The Scorecard 2021-2022

Mass. Legislative Scorecard 2021-2022 (sponsorship of bills)

Legislators can co-sponsor new legislation at the beginning of the session. This spreadsheet is meant to assist you in learning a bit about your state legislators, through their sponsorship or co-sponsorship on select animal-related bills and amendments this year. We will add votes and other information once more actions occur in the legislature. The chart and explanation should be helpful; however, it does have limitations. It doesn’t reflect past actions a legislator may have taken to help or harm animals. It also is only using measurement we can measure — such as sponsor/co-sponsorship — which won’t give a clear indication on where a legislator stands on many issues or other actions he or she has taken.

We also were unable to include every helpful or harmful animal-related bill. Also, people in certain leadership positions rarely sponsor or co-sponsor bills. Therefore, as always, we encourage you to meet with your legislators (in either the State House or district office), write to them, and ask about positions on specific animal issues. If your legislators have been supportive of animal issues, please take a few minutes to thank them.

KEY:

EXPLANATION OF SCORECARD ACTIONS

EXPLANATION OF CO-SPONSORSHIP OF BILLS

Legislators can co-sponsor new legislation at the beginning of the session. If a bill is late-filed, they can also co-sponsor a bill at the time it is filed. The bills below were filed during the 2021-2022 session.

1. S. 1322: An Act to protecting the health and safety of puppies and kittens in cities and towns
This bill has several provisions to protect consumers and animals from unsafe practices by: prohibiting the sale of puppies and kittens under eight weeks of age; ensuring regulations for certain kennels, such as boarding and breeding kennels; updating several laws about kennel licensing; and prohibiting the roadside sale of animals. Sponsors: Rep. Campbell, Senator Chandler

2. S. 1097/H. 1840: An Act enhancing the issuance of citations for cruel conditions for animals
These bills expand upon current law, found in Ch. 140 sec. 174E, that allows citations to be issued when dogs are kept in cruel conditions. This legislation extends this protection to all domestic animals and also updates language to ensure that dogs left outside and unattended are protected. Broadening the current statute’s scope in this way allows an effective response to problematic situations involving animals and prevents them from escalating. Sponsors: Senator Montigny, Representatives Puppolo

3. S. 230/H. 384: An Act banning the retail sale of cats and dogs in pet shops
These bills prohibit the sale of puppies, kittens, and rabbits in pet shops unless the animals come from shelters or rescue organizations. Typically, pet shops obtain animals from substandard breeding facilities, which results in consumers unknowingly purchasing sick or genetically-compromised pets. Massachusetts state records consistently document complaints from across the Commonwealth. State and federal records have also demonstrated that puppies from the worst “puppy mills” in the country have been sold to Massachusetts consumers via pet shops. Sponsors: Rep. Higgins, Senator O’Connor

4. S. 2251: An Act relative to the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes, and bears in traveling exhibits and shows
This bill prohibits the use of elephants, big cats, primates, and bears in traveling shows in Massachusetts. These shows—using dangerous animals—are not only detrimental to animal welfare, but also present a public safety risk. These traveling shows subject highly intelligent, social animals to coercive and abusive treatment and a life on the road where they are deprived of exercise, and the ability to express their most basic, natural behaviors. Sponsors: Representative Ehrlich, Representative Jones, Senator Tarr, Senator Gomez

5. S. 885/H. 1437: An Act to maintain stable housing for families with pets in an economic crisis and beyond
This bill ensures that certain types of housing agreements (such as condo bylaws, some leases, etc.), as well as public housing authorities, cannot discriminate against, or include language that limits, a tenant or resident’s ability to live in that type of housing based on the size, weight, or perceived breed of a dog owned by a tenant/resident. It also prevents insurance companies from discriminating based on dog breed. Sponsors: Senator Gobi; Representative D. Rogers

6. H. 966: An Act concerning the use of animals in product testing
This bill would require the use of available test methods that avoid or reduce animal testing of products and ingredients. This important legislation compels manufacturers and their contract testing facilities to use test methods that replace, reduce, or refine the use of animals. Alternatives provide information of equivalent or superior quality and relevance to humans in comparison to animal tests. The bill applies to products such as cosmetics, household cleaners, and industrial chemicals, like those in paint; it does not apply to testing done for medical research, including testing of drugs or medical devices. Sponsors: Senator Montigny; Rep. Lewis

7. H. 901: An Act protecting research animals
This legislation would facilitate a relationship between laboratories that use dogs and cats for research purposes and registered non-profit animal rescue organizations so that when the animals are no longer needed, they can be placed up for public adoption. Sponsors: Rep. Dykema, Rep. Dubois; Senator Tarr.

