A California state bill seeks to remove abused and neglected animals from overcrowded municipal shelters amid criminal charges against their owners.
Assembly Bill 2344 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) would give animals caught in cruelty crimes a break from overcrowded shelters by allowing them to be placed in foster homes or animal rescue groups.
Haney's bill targets so-called animal evidence that is part of a criminal case. These animals often spend months in institutions while their owners' cases continue.
A 2022 Times story describes the solitary confinement and long wait times some dogs with criminal convictions face in downtown LA shelters. The Times learned that the dogs were separated from other animals, and some could not be walked by volunteers. Videos posted online show one dog, Cash, shaking in his house.
At a state Senate committee hearing last month, Haney said the bill would allow “endangered animals, many of them abused, to start the recovery they deserve in stable, loving homes.”
“Assembly Bill 2344 will help protect animals from further abuse and neglect before further harm occurs,” LA County Dist. He said. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “People accused of serious animal cruelty should not be allowed to control abused animals while the case slowly moves through the courts.”
While some cruelty cases still have a way of allowing an animal to be euthanized, Haney's bill seeks to make it easier for abused animals to leave the shelter system.
First, prosecutors can apply to the court for forfeiture 30 days after the defendant fails to appear in court.
Also, the bill specifies that an animal control agency, with the consent of the prosecutor, can place an animal with evidence in a foster home.
“We're making it clear that a shelter director or shelter agency can legally advocate for an animal in their care to not be stuck in a cage for months,” said Dan Felizzatto, special assistant deputy district attorney in the LA County district attorney's office.
In a nearly two-year period ending in June 2026, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office filed 303 animal cruelty cases in LA County.
Animals in evidence at LA County shelters lived anywhere from three months to nearly a year, according to statistics provided by the office.
Supporters argue that the bill will help relieve overcrowding in shelters, which are often funded by local governments. It costs about $100 a day to house an animal in a shelter, supporters say.
The bill, sponsored by the district attorney's office and the advocacy group Social Compassion in Legislation, passed the Senate's public safety committee after the House adjourned earlier this year.
It is expected to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee next month.
Hawaii and Oregon have laws that allow the consumption of an animal during a criminal trial, according to the bill's supporters.
Nickolaus Sackett, director of legislative affairs at Social Compassion in Legislation, said at a hearing last month that these animals need “sustainability, care and a chance to live a normal life.”
“The current system means living in a mysterious, confined, and often oppressive environment,” Sackett said.
