SENATE SENIOR CITIZENS, VETERANS' AFFAIRS AND AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, No. 465

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 7, 1996

      The Senate Senior Citizens, Veterans' Affairs and Agriculture Committee reports favorably a Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 465.

      This committee substitute would exempt from the animal cruelty laws the killing or disposing of a Norway or brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), black rat (Rattus rattus), or house mouse (Mus musculus), or any other animal deemed by the Department of Health, in consultation with the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to pose a significant threat to the public health and identified as such in rules and regulations which shall be adopted by the department within 180 days of the effective date of the bill, by any person, or with the permission or at the direction of that person, while the animal is on property either owned or leased by, or otherwise under the control of, that person, provided that the animal is not a pet.