Heller pet measure enacted
This is the kind of proposal conservatives like Adam Laxalt like to poke fun at—a law making it a federal crime to stalk pets.
Journalists would probably not be very respectful of it, either. They’d probably run headlines like “Dems behind law that would make pet stalking a federal crime.”
Well, as it happens that proposal is about to become law. It was added to the farm bill that got so much attention for making hemp legal and is awaiting Donald Trump’s signature.
The measure is sponsored by Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller. It is designed to combat domestic abusers who terrorize their partners or former partners by threatening, harming or even killing pets. The headline quoted above appeared in the Detroit Metro Times.
Reno’s Committee to Aid Abused Women, now called the Domestic Abuse Resource Center, began providing shelter facilities for pets in 2015.