Sheriff Jeff Richards believes Franklin County’s seizure last year of 55 horses suffering from inadequate food and water was the right decision.
“They were in bad shape,” the sheriff said. “There was a lot of neglect.”
Richards asked the Kansas House’s judiciary committee to amend state law to deal with legal and financial issues encountered after seizing the horse herd. In part, House Bill 2206 would clarify the role of state courts in assessing responsibility for the cost of caring for animals in cruelty cases. It also would streamline legal requirements when animals must be held in a county other than where they were seized.
The bill also would allow money collected by court order in cruelty cases to be allocated to entities providing care, treatment or boarding of seized animals.
(Read more: State Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)