There are several significant animal related bills in the NH Legislature for 2012                                    

First, the good news ...

Representative Laurie Harding, Democrat from Lebanon, has introduced a bill ( LSR 2012-H-2263) to remove all references to "equine products" from our current meat inspection statutes ( Chapter 427 of NH State laws) .  According to our state veterinarian, Dr. Steven Crawford, it has never been the intention of the Legislature or the NH Dept of Agriculture to authorize horse slaughter in NH, however, inclusion of the term, "equine products" in the meat inspection chapter has been of concern to horse lovers and friends. Hopefully, Dr. Crawford will not oppose this bill, though that will depend on the final language.

Representative David Kidder, Republican from New London, and Representative Paul Simard, Republican from Bristol have introduced a bill ( LSR 2012-H-2213-R) to prohibit the taking of deer from baited areas.  There have been several previous legislative attempts to prohibit deer baiting, none of them successful.  Last year, Representative Simard introduced two bills to prohibit bear baiting, but withdrew them before the session began.
However, the current deer baiting bill may have a better chance as it is being introduced by conservative, male, Republicans.  Also, Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, David Bettencourt, is a real animal lover who has co-sponsored and supported many previous animal welfare bills and he may support this one as well.  We'll watch this bill carefully and hope for the best.  

In addition, there will be two bills in the Legislature, one in the House and one in the Senate to add a bittering agent to antifreeze to make it less palatable to children and animals.  Similar bills have been tabled several times in the Legislature, and I don't think there's much of a chance that legislators will approve an additional expense for consumers and business owners for a problem that is not that prevalent.  

Now for the bad news ...
Representative Seth Cohn, Republican from Canterbury, has submitted a bill to eliminate the requirement for dog licensing (LSR 2012-h-2441).  Dog licenses pay for NH's low cost spay-neuter program; dog licensing is also a critical component of the rabies control program; dog licenses reunite lost dogs with owners, and identify dogs that bite humans or other dogs.  I'm sure that our state vet will oppose this bill, as will the state's shelters.  I don't think it has a chance, but this bill is so ridiculous that I am planning to attend the public hearing just to see if Rep. Cohn has a logical explanation for this idea ...

Representative Andrew Manuse, Republican from Derry, has introduced a bill ( LSR 2012-H-2269-R), "relative to innovative cosmetic or esthetic treatments".
The title of this bill has changed considerably since it was originally introduced and is quite deceptive in its current form.  Rep Manuse is actually trying to make it legal for business entrepreneurs to use live animals in innovative cosmetic or esthetic treatments.  
Currently, hair stylists, salons and spas are regulated by the NH Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Aesthetics.  The Board shut down a fish pedicure business that was operated by one of Rep. Manuse's constituents.  He has submitted this bill so that his constituent can continue to operate her business without interference from the Board.
I don't think this bill has much of a chance because of public health concerns, but I will be watching it carefully as the potential for animal abuse is chilling. 

The full text of new bills is generally not available until early January, however it is not too soon to contact your own legislators to ask for their support/opposition to these bills.  For more information about these bills, the legislative process, or how to contact your NH legislators, please e-mail me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Thanks to Jean Slepian for this legislation info.

                                                                      Along the same line as the HSUS Scorecard, showing how our Federal lawmakers voted on animal issues, we created a NH Scorecard, showing how our NH lawmakers voted on animal issues.

Click here to get the NH Scordcard in pdf.