A Senate Republican on Thursday proposed creating a criminal charge of “animal hoarding” for people who keep large numbers of animals in overcrowded conditions and do not provide proper care.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, filed the proposal (SB 212) for consideration during the 2017 legislative session, which starts in March. The bill would add a new section to the state’s animal-cruelty laws to create a third-degree felony for animal hoarding. It also would allow the seizure of animals whose health and welfare are in “imminent danger” because of such hoarding.
This article appears in Dec 21-27, 2016.