| Senator Toni Boucher (R-26) is calling
for the General Assembly to pass legislation that would
allow pet owners to establish trusts to provide for their
domestic animals that survive them.
Senator Boucher recently testified in favor of her
bill, SB 650, An Act Concerning The Creation of
Trusts For The Care Of Domestic Animals, before
the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. Specifically,
the bill calls for permitting pet owners to create a
trust that would terminate following the death of the
last domestic animal named by the trust. Either the
pet owner or the Probate Court would be permitted to
name someone to enforce the trust.
“The question of who cares for a pet after the
death of its owner is troubling to many people. Some
pets, like parrots, can live for 40 to 80 years. If
a pet owner becomes ill, incapacitated or dies, it makes
sense to have already decided ahead of time how to provide
one’s beloved pets with food, shelter, veterinary
care and companionship. Pet ownership is a responsibility,
and this proposal allows pet owners to make plans for
carrying out that responsibility in the event that their
pets survive them,” said Senator Boucher.
Senator Boucher said she has spoken with constituents
who want to know what they can do to ensure that their
pets are not neglected abandoned or euthanized if they
die before their domestic animals do.
“Passing this legislation would call attention
to the need for pet owners to think about this issue
now and plan ahead for providing, at minimum, the basics
for their orphaned family pets. We should follow the
example of states like Rhode Island and make sure we
have a law on the books that spells out what pet owners
can do to protect, and provide for, their pets when
they are no longer able to do so,” said Senator
Boucher.
Read Senator Boucher's Testimony
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