Which State(S) Has/have A Definition Of "Companion Animal Hoarder" Written Into Their Legislation.

Agree, Due north.H. (AP) — Hoarders existence prosecuted for animal cruelty could go some assist under a bill being considered by New Hampshire lawmakers.

The proposal before the House Environment and Agronomics Committee doesn't make animal hoarding a crime, but would ascertain information technology within the state'south animal cruelty statute every bit "a state of affairs where an individual or individuals are unable to care for multiple animals in their custody due to psychological reasons." It as well would add a provision assuasive a court to order psychological evaluations of and treatment for the owners of animals taken in as a upshot of hoarding, before a case goes to trial.

Rep. Howard Pearl, the bill's sponsor, said people with mental illness too oft terminate up ensnared in the criminal justice system.

"Beast hoarding disorder is a particularly circuitous mental health illness requiring a multidisciplinary arroyo given the individual's inability to admit their animals' neglect and suffering," said Pearl, R-Loudon, at a public hearing earlier this week. "Seizure of the animals and criminal prosecution lone is an insufficient response in these situations."

Depending on the circumstances, beast cruelty can be either a misdemeanor punishable by up at a year in jail or a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison house.

Seizure and prosecution often leads to repeat offenses, because those responses only address the symptoms of the disorder, said Eileen Dacey, who runs the Northward Shore Elder Services' Center for Hoarding and Cluttering in Massachusetts. But therapy that includes maintenance programs after initial recovery is often successful, she said.

Opponents said the bill raises due process concerns and could lead to the criminalization of mental disease.

"We practise not want to walk that line or cross the line of finding a mental illness unlawful," said Gina Scrofano, who maintains a website tracking beast welfare legislation.

Lawmakers on the commission also raised concerns about the fiscal brunt of courtroom-ordered therapy and whether the state has enough clinicians to provide information technology.

Few other states have such laws. In 2001, Illinois enacted a legal definition for "companion animate being hoarder" and mandated counseling for those who are convicted of brute cruelty and meet the definition. Hawaii outlawed animal hoarding itself in 2008, but the law was after repealed. Rhode Island added a department to its animate being cruelty law in 2017 criminalizing the "hazardous accumulation" of a large number of animals to a point where the owner fails to or is unable to provide adequate living conditions.

New Hampshire has seen several high-profile beast cruelty cases in contempo years.

In Wolfeboro, Christina Fey was convicted in 2018 of 17 counts of animal cruelty after dozens of sick Great Danes were removed from her filthy mansion. A judge ruled that she would serve no jail time if she attended counseling for a yr, and she was ordered to pay over $i million for care of the dogs by the Humane Social club of New Hampshire, which placed them with new owners. The state Supreme Court is considering her appeal.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/new-hampshire-bill-providing-treatment-animal-hoarders/

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