8. H. 4442: An Act further regulating the enforcement of illegal hunting practices
This bill would deter poaching, which is the illegal harming or killing of wildlife, by increasing penalties to bring them in line with other states around the country. They would also create an elevated penalty for chronic poachers who repeatedly violate the law. Sponsors: Senator Moore; Representatives Ferrante, Ehrlich

9. S. 2470: An Act to upgrade hen welfare and establish uniform cage-free standards for egg-laying hens
This legislation would upgrade conditions for egg-laying hens by mandating that they be able to engage in certain vital natural behaviors such as perching, nesting in boxes, dust bathing, and fully extending their wings. Sponsors: Senator Lewis and Representative Cahill

*co-sponsors designated a + either signed on to the legislation or the budget amendment.

10. S. 623/H. 965: An Act prohibiting the sale of fur products
This legislation would prohibit the sale of new fur products in Massachusetts. Horrific animal cruelty is involved in making fur products. On fur factory farms, wild animals spend their entire lives in cramped cages, deprived of the ability to engage in natural behaviors. The stress from living in a tiny cage causes serious welfare problems, such as self-mutilation and infected wounds, and can increase pathogen shedding and the risk of zoonotic disease transmission, such as COVID-19. Sponsors: Senator Velis and Representative Lewis

11. S. 1111/H. 1824/H. 1656: Protecting Animals from Convicted Animal Abusers
This legislation would prohibit a person who is convicted of animal cruelty from owning or possessing an animal for a period of time determined by the court. It also would enable additional monies to be directed to the Massachusetts Animal Fund for the purpose of spaying/neutering and vaccinating homeless dogs and cats or those who live with low-income families. Sponsors: Senator Moore; Representatives Nguyen; Representative Hill

12. S. 582/H. 305/H. 949: Doggie Daycare and Boarding Kennels (Ollie’s Law)
Massachusetts currently has no state oversight of doggie daycare or boarding kennels. This legislation would require reasonable rules and regulations of these facilities, such as specifications on staff to dog ratios, group sizes and supervision, minimum housing and care requirements, indoor and outdoor physical facility requirements, dog handling, and insurance. Many families in Massachusetts have suffered the loss or injury of a companion animal at a doggie daycare or kennel—tragedies that could be mitigated by commonsense oversight of these facilities. Sponsors: Senator Patrick O’Connor; Senator Montigny; Representative Ashe; Representative Kane

13. Harmful Wildlife bills (Trapping legislation: S. 554/H. 1022/H. 1016/H. 913 and Sunday hunting legislation: H. 1019/H. 984/H. 1015/H. 914/H. 1023/S. 547)
A number of bills are filed each session that remove current restrictions on cruel body-gripping Conibear and leghold (sometimes called foot-hold traps) which are used to capture fur-bearing animals, such as beaver and coyote. These changes would effectively allow a return to the days of recreational trapping with these inhumane and indiscriminate devices, something that 64% of Massachusetts’ voters decried in 1996 when they voted in favor of a ballot initiative known as the Wildlife Protection Act. Sponsors: Rep. Frost, Rep. Vieira, Rep, Straus, Senator Gobi
A number of bills are filed each session that would allow for the removal of the statewide ban on Sunday hunting. 86% of Massachusetts’ residents want to maintain the ban on Sunday hunting while hunters represent just 1% of the Massachusetts population. Sunday hunting bills prioritize a small minority over an overwhelming majority of Massachusetts’ residents that do not hunt, yet enjoy non-consumptive uses of nature and wildlife. Sponsors: Sen. Gobi, Rep. Straus, Rep. Sullivan, Rep. Frost, Rep. Vieira

While not represented on the chart, click here to see legislators who supported the Mass. Animal Fund in the FY22 budget.