Mass. House approves standards for dog kennels, Longmeadow resident’s push for Ollie’s Law

BOSTON (SHNS) – Representatives went five for five on approval of animal safety and treatment bills Thursday, mounting a late-session push for greater dog kennel oversight and a ban on the use of certain exotic mammals in traveling shows.

The House approved the bills, several of which have long been priorities for animal rights advocates, with no opposition as legislators cruised into the final week of formal business for the 2023-2024 term.

One of the bills (H 4919) would impose new statewide guardrails around kennels and boarders, an area where reform supporters say oversight is lacking.

Those facilities would need to be licensed for a maximum number of animals under their care at once, and they’d also be inspected by local officials at least annually. The state would also be tasked with crafting rules and regulations around kennel best practices, injury reporting, care requirements and more.

Kennels and commercial boarders would need to report injuries to animals or people, and state regulators would then make investigative reports about those incidents publicly available online if they wind up bringing enforcement action against a facility.

Supporters dubbed the measure “Ollie’s Law,” named for a Labradoodle from Longmeadow who died in 2020.

Amy Baxter, Ollie’s owner, recounted at a State House event last year how she dropped him off at a “doggie day care,” and Ollie then sustained major injuries. He died eight weeks later after several surgeries, and Baxter said the kennel owner was not forthcoming about what happened.

Rep. Carole Fiola said the status quo leaves oversight of kennels and similar facilities up to each of the state’s 351 cities and towns.

“Through these provisions, we hope that the tragedy that Ollie endured will never happen again,” Fiola, a Fall River Democrat, said.

Another proposal the House unanimously backed (H 4915) would ban circuses and other traveling acts from using elephants, big cats, primates, bears and giraffes.

Animal rights activists and some lawmakers have been pushing for years to prohibit event organizers from parading out those animals, arguing that the practices cause inhumane living conditions.

Ten other states restrict the use of exotic animals in shows and exhibitions, and 15 Massachusetts cities and towns also have prohibitions in place, according to the MSPCA.

“The bill both protects public health and safety and ensures that our state no longer supports the cruel traveling exotic animal acts industry, where animals suffer from extreme confinement, abusive training, negligent veterinary care, and scarce opportunities to express natural behaviors,” said Liz Magner, animal advocacy specialist at the Mass. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The bill exempts performances at permanent, fixed facilities if the involved animal lives there and for permitted motion picture filming. It also explicitly allows those covered animals to be transported for the purpose of veterinary care or to move residence from one permanent location to another.

Some of the most well-known events have backed away from using large animals in recent years. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed its circus in 2017 after phasing out the use of elephants, and relaunched in 2023 without animals .

The House also unanimously approved legislation (H 4911) that would expand the timeline for reporting animal cruelty and overhaul Department of Children and Families regulations governing foster and adoptive child placement into homes with dogs.

Families with certain dog breeds viewed as higher risk for aggression can be disqualified from fostering or adopting children, according to bill sponsors, who argue that caseworkers should instead take a more holistic view of each pet and its individual temperament.

Rep. Jack Lewis told his colleagues that when he and his husband were thinking about adopting a second child or becoming foster parents, a DCF social worker visited their home and asked about the breed of their bulldog, Brownie.

“If that DCF social worker, well-intended as she was, had put down pit bull mix or something else along those same terms, my family wouldn’t have been able to welcome more people into our home, and I wouldn’t have the joy of now having the number of kids that I now have,” Lewis said. “This is what today’s bill is all about.”

The two other animal bills the House approved Thursday would create a commission to study misrepresentation of pets as service animals (H 4197) and update veterinary technician licensure (H 4912).

All five measures face an uncertain fate in the Senate.

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