The Licensing of Horses in New Hampshire

[chestnutmare]

Patrick, I think you are referring to HOUSE BILL 220 which states:

“AN ACT relative to civil proceedings for forfeiture of animals.

SPONSORS: Rep. Skinder, Sull 1; Rep. Spaulding, Hills 18; Rep. Parkhurst, Ches 4

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill requires that animals be taken into custody when a person is charged with cruelty to animals.
1 Cruelty To Animals; Civil Forfeiture. Amend RSA 644:8, IV(a) to read as follows:

IV.(a) In addition to being guilty of crimes as provided in paragraphs III and III-a, any person charged with cruelty to animals may have his or her animal confiscated by the arresting officer at the time of arrest and, upon said person’s conviction of cruelty to animals, the court may dispose of said animal in any manner it decides. Courts shall give cases in which animals have been confiscated by an arresting officer priority on the court calendar. The costs, if any, incurred in boarding and treating the animal, pending disposition of the case, and in disposing of the animal, upon a conviction of said person for cruelty to animals, shall be borne by the person so convicted. In addition, the court may prohibit any person convicted of animal cruelty from having future ownership or custody of other animals for any period of time the court deems reasonable or impose any other reasonable restrictions on the person’s future ownership or custody of animals as necessary for the protection of the animals.”

An interesting note is that Rep. Parkhurst of Winchester, NH a cosponsor of this bill also cosponsored HB 427. However of HB 427, Parkhurst claims that he never read the text of HB 427 until there was an outcry from the horse community. Has he read this one?

While on the surface this bill may look good. I mean, nobody likes animal abuse. BUT, Rep. Skinder has adopted some PETA agendas i.e. “Sea Kittens” is a PETA initiative see: http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/ http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/sea_kittens1
My point is, given the extreme measures that we see represented by animal rights groups like PETA, what will be the standard set to determine the lines of animal abuse. These terms are not defined in the bill and I do not trust those involved in sponsoring the bill to decide what is right. For example, there are some people who believe that using horses for work or pleasure constitutes abuse. It could come down to an arbitrary disposal of our animals due to the subjectivity of law enforcement.

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