesses in Chapter 16.52
RCW and make it tougher for people convicted of animal cruelty to own, care for, or reside with
similar animals in the future.  The bill accomplished this by broadening the definition of “similar animal;” expanding the conditions under which the ban on owning, caring for, or residing with
similar animals apply; and creating civil and criminal penalties for violating the ban.  In addition,
the bill increased the punishment for second degree animal cruelty such that all forms of second
degree animal cruelty are punishable as gross misdemeanors.
Notes:  Key features of the bill are summarized in a flyer prepared by the Washington Alliance
for Humane Legislation. (For a copy of the flyer contact the Alliance at info@savewashingtonpets.org.)
 
Legislation:  SHB 1243, Crimes Against Animals Belonging to Another Person
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Passed the legislature.  Signed by the governor on April 14, 2011.  Effective July 22,
2011.
Purpose:  SHB 1243 establishes a Class C felony when a person, with malice, kills or causes
substantial bodily harm to livestock belonging to another person.  “Livestock” is defined as
including, but not limited to, horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and bison.   
 
Legislation:  SSB 5487, Commercial Egg-Laying Chicken Operations
Companion Bill:  HB 1813
Status:  Passed the legislature.  Signed by the governor on May 10, 2011.  Effective August 1,
2012.
Purpose:  Establishes standards for animal husbandry and egg production facilities.  Standards
requiring enriched colony housing are phased in through the year 2026.
Notes:  In the spring of 2011, prior to passage of  SSB 5487, the Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS) began a petition signature campaign to place Initiative 1130 on the Washington
ballot in November 2011.  I-1130 would have required, by 2018, commercial egg-laying
operations to provide at least 1.5 square feet of usable floor space per hen (enough space for the
birds to stretch their wings) and would have prohibited stacking of cages.  In early July 2011,
HSUS reached an agreement with the United Egg Producers to seek nationwide standards for
commercial egg-laying operations
(http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/battery_cage_agreement_fac...). As part of
the agreement, HSUS ended the I-1130 campaign, although the number of signatures gathered
would almost certainly have qualified the initiative for the ballot.
 
Legislation:  HB 1800, Requiring Registration of Animal Abusers
Companion Bill: SB 5144
Status:  Referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  No further action was taken on the bill in
the 2011 session.
Purpose:  The bill would establish a registry of people convicted of animal abuse crimes.  
Identifying information about offenders listed in the registry would be made available to the
public.   
 
Legislation:  SB 5144, Requiring Registration of Animal Abusers
Companion Bill: HB 1800
Status:  Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  No further action was taken on the bill in
the 2011 session.
Purpose:  Identical to HB 1800.

Legislation:  HB 1755, Humane Treatment of Dogs
Companion Bill:  SB 5649
Status: Referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  No further action was taken on the bill in
the 2011 session.
Purpose:  The bill would establish humane standards for tethering of dogs.  
 
Legislation:  SB 5649, Humane Treatment of Dogs
Companion Bill:  HB 1755
Status:  Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee which passed a substitute bill and referred
the bill to the Senate Rules Committee.  No further action was taken on the bill in the 2011
session.
Purpose:  Identical to HB 1755.  
 
Legislation:  SSB 5688, Shark Finning Activities
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Passed the legislature.  Signed by the governor on May 12, 2011.  Effective July 22,
2011.
Purpose:  Shark finning involves the cruel practice of removing the fins from sharks and
returning the remainder of the shark to the water.  SSB 5688 creates the crime of unlawful trade
in shark fins. Criminal penalties are established:  Unlawful trade of shark fins in the first degree
is a Class C felony, while unlawful trade of shark fins in the second degree is a gross
misdemeanor.  
 
Legislation:  SHB 1124, Hunting Cougars with the Aid of Dogs
Companion Bill:  SSB 5356
Status:  Referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee which passed a
substitute bill and referred the bill to the House Rules Committee.  No further action was taken
on the bill in the 2011 session.
Purpose:  The bill would create a permanent program for hunting cougars with the aid of dogs.  
Notes:  Initiative 655, passed in 1996, prohibited the use of dogs to hunt cougars.  However, the
legislature began authorizing pilot programs for hunting cougars with the aid of dogs in 2004,
with extensions to the pilot programs added in 2007 and 2008.  
 
Legislation:  SSB 5356, Hunting Cougars with the Aid of Dogs
Companion Bill:  SHB 1124
Status:  Referred to the Senate Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee which passed a
substitute bill.  The substitute bill passed the senate.  The substitute bill then moved to the house,
where it passed the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and was referred to the
House Rules Committee.  The bill was returned to the Senate Rules Committee on April 22,
2011.  No further action was taken on the bill in the 2011 session.
Purpose:  The bill would authorize the continued use of dogs to hunt cougars through a five-year
pilot program extension through July 2016.   

Legislation:  HB 1107, Preparing for the Epidemiological Consequences of Diseases Related to Wolf Populations
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  No further action
was taken on the bill in the 2011 session.
Purpose:  Would require the Department of Health, with the assistance of the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife and the state veterinarian, to develop and implement a program
to detect, interdict, and assess the epidemiological consequences of diseases that may afflict or
may be carried by wolves and the actual and potential impact of wolves’ role in such diseases
upon human health in the state.
 
Legislation:  HB 1108, Concerning the State’s Management of Wolves
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  No further action
was taken on the bill in the 2011 session.
Purpose:  Would void all wolf management plans existing on the bill’s effective date.
Establishes new policies for wolf management that reflect the perception of wolves as having an
unacceptable negative impact on game herds, hunting opportunities, livestock, public health and
safety, and Washington’s economy.
 
Legislation:  HB 1109, Concerning Legislative Review of Gray Wolf Conservation and
Management
Companion Bill:  None
Status:  Referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  A hearing was
held in that committee on March 4, 2011.  No further action was taken on the bill in the 2011
session.
Purpose:  Requires the state legislature to approve any gray wolf conservation and management
plan before the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife submits that plan to the Fish and
Wildlife Commission for final review and approval.
 
Other bills that affect the welfare or management of animals considered in the 2011 legislative
session include the following.  Those marked with an asterisk passed the legislature and were
signed into law by the governor:

•   HB 1340 (Unlawful hunting of big game)*
•   SHB 1538 (Regarding Animal Health Inspections)  Partial veto by the governor*
•   HB 1093 (Eliminating Horse Brand Inspections)
•   ESHB 1009 (Endangered Species Agreements)
•   HB 1137 (Expanding the Use of Body-Gripping Traps)
•   HB 1138 (Authorizing and Managing Trapping of Animals)
•   SSB 5264 (Requiring Study of Mazama Pocket Gophers)