Cost of Care
Take Action to Establish Cost of Care Provisions in New Jersey
Help to ensure lawfully seized animals’ owners pay for the animal’s care or relinquish their rights during the judicial process.
The proposed legislation, S981/A2354 shifts the responsibility of paying for a lawfully seized animal’s care onto its owner, the alleged abuser, rather than allowing the debilitating costs of housing these animals while the courts come to a decision to overwhelm local shelters or deplete allocated taxpayer dollars. Cost of Animal Care provisions are an absolute good for New Jersey residents, animal shelters, and animal cruelty victims. Not passing this bill means vulnerable animals will continue to languish in shelters and in the legal system; shelters will remain unavailable for other animals in need of help; and our cruelty laws will go unenforced.
BREAKING NEWS
3/14/2022- S981 has passed its Senate committee (5-0)
3/24/2022- Passed by the full Senate (36-0)
5/25/2023- Substituted for A2354 (2R)
5/25/2023- Passed by the Assembly (68-3-1)
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STEP 1: Email Senate Legislative Leadership Today
Ask Senate President Nicholas Scutari to post S981 for a Senate floor vote. We’ve prepared a sample email for you to use, but we highly encourage you to modify it to make it more personal.
Sample Email to Senate President Nicholas Scutari
Subject line: A note from your constituent - please post S981 for a Senate floor vote to establish procedures for seizure, care, and forfeiture of animals involved in animal cruelty violations.
Dear Senate President Scutari,
As a New Jersey resident, I am writing to ask you to please post S981 for a Senate floor vote. This bill would establish procedures for seizure, care, and forfeiture of animals involved in animal cruelty violations.
The cost of care bill shifts the responsibility of paying for a lawfully seized animal’s care onto its owner, the alleged abuser, rather than allowing the debilitating costs of housing these animals while the courts come to a decision to overwhelm local shelters or deplete allocated taxpayer dollars.
I ask you to shift the burden of paying for the care of lawfully seized animals from overworked and underfunded animal shelters to the abuser in New Jersey by supporting S981.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
CITY, NJ
STEP 2: Call the Assembly Committee Members
After emailing Senate President Scutari, be sure to follow up with his office with a polite phone call. Calling takes less than two minutes, and it’s really easy! We’ve prepared a sample script for you to use but please feel free to modify it to make it more personal.
Senate President Scutari: (732) 827-7480
Sample Call Script
Hi, my name is _____, and I’m a New Jersey resident from __(city)__. I’m following up on an email I sent earlier about requesting Senator Scutari to please post S981 for a Senate floor vote. This is the bill to establish procedures for seizure, care, and forfeiture of animals involved in animal cruelty violations. Thank you.
Thank you.
