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HB 6231 Connecticut House · 2025 Regular Session

AN ACT RESTRICTING THE EUTHANIZATION OF FERAL CATS, PROHIBITING CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT AS AN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER AND STUDYING THE INVOLVEMENT OF OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS AT ANIMAL CONTROL FACILITIES.

HB 6231 restricts the euthanization of feral cats to only public health dangers (like rabies) or severe injury requiring humane euthanasia by a licensed vet. It requires municipalities to create registration systems for feral cat keepers (people regularly feeding or housing feral cats), mandating rabies vaccinations and sterilization for those cats. The bill also prohibits individuals convicted of animal abuse from serving as animal control officers and establishes a working group to study how animal rescue organizations can assist municipal shelters, including reducing animal holding times and improving officer training. These changes directly affect cat keepers, animal control officers, and municipal animal control facilities.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Apr 16, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Bill → ENV Joint Favorable Substitute · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to broaden its scope beyond just restricting euthanasia of feral cats to also prohibit certain individuals from serving as animal control officers and establish a working group to study improvements for animal control facilities. The original version focused primarily on feral cat management, while the substitute version adds employment restrictions for animal abusers and creates a study group to address broader animal control facility issues.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded from focusing solely on feral cat euthanasia restrictions to include prohibitions on animal control officers with abuse convictions and a new study requirement for improving animal control facilities.
ELIGIBILITY

Added a new section prohibiting individuals convicted of animal abuse or neglect from serving as animal control officers or regional animal control officers.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the Commissioner of Agriculture to convene a working group to study improvements for animal control facilities, including mutual aid, custody time reduction, training standards, and volunteer protocols.

Modified the feral cat euthanasia restriction language to change 'engage the assistance' to 'consult' an animal rescue or feral cat organization, and added language about possible placement of feral cats in the care of such organizations.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date for the new animal control officer prohibition section to October 1, 2025, and set a July 1, 2025 deadline for the working group to begin.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Mar 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Joint Favorable Substitute
lower
Mar 17, 2025
Committee
REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Environment
lower
Mar 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
DRAFTED BY COMMITTEE
lower
Jan 23, 2025
Committee
REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Environment
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.