Arizona animal protection bill is one step closer to becoming law

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Legislation that would strengthen protections for pets in Arizona passed another hurdle as it tries to become law. Lawmakers in the state House passed SB 1658 in a 34-18 vote on Thursday. The bill was amended, so it needs to be passed by the Senate before it heads to the governor’s desk.

The Arizona Humane Society praised the move. “SB 1658, as amended, will still save thousands of lives every year and ensure law enforcement can expedite a search warrant,” Arizona Humane Society president and CEO Dr. Steven Hansen said in a written statement.

AHS said the bill was changed to remove parts that clarified the definitions of food and water, but the measure kept the main aspects, including defining shelter for pets and tightening up language to protect animals from disease and “unreasonable suffering.” “The majority of cases that our field team is involved in involve the shelter side and the suffering side,” Hansen said in a social media video.

He added that if SB 1658 was law in 2023, AHS could have acted sooner in the Chandler case, where a woman was accused of keeping dead dogs in her freezer and dozens of others in poor conditions. Hansen believes that because the current law around animal cruelty is written so vaguely, prosecutors and law enforcement couldn’t act sooner.

The proposal now heads back to the Senate for a final vote. The chamber previously approved it in March.

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