Update Mar. 3, 2010: The Senate as well as the House have now passed Utah bill, H.B. 107, which would make pound seizure discretionary instead of mandatory for Utah public shelters and also improve laws requiring public shelters to search for owners and find homes for animals.  

Update Feb. 22, 2010: The bill that would basically make pound seizure discretionary instead of mandatory for public shelters in Utah, H.B. 107, has passed the Utah House of Representatives by a vote of 71-3!   

It's now on to the Utah State Senate. Find your Utah state senator here and urge him or her to vote yes on H.B. 107! There is no time to waste; Utah has a very short legislative session.

For more on this bill, read Animal Law Coalition's reports below.

Update February 17, 2010: H.B. 107, introduced by Utah state Rep. Jennifer Seelig, has passed the House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee! The vote was 12-2.

Basically, this bill attempts to limit pound seizure which is the policy of providing shelter animals for research, experiments, testing, or "educational purposes". Utah law currently requires public shelters to make animals available for these uses. 

Under H.B. 107 a local government would have the discretion to decide not to send animals to be used for research or "educational purposes". The bill would also prohibit making an animal available to be used for research or educational purposes unless: (1)  the animal has been legally impounded for at least five days; (2) the animal has not been claimed or redeemed; and (3)  the animal shelter has made a reasonable effort to find the rightful owner of the animal or to make it available to others.

An amendment to the bill that was accepted by the Committee basically defined "reasonable efforts" to find the owner to include looking for micro-chips and tags on the animal. 

Significantly, the bill provides that an animal could not be used for research or educational purposes if the surrendering owner signs a statement prohibiting use of the animal in that way.