Shaping the Conversation Regulatory and Legislative Trends and Issues in Washington and Across the Country

Transcription

1 Shaping the Conversation Regulatory and Legislative Trends and Issues in Washington and Across the Country Mike Bober President & CEO, Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council PIJAC s mission is to: PROMOTE responsible pet ownership and animal welfare FOSTER environmental stewardship & ENSURE the availability of pets 1

2 To that end, we work with federal agencies, intergovernmental programs and non governmental organizations to connect them with the pet care community. We also track and engage on legislation and regulations of interest to the pet care community at the federal, state, and local levels. In just 25 days, almost 300 new items have been introduced. 2

3 So what are we seeing emerge as trends this early in the year? 3

4 Tariffs, Trade and Transportation Beyond the Bond Caring about Care Picking on Packaging Smaller Animals, Bigger Impact Tariffs and Trade Tariffs could rise again from 10 percent to 25 percent at the beginning of the year, and prices for pet care products are likely to increase again, if the United States and China fail to follow through on a tentative deal announced in early December. 4

5 Transportation United said it decided to limit emotional support animals to shorter flights after seeing an increase in incidents involving support animals on longer flights. Service animals, which unlike support animals are required to have specialized training, still can travel on long haul flights. Beyond the Bond Service and Therapy Starting this year, Washington State has changed its official definition of service animal to exclude animals that provide comfort or emotional support, but that are not otherwise trained to perform work or tasks for a person with a disability The legislative purpose of the new law is to penalize the intentional misrepresentation of a service animal, which de legitimizes the genuine need for the use of service animals and makes it harder for persons with disabilities to gain unquestioned acceptance for their legitimate, properly trained, and essential service animals. 5

6 Beyond the Bond Pets and Vets A large scale National Institutes of Health clinical trial led by O'Haire has been ongoing for about a year and has two years left. The clinical trial consists of studying veterans with and without service dogs over an extended period of time. O'Haire hopes the trial, which is also funded by the Petco Foundation, will reveal a better understanding of physiological and behavioral processes, PTSD symptoms and service dogs in general. Caring about Care Abuse on the Agenda A bill being proposed on Capitol Hill could add animal cruelty to the list of offenses in Utah s domestic violence law... It would put aggravated animal cruelty on the list of offenses that would qualify as domestic violence. 6

7 Picking on Packaging New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants the Empire State to become the latest in the nation to outright ban plastic bags. He included a proposal to ban the single use bags in his 2019 executive budget. If his plan is successful, New York would become the second state to ban plastic bags. Gov. Cuomo specifically mentioned a lack of federal leadership on environmental issues as one reason he is seeking a statewide ban on bags. Smaller Animals, Bigger Impact Starting immediately, people will be allowed to have chinchillas, hedgehogs, and hermit crabs as pets in Fairfax county. The pet policy change came from a group of high schoolers from the McLean area who were in support of having animals like hedgehogs as pets. 7

8 Shaping the Conversation PAWS Act Pets in Classrooms Care is Care Antibiotic Stewardship For more information on any of these issues or to become a PIJAC member Mike Bober (202) x1060 mbober@pijac.org 8