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PRESS RELEASE
RELEASE DATE: Immediately (February 19, 2007)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Gene Baierschmidt
(801) 261-2919

HB 342, "PROTECTIVE ORDER REVISIONS," INCLUDING PETS IN PROTECTIVE ORDERS, PASSES SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Officials of the Humane Society of Utah today expressed their satisfaction with the passage of a law prepared by Rep. Scott Wyatt (R-Logan) which would extend the coverage of protective orders issued by courts to include household pets as well as spouses and children. Recent studies have indicated that many women remain in abusive relationships, rather than seeking shelter, out of fear that their batterers would harm or kill pets left behind.

The bill passed in the Utah Senate Judiciary Committee and will now head to the Senate floor to be heard. HSU Executive Director Gene Baierschmidt praised the Committee’s action, saying, "Pet animals are very much a part of people’s families. They enrich our lives by providing unconditional love, stability, and loyalty. In some situations, the human-animal bond may be one of the few healthy relationships that exists, and it’s entirely understandable that victims of domestic violence are reluctant to abandon the one living being in the environment who has not betrayed or hurt them."

He also pointed out that the Humane Society strongly feel that it is better for the welfare of the animal itself to get it out of an abusive household.

Mr. Baierschmidt further sees passage of HB 342 as an important step toward addressing the well-established link between cruelty to animals and violence against other people. "The statistics are in," he says. "People who harm any other living being less capable of defending itself against the aggressor do not stop at animals."

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