Animal Care Service Inspections (H 5297)

This bill would have granted constitutionally problematic powers to both the Department of Environmental Management and the RISPCA. The bill intended to regulate “unlicensed animal care providers” by allowing the DEM and RISPCA the ability to conduct investigations, impose fines, and possibly request search warrants on animal care providers if the organizations receive a (potentially anonymous) complaint about the provider. Because of this, the bill would have violated critical tenets of criminal law, such as the requirement of probable cause. This bill ultimately died in committee.