Connecticut Votes for Animals. Nonprofit. Nonpartisan. Mobilizing the public to support animals through their political choices.

Connecticut Votes for Animals is a not-for-profit 501(c)(4) organization.

 Connecticut Votes For Animals

CVA’s 2010 Legislative Priorities:

In addition to ensuring a constant presence at the legislature to identify bills that may be harmful to Connecticut’s animals, CT Votes for Animals will actively lobby for:

Dog Chaining Bill:  Dogs suffering at the end of a chain remains an issue of great concern to our members, animal control officers and the community.  CT Votes for Animals will lobby for legislation to protect dogs who suffer their entire lives chained and confined.  View the CVA "Break the Chain" flyer!

Rescue Animal Importation:  CVA will also continue to work with legislators to address the importation of rescued animals into CT.  We will lobby to ensure that any law that is passed will protect companion animals in Connecticut’s shelters and communities but not force rescuers to choose between either compliance or rescuing animals in other states.

Spay/Neuter funding:  Unfortunately, statutory spending caps have prevented Animal Population Control Fund (APCF) money from being used for its intended purpose – the spay/neuter of feral cats and low-income persons’ companion animals.   Well over a million dollars accumulated in the account, from which the legislature and governor withdrew $500,000 for the General Fund.  CVA will lobby for legislation to ensure that APCF revenue is actually spent on spay/neuter!

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 CVA 2009 Legislative Session Accomplishments

Puppy Mill Law

• Discourages pet store traffic in puppy mill dogs and helps reduce unsterilized cat population.
• After persuasion by CVA and ASCPA, introduced and passed in a single session. (A highly unusual occurrence!)
• Signed into law on July 8, 2009.

Outdoor Cat Regulations

• Raised concerns that regulations proposed by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to prohibit unvaccinated animals from being in public settings could result in the trapping and killing of outdoor cats.
• Successfully lobbied, in conjunction with the ASPCA, for a statement by the department’s commissioner that unequivocally notes that the proposed regulations do not apply to either “feral cat colonies or the feral cat community.” 

Pound Seizure for Large Animals 

• Raised concerns that proposed legislation to contain “roaming livestock” would permit the commercial sale of impounded animals – potentially authorizing, for example, the sale of horses for slaughter.
• Successfully lobbied, in conjunction with the ASPCA to remove the problematic provision.

 Companion Animal Importation

• Despite strong agency and legislative support for a proposed bill to regulate companion animal importation, CVA and the ASPCA, prevented passage of this harmful proposal that we argued would have prevented Connecticut residents from rescuing animals outside the state.
• Initiated a productive dialogue with legislators that we hope will result in a more balanced bill in the next legislative session.
• CVA, in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Federation of Connecticut (AWFCT) and the ASPCA, will hold an educational forum on this issue in the fall. For more information about “Precious Cargo: Animal Transport Laws for the Health and Welfare of Animals, Consumers and the State of CT”, click here.