Yesterday, the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee amended two dog-related bills that were then immediately approved by the House of Representatives. All bills will now advance to the Senate for consideration before July 31.
The American Kennel Club’s (AKC) amendment analysis and the new bill numbers are below:
TO INCREASE KENNEL SAFETY, AKA “OLLIE’S LAW – H.4919:
In April, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (JCMRG) amended “Ollie’s Law” regarding injuries and deaths to dogs at daycare and boarding facilities by releasing, H.4564/S.2731, which no longer negatively impacts personally-owned kennels. The bills would require municipalities to issue every type of kennel license currently defined in state law and to adopt strict state regulations for commercial boarding or training kennels. Yesterday, H.4564 was amended, released and adopted as H.4919. Now, towns without an inspector can have the Department of Agricultural Resources enforce the rules. Also, the advisory committee that will work on adopting boarding and commercial training facility regulations will complete their work by December 31, 2026.
COMMISSION TO STUDY MISREPRESENTATION OF SERVICE ANIMAL – H.4917
Last year, AKC testified at the Joint Judiciary Committee hearing in support of H.1480 and it received a favorable committee report to establish a 15-member commission to study the misrepresentation of service animals and issue penalties for those who intentionally misrepresent their animal as a service animal. Yesterday, the bill was amended, released and adopted as H.4917 Now, the Governor and the Attorney General would also make appointments to the commission and a report must be completed by April 1, 2025.
AKC Government Relations (GR) will continue to provide updates on these bills and other Massachusetts legislation as developments warrant. For more information on this or other legislative issues in Massachusetts, contact AKC GR at 919-816-3720 or doglaw@akc.org; or the Massachusetts Federation of Dog Clubs and Responsible Dog Owners at info@massfeddogs.org.