Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation that seeks to remove abused and neglected animals from crowded municipal shelters during their owners’ criminal cases, according to the bill’s backers.
Assembly Bill 2344 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) declares animals seized in cruelty criminal cases “abandoned,” which allows them to ultimately be adopted or placed in foster homes, rather than face months living in a kennel.
The bill aims to help animals who are considered “evidence” in a criminal case, according to Haney’s spokesperson.
These animals often sit in shelters for months as their owners’ court cases proceed.
A 2022 Times investigation into “evidence animals” found the city had for years kept dogs who were seized in abuse or neglect cases confined to their kennels, barring them from exercise with volunteers.
One dog, Bruce, whose neck was slashed by his owner, spent seven months at the shelter as investigators sought charges, trembling in his kennel and looking scared, according to visitors. He remained off-limits to volunteers for regular walks or yard time because of the ongoing criminal case.
Los Angeles Animal Services staff argued that evidence dogs were kept largely off-limits for volunteers to walk because, unlike other animals at the shelter, the dogs weren’t the property of the city.
Haney’s bill was sponsored by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman and the advocacy group Social Compassion in Legislation. Backers say it closes a loophole in existing law by stating that animals seized by police or animal control officers without a warrant can be deemed abandoned after a 14-day period.
The shelter then can take steps toward adoption and fostering the animal, according to Special Assistant Dist. Atty. Daniel Felizzatto.
An example of warrantless seizure could be a case in which an officer sees a dog being abused and takes the animal.
Evidence animals in L.A. County shelters can stay anywhere from three months to nearly a year, according to statistics provided by the district attorney’s office.
Felizzatto said in a letter to Newsom this month that it is “bad public policy and bad fiscal policy” to keep animals in shelters unnecessarily, and that it cost about $35,550 a year to shelter a dog or a cat in Los Angeles County.
Felizzatto wrote that “the unnecessary housing of animals in cruelty/neglect cases contributes to the overcrowding of our animal shelters” and leads to animals going “kennel crazy.”
Prolonged confinement of animalscan lead to pacing, destructive behavior and anxiety and make it harder to get them adopted, which ultimately could lead to them being euthanized by shelters.
Newsom’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“Animal cruelty is unacceptable, and when animals are held for unnecessary periods, this puts a roadblock to their recovery,” Haney said in a statement provided by Social Compassion in Legislation.
“AB 2344 will streamline that transfer process, providing a tool for courts and shelters to help animals receive earlier transfers into appropriate care.”
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