MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers last year approved a new animal welfare law that aims to prevent the kind of situation that led a Mount Tabor man to appear in court Monday for allegedly abusing dozens of dogs.
The new law created a Division of Animal Welfare that is part of the Department of Public Safety but it will still be several months before it is expected to be up and running.
The new law outlines how cases are reported and what happens after someone is charged. It also redefines who can and should investigate animal cruelty cases, to streamline what happens when a complaint is made. The new division will address allegations of abuse on a statewide basis rather than by local municipalities.
It fills a gap that animal advocates say it’s long overdue. “We have reached a crisis situation when we started on this a while ago. It would have been great if we had been putting something into place and building on that as needed. Now, instead, it is so badly needed that it just has to happen,” said Erica Holm with the Central Vermont Humane Society.
“One of our reoccurring challenges in animal cruelty cases is that we’re relying not just on law enforcement officers, but also humane agents and veterinarians from the community to make sure that we have an investigation that we can charge and that is a gap in resources in our system,” said Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan.
State officials say they hope to have the first leadership position for the division filled in the next month or so. Once hired, they will have eight months to write a game plan for the division that will go to lawmakers.