Research| Cats and the Law
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Research Citations
- Alaska statutes do not mention animal abandonment as a crime. AS § 03.55.100 – 190; AS § 11.61.140 – 145
- Maine’s Animal Welfare Act exempts animals that are part of a population control effort from the definition of “abandoned animal.” 7 M. R. S. A. § 3907
- In the 2017 legislative session, Nevada passed Senate Bill 411, which exempts “a feral cat that has been caught to provide vaccination, spaying or neutering and released back to the location where the feral cat was caught after providing the vaccination, spaying or neutering” from the animal cruelty statute’s abandonment provision, N.R.S. § 574.100.
- It is a crime to abandon an animal in one’s custody, but community cat caretakers don’t have custody of community cats as “custody” is defined in the cruelty statute. U.C.A. 1953 § 11-46-303, U.C.A. 1953 § 76-9-301 – 307, I.C. § 35-46-3-7
- Cassens Weiss, Debra. “Trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs for community cats backed by ABA delegates”. ABA Journal. 14 Aug. 2017: https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/trap_neuter_vaccinate_return_community_cats_aba_delegates