New Virginia Law Strengthens Shelter Requirement for Animals
For Immediate Release:
May 30, 2019
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch about Senate Bill 1025, which Gov. Ralph Northam just signed into law this morning, strengthening language to require adequate shelter and space for companion animals kept outdoors, including proper insulation from winter temperatures and shade in the summer:
As temperatures soar into the high 90s in Virginia today, Senate Bill 1025 cannot come into effect soon enough for dogs relegated to the outdoors. PETA’s fieldworkers routinely find dogs chained and penned outside with no access to shade during blistering heat—something that SB 1025 makes clear is a violation of Virginia’s animal protection laws. PETA is grateful to Sen. Lionell Spruill for championing this important bill and to Gov. Ralph Northam for advocating for it and signing it into law. While we encourage everyone to let their dogs live indoors as members of the family, SB 1025 is a positive step forward for “backyard dogs,” who struggle daily with loneliness, boredom, frustration, and inadequate protection from the elements.
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” and the group opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. More information is available at PETA.org.
