Surrounded by dogs awaiting adoption, Gov. Jack Markell on Friday signed into law legislation
to give Delaware what some have called the most comprehensive animal shelter law in the country.
"Up until now, we have had no state standards of operation for animal shelters,"
Markell said. "Today, that changes." Leaders of the state's shelters gathered at the Stanton shelter of the Delaware Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, where Markell praised the law's aim as one of compassion, ensuring that lost, abandoned and
surrendered dogs and cats will get a better shot at being reunited with their families or getting adopted into new ones.
"It's significant for the state of Delaware
and for the state of animals in the country," said Jane Pierantozzi, Executive Director of the Faithful Friends
No Kill Animal Shelter near Elsmere. "We hope other states will use this as a model law."
Among other things, the law requires all shelters to:
•Offer night and weekend hours to boost public
adoptions.
•Hold all animals
not given up by owners at least 72 hours.
•Provide medical exams and needed care within 72 hours of animals' shelter entry.
•Post incoming animals on websites in "lost and found" listings,
"with sufficient detail to allow them to be recognized and claimed by their owners."
•Scan pets for microchips and check for tattoos to raise chances of
returns to owners.
•Inoculate
all cats and dogs for distemper within eight hours of shelter entry.
•Also within eight hours, inoculate dogs for kennel cough and parvovirus, and cats
for an upper respiratory infection called feline viral rhinotracheitis and the viral disease calicivirus,
•Keep animals for at least five days after
an owner starts procedures to get a pet back.
•Contact rescue groups and other shelters for possible alternatives to euthanasia, such as moving to another facility
or into foster care.
Senate Majority
Leader Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere -- primary sponsor of the bill managed by Rep. Melanie L. George, D-Bear, in the House
-- praised its unanimous adoption and signing.
"Before today, anyone could say they're a shelter," Blevins said. "Now, they will have to meet
standards for humane care and treatment of animals. This is something that was supported by our animal shelters and it is
something that should give animal lovers some peace of mind."
By requiring animals to be held at least 72 hours and listed on websites, she said,
"people will be able to search pretty quickly" for lost pets.
The law also sets euthanasia standards and requires shelters to keep records including intake and
euthanasia rates, pet population, theirmedical treatment and numbers of those spayed, neutered, lost or stolen, reclaimed
by owners and transferred to other agencies. They also are required to document compliance with the new law.
The state Department of Agriculture
is to handle enforcement.
"This
is groundbreaking," said Carol A. Tavani, a Faithful Friends board member. Patrick Carroll, executive director
of the Wilmington-based Delaware Humane Association, called establishing the first statewide shelter standards "the right
thing to ."
The law's creation,
with input from the state's current and planned shelters, also improved communication among them and will promote mutual
support, Carroll said, adding, "It brought us together."
The Delaware SPCA took advantage of the bill signing to give tours of its new spay-neuter center
opened last fall, and showed off some dogs up for adoption.
Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, worked the crowd, escorting a perky brown terrier. "Isn't
he adorable? I think we've got him a home," she said. "The governor named him Friday, but I call him Jack."
Nassau, DE 19969 
