Two state bills have been introduced to the Michigan House:
1. Pound Seizure HB 4663 (Koda's Law)would ban shelters from selling cats and dogs for research. It's named after a dog that was surrendered by his guardian to a shelter and then sold to the University of Michigan for research. The family had assumed the shelter would adopt out Koda. Michigan presently has 4 county shelters selling cats and dogs to research but theoretically any of the shelters could do so under existing code.
2. Humane Euthanasia HB 4263 would mandate shelter and dealer euthanasia be done only with sodium pentobarbital injections. Presently 12 Michigan shelters use either carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide to gas their victims in barrels but, again, this practice could be used at any shelter under existing law.
To learn more about these bills and to provide your support visit Care2. Each bill has its own petition.
As important as these bills are, they are just one more example of the sorry plight of homeless cats (and dogs). In Michigan alone animal control shelters kill one cat or kitten every 7 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Instead of legislating kinder ways of killing, isn't it about time we outlawed killing cats and dogs altogether? If we directed our tax and donation dollars on providing affordable and accessible spay/neuter for all cats and dogs -- and if we directed our rescue efforts on developing strong foster home networks instead of trying to house the homeless in finite shelter space -- we would be a lot closer to that goal.
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