Under current Indiana law, as long as a dog has food, water and a chain on them that is at least 3 times the length of the dog, that is considered decent pet care.

What we the people would like to see changed is the wording on the new house bills 1202 and 1468 which deal with animal care and cruelty issues. We want to see more specific language relating to the breed, physical condition and hair coat of the dog. A horse or cow grows a winter coat to protect them somewhat from the elements, many breeds of dog do NOT grow a winter coat, nor do they have an undercoat to protect them. You cannot lump all canines together as there are too many differences in each breed, i.e. a St. Bernard living outdoors with a doghouse will not be affected by the temperature as much as Chihuahua, Rat Terrier, Boxer or Doberman Pinscher that has relatively no coat.

In addition, we would like to there to be language relating to the grooming of animals. Letting a dog become matted, infested with parasites, and letting its nails grow long enough to impede walking comfortably or become imbedded into the dogs foot is as much abuse as any other type of neglect.

Groomers and Veterinarians see this type of neglect often, yet there is no law against it. We feel that Vets, Vet Techs, and Professional Groomers should be able to report such negligence as abuse, and if they don't see the animal within a certain number of months, Animal Control should be able to investigate and see if the dog is still being cared foer properly. In addition, any citizen can anonymously report such abuse to the authorities to investigate.
If the animals are not cared for properly it should be the right and duty of Animal Control Authorities to remove the animals from the owner and prosecute the owners.

We the people of Indiana believe laws must be changed and enforced to protect the animals.

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Added by thegroomroom @ February 5, 2009, 2:03 pm
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http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?request=getSubjectLinks&main_code=0020&year=2009&session=1&subject=ANIMALS


The above link is where you can read the proposed bills as they are now before our changes.
Bills 1202 and 1468 deal with animal welfare and abuse.

You can see they are a bit vague when it comes to the abuses we see everyday. We just want to add more to it before they pass it. If we don't get our changes in we will have a law that says a doghouse with straw is enough for a dog (even a Chihuahua) to live outside. That is ridiculous as I'm sure you are aware. Dogs vary too much in breed and coat type to lump them together, so if we have to have specific language to educate them.

I have horror stories (as do all rescues and vets) about animals that will curl your hair. I also have some photos...some on my website groomroompetspa.com under before and after...

If you have any, feel free to email me with them. I want to go armed to the teeth!

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