Bill Text: NJ AJR130 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates May of each year as "Pet Appreciation Month" and third full week of May of each year as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee [AJR130 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AJR130-Introduced.html
No. 130
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2024
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
Designates May of each year as "Pet Appreciation Month" and third full week of May of each year as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution designating May of each year as "Pet Appreciation Month" and the third full week of May of each year as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey.
Whereas, Animals and pets have contributed to American life in countless ways since before our country's founding, as evidenced in colonial-era art and written record; and
Whereas, Thousands of New Jersey households currently own, care for, and enjoy the companionship of pets, including dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, and other animals; and
Whereas, Pet ownership often offers increased opportunity for exercise, through regular walking and playing, which has been shown to have significant physical health benefits, including a decrease in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels; and
Whereas, Bonds between a pet owner and their animal can contribute positively to mental health and mood by decreasing feelings of loneliness and stress, and by offering opportunities for socialization; and
Whereas, Observation of a "Pet Appreciation Month" would provide pet owners with an additional reason to celebrate their pets and the enrichment their pets bring to their lives; and
Whereas, Loving New Jersey households welcome thousands of pets to their new "forever homes" each year, but more adopters are needed to alleviate stress on animal shelters and rescues; and
Whereas, Many well-behaved and friendly pets are abandoned or relinquished to animal shelters and rescues for reasons that are not attributable to the animal, but are due to issues under human control, such as the residential movement of families, the need for families to comply with rental housing rules, or the need for families to accommodate busy work schedules or new babies; and
Whereas, According to the New Jersey Department of Health's voluntary 2019 Animal Intake and Disposition Survey, approximately 81,199 animals were admitted to animal shelters across the State in 2019, and approximately 9,136 of those animals were ultimately euthanized; and
Whereas, Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization and leader in the no-kill animal shelter initiative, reports that only about 57 percent of New Jersey animal shelters are no-kill shelters; and
Whereas, Observation of a "Pet Adoption Week" would help to raise awareness of the benefits of, and ongoing need for pet adoption and pet fostering, and encourage the continued public support of, and donation of items and funds to, local animal shelters and rescues in the State; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In order to honor animal companions and promote pet adoption through shelters or rescues:
a. May of each year is designated as "Pet Appreciation Month" in New Jersey.
b. The third full week of May of each year is designated as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey.
2. The Governor is respectfully requested to annually issue a proclamation and call upon public officials and all citizens of this State to observe "Pet Appreciation Month" and "Pet Adoption Week" with appropriate programs and activities.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution designates May of each year as "Pet Appreciation Month" and the third full week of May of each year as "Pet Adoption Week" in New Jersey. Pets have been a part of American life for hundreds of years, and thousands of New Jersey households currently own and care for a variety of pets. Owning pets is shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits, and observation of a "Pet Appreciation Month" would create an additional reason to celebrate the bonds between a pet owner and their pet.
While many loving households welcome new pets to their homes each year, and, while support for animal shelters and rescues continues to increase in the State, more adopters are needed to alleviate the burden on these shelter and rescue organizations. Well-behaved and friendly animals are, too often, forced to rely upon animal shelters and rescues for reasons that are not attributable to the animal, but are due to issues under human control such as the residential movement of families, the need for families to comply with rental housing rules, or the need for families to accommodate busy work schedules or new babies. According to the Department of Health's voluntary 2019 Animal Intake and Disposition Survey, approximately 81,199 animals were admitted to animal shelters across the State in 2019 and approximately 11 percent of those animals were euthanized. Moreover, according to the Best Friends Animal Society, a national organization and leader in the no-kill animal shelter initiative, only about 57 percent of New Jersey animal shelters are no-kill shelters. Observation of "Pet Adoption Week" would raise awareness of the benefits of, and need for increased pet adoptions and pet fostering, and encourage the continued public support of, and donation of items and funds to, local animal shelters and rescues in the State.
