Virginia 2020 Regular Session Status: In Committee

HB 508 — Animal care; cruelty, dangerous dogs.

Last action — Left in Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2020 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there are no live odds of enactment. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Summary

Animal care; cruelty; dangerous dogs. Extensively reorganizes, clarifies, and makes substantive changes to provisions related to dangerous dogs. Substantive changes include (i) a requirement that a law-enforcement officer or animal control officer who has reason to believe that a dog within his jurisdiction is a dangerous dog must apply for a district court summons, a requirement that is discretionary under current law; (ii) a prohibition on disposing of a dog prior to a dangerous dog adjudication; (iii) additional requirements for owners during and after a dangerous dog adjudication, including notice upon transfer, signage, fencing, muzzling, and registration; (iv) court discretion on prohibiting ownership of or residence with a dog following a dangerous dog adjudication; and (v) additional recordkeeping for officers in certain situations. The bill also increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalty for a first offense of killing a domestic dog or cat for the purpose of obtaining its hide, fur, or pelt. Current law imposes a Class 6 felony charge only for a second or subsequent offense.

Bill Text

  • Impact statement from VCSC (HB508) View text Current html January 04, 2020

Action History

  1. Left in Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources

  2. Subcommittee recommends striking from docket (8-Y 0-N)

  3. Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture

  4. Impact statement from DPB (HB508)

  5. Impact statement from VCSC (HB508)

  6. Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources

  7. Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103962D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 147 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (147)

147 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

public-safety
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 508 do?
Animal care; cruelty; dangerous dogs. Extensively reorganizes, clarifies, and makes substantive changes to provisions related to dangerous dogs. Substantive changes include (i) a requirement that a law-enforcement officer or animal control officer who has reason to believe that a dog within his jurisdiction is a dangerous dog must apply for a district court summons, a requirement that is discretionary under current law; (ii) a prohibition on disposing of a dog prior to a dangerous dog adjudication; (iii) additional requirements for owners during and after a dangerous dog adjudication, including notice upon transfer, signage, fencing, muzzling, and registration; (iv) court discretion on prohibiting ownership of or residence with a dog following a dangerous dog adjudication; and (v) additional recordkeeping for officers in certain situations. The bill also increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the penalty for a first offense of killing a domestic dog or cat for the purpose of obtaining its hide, fur, or pelt. Current law imposes a Class 6 felony charge only for a second or subsequent offense.
Who sponsors HB 508?
HB 508 is sponsored by Rodney T. Willett.
What is the current status of HB 508?
This bill died with 2020 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track HB 508?
Track HB 508 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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