An Act To Improve Services of Animal Shelters
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1194
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: SAWYER, ROTUNDO, CROSTHWAITE
Amends: 7 MRSA §3913, 7 MRSA §3919-A, 17 MRSA §1031

Legislative Document 
No. 1194 
S.P.400 
In Senate, March 6, 2003 
An Act To Improve Services of Animal Shelters 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator SAWYER of Penobscot. 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Senator: ROTUNDO of Androscoggin, Representative: CROSTHWAITE of 
Ellsworth. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §3913, sub-§4. ,B, as amended by PL 1997, c. 
~ 
690, §11, is further amended to read: 
" 
." 
,~ (J 
) ') 
)1-
,-+ 2 
4b 
B. 
Otherwise dispose of the dog humanely in accordance with 
Title 17, chapter 42, subchapter IV~. 
EHeefl~--a&--IH·9 .. iaea 
iB-~h~£-~~~~-~~~~~-&ael~eF-ffiHst-£~~4-~~-a~-±east 
g-aays-ae~e~e-eHtBaBasiaT 
Sec. 2. 7 MRSA c. 720 is amended by repealing the chapter 
headnote and enacting the following in its place: 
CHAPTER 720 
RABIES PREVENTION FOR CATS AND SHELTER PROVISIONS 
Sec. 3. 7 MRSA §3919-A. as enacted by PL 2001, c. 363, §3, is 
amended to read: 
§3919-A. Procedure for acceptance and disposition of cats by 
animal shelter 
An animal shelter to which a cat is taken may accept the cat 
unless the shelter is in quarantine. An animal shelter accepting 
a cat shall comply with the provisions of this section. 
1. 
Cats 
with 
identification. 
An 
animal 
shelter 
that 
accepts a cat with cat identification shall make 
a 
reasonable 
attempt to notify the owner by telephone or by sending a written 
notice within 24 hours of accepting the cat. 
Except as provided 
in subsections 4 and 5, the animal shelter shall hold the cat for 
a 
period of 
days 
beginning 
on 
and 
including 
the 
day 
of 
acceptance. If the owner claims the cat within the 6-day period, 
the animal shelter shall release the cat to the owner 
upon 
payment of any municipal impoundment fee and actual fees incurred 
for food, shelter and veterinary care. 
Upon expiration of the 
6-day period, ownership of the cat is vested with the animal 
shel ter and the animal shelter may then handle the cat as 
a 
homeless cat for disposition in accordance with subsection 2. 
2. 
Homeless cats. 
When an animal shelter accepts a cat 
under section 3919 and that cat does not have cat identification, 
the animal shelter shall hold the cat for not less than 24 hours. 
After the 24-hour period, the animal shelter may treat the cat as 
a homeless cat and may: 
A. 
Offer the cat for adoption, sell or give away the cat; or 
• 
B. 
Otherwise dispose of the cat humanely in accordance with 
Title 17, chapter 42, subchapter IV ~. 
-+ 
An 
animal shelter may not sell or give a cat to a 
research 
facility. 
(, 
3. Owner's claim after 6-day period. 
An owner may reacquire 
Ii 
a cat at any time prior to its disposition under subsection 2 
upon payment of any municipal impoundment fee and actual fees 
Ln 
incurred for 
food, 
shelter and veterinary care and any other 
reasonable fee imposed by the animal shelter. 
L:: 
4. 
Euthanasia 
for 
severely 
sick, 
severely 
injured 
or 
L4 
extremely vicious cat. 
A humane agent, an animal control officer 
or an 
animal shelter may 
authorize in writing the 
immediate 
11; 
euthanasia of 
a 
severely sick, 
severely injured or extremely 
vicious cat upon determining that the animal control officer of 
" 
the municipality where the cat was found has been notified or, if 
the cat has cat identification, the owner of the cat has been 
'I' 
notified. 
5. 
Immunity. 
A veter inar ian, 
a 
humane 
control officer or an animal shelter, including 
by an animal shelter, is not civilly liable to 
for 
the 
loss 
of 
that 
cat 
resulting 
from 
agent, 
an animal 
a person employed 
the owner of a cat 
actions 
taken 
in 
:G 
compliance with this section. 
" 
Nothing in this subsection grants to an animal shelter or person 
any immunity from liability arising from the gift, sale or other 
:n 
transference of a cat to a research facility in violation of 
subsection 2. 
