AN ACT relating to animal impoundment.
     Create new sections of KRS Chapter 258 define "animal control officer," "humanely destroy," and "reasonable expenses"; allow animal control officers and agents of humane societies to take physical custody of any animal if they have a warrant or if they have reasonable cause to believe an animal is in imminent harm, cruelly treated, or tortured; allow governmental animal control agencies to file a petition with the court to request the owner or owners to appear in court; permit animal control officers and agents of humane societies to euthanize the animal if it is deemed by a licensed veterinarian to be past recovery; require the court to issue an order placing seized animals in the temporary care and custody of a public or private agency pending a hearing of the petition; require the courts to hold a hearing within 14 days of the order being issued; require 48 hours prior to the hearing that orders be served and notices be posted and published; require the owner or owners of animals seized by court order to either relinquish ownership temporarily or post a bond; define bond's sufficiency to secure payment of all reasonable expenses, with the agency or person with whom the animal's temporary care and custody was placed; allow the bond requirement to be waived if the owner is indigent; allow the court to either order ownership of the animal be placed with any public or private agency or be returned to the owner or owners; provide for full or partial refund of the bond based on final disposition of the case; amend KRS 258.505 to clarify that the prohibition against gunshot in animal shelter euthanasia does not apply to peace officers or animal control officers outside animal shelter situations.

     Feb 25-introduced in House
     Feb 26-to Agriculture & Small Business (H)