NEWS & VIEWS Bits & Pieces


Maryland Legislative Session Gallops Down The Stretch


On April 9, 2012 the 430th legislative ses- sion of the Maryland General Assembly is over, fi ni, done, gone, blotto, the end. What’s done is done; what bills passed, passed; what didn’t, go to the scrap heap and we start over–fresh–next January! For the most up-to-date legislative informa-


tion, see www.equiery.com. T e following is where we were as of press time.


Animal Owners Deep-Six HB 912! Bravo! Another victory for grassroots! At


the March 9 hearing for House Bill HB 912, our correspondent Nancy Hill (legislative rep- resentative for the Maryland Association for Wildlife Conservation) reported that Chair- man Maggie MacIntosh announced that she has received more emails against HB912 than she had ever received on other signifi cant leg- islative issues. As a result, the committee killed the bill by giving it an unfavorable report! Ku- dos to everyone who wrote in. HB 912 would have changed the term “own-


er” to “guardian” throughout Maryland law. T is bill was opposed by every major national and state animal organization, including but not limited to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Kennel Club, the Maryland Veterinary Medical Association, the Maryland Horse Council, and on and on (see the March print edition of T e Equiery or visit www.equiery.com and look on the home page in the lower right-hand side for the legislative archives).


How did HB 912, which was such an ob-


viously bad piece of legislation, even make it on the docket? Apparently, the sponsor of the bill, Delegate Kach, was approached by one of his former legislative aides who is now in law school and is taking a course on animal law and thought this would be a good idea. Del. Kach and his aide both argued that HB 912 is meant to be a “cultural shift” in the way people look at their animals, i.e., owning a pet is not like owning a piano. T en Del. Kach told the com- mittee that he has drawn up an amendment that defi nes “guardian” as “owner.” Obviously, the amendment would undo what the bill was trying to do, rendering the bill moot. Kudos to the Environmental Matters Com-


mittee, who apparently realized the absurdity of the bill and promptly killed it.


New Penalties for Animal Cruelty?


T ere are four bills (SB 203/HB 484 and SB 445/HB 336) that would allow judges to order people convicted of cruelty to pay the costs of caring for the animals during the trial. Maryland House Bill 336, crossfi led as Sen- ate Bill 445, would also require a court to order a defendant convicted of a certain charges of


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


animal cruelty, as a condition of sentencing, to assign ownership of a the animal(s) to the agency or organization which confi scated the animal(s), for disposal at the discretion of that agency or organization and to pay, in addition to any other fi nes and costs, all reasonable costs incurred in removing, feeding, housing, treat- ing, or euthanizing an animal confi scated from the defendant. T ese bills are stalled. SB 203 and HB 484 would allow the rescues and animal welfare agencies who have custody of confi scated animals to move forward with adopting out these animals, if possible, or to euthanize them, if necessary. T e fi nancial bur- den of caring for seized horses is tremendous, as we all know. Combine this fi nancial burden with the length of time it often takes for these cases to be legally resolved, and compound the situations where, in many cases, the rescues or welfare agencies can not euthanize horses when needed because of ownership issues. T e rescues and shelters need some legal support. SB 203 has passed the Senate unanimously, has crossed into the House and will be heard in Ju- diciary on April 3.


Senate Bill 108: Stable Licensing


T is is really a “housekeeping bill,” cleaning up ambiguities in the current stable licensing law and stipulating that only facilities that pro- vide services to the public must be inspected and licensed by MDA’s Maryland Horse In- dustry Board (MHIB), regardless of how many horses that operation has onsite. T ese services include boarding, riding, training and renting horses. Private operators who do not off er ser- vices to the public are exempt. T e law under which the Stable Inspectors


are currently operating has various organiza- tions, individuals and agencies interpreting its requirements diff erently. For example, there are sections of the current laws that could be interpreted to mean that breeding farms need to be licensed under this law. While there may be some folks who feel that breeders ought to be licensed, that is neither the practice nor the original intent of the current Stable Licensing program, which is focused on consumer protec- tion. Any attempt to regulate breeding stables would have to be done under new legislation,


not within this law. SB 108 actually narrows the scope of potential facilities that should be licensed. MDA worked with a focus group of equine professionals in crafting this bill. T e Equiery supports this SB 108, which has passed the Senate unanimously and will be heard in the House Environmental Matters Committee on March 30.


Animal Abuser Registry Senate Bill 301 and House Bill 1020 estab-


lish a registry for people convicted of animal cruelty. On the surface, this sounds like a good idea, but the House Judiciary apparently found something troubling about the language, as they gave it an unfavorable on March 21. For more legislative information, please visit


equiery.com.


PA/MD Man Found Guilty of Neglect On March 3, James W. Houseman III of Littlestown, Pennsylvania was found guilty of 14 counts of animal cruelty. Twenty-one horses were seized by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offi cials in Germany Town- ship, PA last November. At that time, House- man also boarded more than 30 horses at a farm near T urmont in Frederick County. T e horses in Frederick County have since been moved to a diff erent location or sold and no charges in Frederick County have been made. Magiste- rial District Justice Mark Beauchat is setting a hearing to determine restitution in the amount of $56,000, which would be paid to the SPCA to cover the cost of care for the seized horses.


Washington International Looking for Next Youth Ambassador


T e Washington International Horse Show


is currently accepting applications for its 2012 Youth Ambassador program. Applicants must be students between the ages of 14 and 18 and be well versed in the horse show world. T ey must also be comfortable with the press, TV, radio, and print medias and active in social me- dia. Once selected, the Youth Ambassador will have several duties both before and during the show (which is October 23-28 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC). T e deadline to apply is April 17. For more information, visit www.wihs.org or contact Diana Hosford at dianahosford@wihs.org.


Maryland Arabians Win Darley Awards


Rigbie Farm’s Sharon Clark accepts a Darley award for Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.


Two Maryland-based Arabian rac- ing horses received prestigious hon- ors during the 2012 Shaikh Man- sour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Global Arabian Flat Racing Festival Darley Awards, which are considered “the Oscars” of purebred Arabian racing in the United States. T e ceremony continued on page 10


APRIL 2012 | THE EQUIERY | 9


Paul Smoke


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