: ! 
1" " 
Sec. 4. 7 MRSA §§3919-B and 3919-C are enacted to read: 
§39l9-B. 
Disposition of pet when owner is institutionalized 
Notwithstanding 
sections 
3913 
and 
3919 A 
and 
except 
as 
provided in Title 17, section 1021, when a person brings a pet to 
an animal shelter because the owner of that pet is incarcerated 
or hospitalized, that person shall provide the animal shelter 
wi th the name and address of the pet's owner and the name and 
address of the facility where 
the person is incarcerated or 
hospitalized. 
The person bringing the pet to the shelter shall 
also provide the shelter with that person's name and address and 
that person's relationship to the owner or the official capacity 
in which that person is acting to enforce the animal welfare 
laws. 
The animal shelter may accept the pet unless the shelter 
is in quarantine. 
An animal shelter accepting a pet under this 
section shall comply with the provisions of this section. 
I, 
1. Notice. 
An animal shelter that accepts a pet under this 
section shall within 24 hours of receiving the pet send a notice 
by registered mail, return receipt requested, to the owner of the 
pet. The notice must inform the owner of the provisions of this 
section. 
2. Release of pet. 
Upon payment of costs incurred for food, 
n 
shelter and veterinary care, an animal shelter shall release a 
pet accepted under this section to its owner or to a person who 
to 
is designated in a letter signed by the owner as acting on the 
owner's behalf. 
3. 
Transfer of ownership; disposition of pet. 
If an owner 
t~ 
fails 
to 
arrange 
for 
release 
of 
a 
pet 
in 
accordance 
with 
subsection 
within 10 
days 
of 
the pet's acceptance 
by 
the 
'-,) 
shelter, ownership of the pet is vested with the animal shelter 
upon expiration of the lO-day period and the animal shelter may: 
L8 
.: (l 
A. 
Offer the pet for adoption or sell or give away the pet; 
or 
B. 
Dispose of the pet humanely in accordance with Title 17, 
chapter 42, subchapter 4. 
An 
animal shelter may not sell or give 
a pet to 
a 
research 
,:h 
facility. 
'n 
4. Claims. 
When an owner does not arrange for the release 
of a pet under subsection 2, the animal shelter is entitled to 
:(1 
receive from the department $4 a day for food and shelter for the 
pet for a maximum of 10 days. 
5. 
IJlDunity. 
A veterinarian, 
a 
humane 
control officer or an animal shelter, including 
by an animal shelter, is not civilly liable to 
for 
the 
loss 
of 
that 
pet 
resulting 
from 
compliance with this section. 
agent, 
an animal 
a person employed 
the owner of a pet 
actions 
taken 
in 
A person who brings a pet to an animal shelter in accordance with 
this section is not civilly liable to the owner of a pet for the 
loss of that pet resulting from actions taken in compliance with 
this section. 
Nothing in this subsection grants to an animal shelter or person 
any immunity from liability arising from the gift, sale or other 
Hi 
transference of a pet to a 
research facility in violation of 
subsection 3. 
4:.1 
§39l9-C. 
Animal held pending court decision 
The seizure and disposition of an animal whose 
owner is 
charged with a violation of chapter 739 or Title 17, chapter 42 
must be in accordance with Title 17, section 1021. 
Sec. 5. 17 MRSA §1031.A is enacted to read: 
§1031-A. 
Possession of animal in violation of court order 
A person is guilty of illegal possession of an animal if 
If) 
that person owns, possesses or has on that person's property an 
animal in violation of a court order issued under section 1031, 
Le: 
subsection 3, paragraph D or E. 
Illegal possession of an animal 
in violation of a court order is a Class E crime. Violation of 
) ~ 
this section is a strict liability crime as defined in Title 
l7-A, section 34, subsection 4-A. 
1:0 
.W 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes 
a 
process 
for 
animal 
shelters 
to 
accept 
and dispose of pets whose 
owners 
are 
incarcerated or 
hospitalized. 
It reduces 
from 
to 
the number of days 
a 
shel ter must hold a 
dog prior to euthanasia. 
This bill also 
~4 
makes it a Class E crime to possess an animal in violation of a 
court order prohibiting a person from possessing an animal as 
.:!l 
part of the penalty imposed for a cruelty to animals conviction.