A little-known problem is a huge injustice to dogs across our state and the country. So-called “Court Holds” are animals being safely housed at animal shelters while their owners are involved in criminal or civil legal matters. Until these legal matters are resolved, or the owners surrender the dogs to the animal shelter, court-hold dogs must remain in the care of the animal shelter. INDEFINITELY. The animal shelter has no control over the release of the dogs, the court case must come to completion or the owner must surrender the dog. It’s that simple.
At least until a case gets caught up in a battle of power and ego among people.
Colorado HB 24-1114, also known as the “Colorado Rescue Act”, caused a great deal of discussion in the Colorado animal welfare community, but was ultimately voted against by Colorado legislators, an outcome we are pleased with.
At the heart of the proposed legislation are the following assumptions:
- Thousands of healthy, treatable dogs and cats are being euthanized by Colorado animal shelters every year because the animal shelters fail to use animal rescue organizations as resources to help get the animals adopted.
- There are more than 300 PACFA-licensed facilities that can save healthy, treatable dogs and cats from shelters that would otherwise euthanize them.
- Dogs and cats would be saved if animal shelters announced animals they must euthanize so that rescue organizations have the opportunity to take possession of the animal from the shelter.
WE OPPOSED THE PROPOSED “COLORADO RESCUE ACT” FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
- Coordination between shelters and rescues does not need to be codified. Collaboration can be accomplished within the animal welfare community. In fact, in 2022, more dogs and cats were transferred between Colorado organizations than were euthanized.
- A “mechanism” for shelters and rescues to collaborate should not be limited to animals already identified to be euthanized. Long-term stay animals are at increasing risk of euthanasia the longer they are in the shelter and should be networked also.
- This legislation is based on the belief that thousands of healthy and treatable animals are being euthanized when Colorado’s overall dog and cat save rate is 94.2%. The shelter save rate for dogs and cats combined is 93.0%.
- There are not as many PACFA licensed shelters and rescues as No-Kill Colorado claims that can reasonably be expected to pull animals from shelter euthanasia lists even if they were published. This results in fewer opportunities than No-Kill Colorado asserts.
Click here to read our full evaluation of the proposed legislation.
Experts estimate that one intact female dog and her offspring can potentially produce 67,000 dogs over six years. Multiply that by the millions of intact females in the United States and you’ve got an overpopulation problem.
Colorado has worked hard to educate communities about the importance of sterilizing their pets and our low number of homeless pets reflects those efforts. Another key factor in controlling pet overpopulation in Colorado is a law that requires all dogs and cats to be sterilized before being adopted out by animal shelters and rescues.
Several Colorado rescue organizations were taking advantage of the an exception under the law resulting in thousands of unaltered animals being adopted every year. The adopters of these animals take on the responsibility of having the animal sterilized and oftentimes end up covering the cost of the procedure.
Modifications to the existing laws regarding Sterilization Requirements for Cats & Dogs were passed by Colorado legislators in February 2024, demonstrating their commitment to protecting animals and the humans that love them.
Click here to read our full evaluation of the proposed legislation.