The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Becker’s SB 314 on protective orders concerning animals. The bill allows a court to grant a protective order to give possession and care of an animal to a petitioner, prohibit a respondent from taking action against the animal, and direct a law enforcement officer to accompany the petitioner to retrieve the animal.
Sen. Becker explained that the bill helps stop the use of pets and actual or threatened harm to pets as a way to prevent abused persons from escaping from abusive relationships. The Julian Center, the Beacon of Hope Crisis Center, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Humane Society supported the bill, which the Committee passed 8-0.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/314