Laurie Loughlin
Protection for Animal Rescue Workers
Who will be
the peace heroes
of the 21st Century?
A dog hit by a car and left dying in the street, horses who are starved and beaten, puppy mills, disasters like floods, earthquakes and hurricanes and worse --- knowledge of these dire circumstances for animals may not be enough to encourage rescue, because the rescuers hesitate to undergo the sacrifice and expenses necessary to take that dying dog to a vet, to move and treat the starving horses, to bring the abusers of animals to the attention of the police.. Sometimes rescue efforts result in personal lawsuits against the rescuers by the animal owners. A proverb states, No good deed goes unpunished. That said, there are ways to prevail
One person in the state of Tennessee took on this challenge, and the result made the world safer for those who rescue animals in distress. Laurie Loughlin pioneered a Good Samaritan law to protect against personal lawsuits those who rescue animals.
Good Samaritan Law - what it means: A person who sees another individual or an animal in imminent and serious danger or peril cannot be charged with negligence if that person attempts to aid or rescue without recklessness the injured party. A Good Samaritan law encourages emergency assistance by removing the threat of liability for damage done during reasonable assistance to the hurt individual or animal.
What Ms. Loughlin at first thought would be a matter of simple and unanimous legislation became a three year long endeavor to write, find support, and move the proposed legislation to passage, and have it signed into law by the governor of Tennessee. It is now a law (SB2796) that can be used as an example for similar laws in other states. Ms. Loughlin is a peace hero for this catalytic effort. She took away that hesitancy in rescuing an animal in pain or starvation or in a situation of cruelty.
Under the new Tennessee law, those who attempt to help stray, non-livestock animals like dogs and cats would be exempt from civil liability penalties for any unintentional resulting injury or harm to the animals. Good Samaritans would still be required to attempt to contact owners through available animal identification tags, as well as to post notices at shelters and animal control agencies. Veterinarians and animal control agency personnel providing care for the animal would also be exempt from civil liability, provided their actions were not malicious or negligent.
“People who stop and assist sick and injured animals they come upon help not only the animals, but also the owners who love them and might otherwise lose them,” stated Laurie Loughlin, who is a state-certified domestic animal rescuer with the Tennessee Disaster Animal Response Team, or DART.
Learn More About
Animal Protection Laws in USA | Tennessee's Good Samaritan LawDoing The Right Thing - The Responsibility Project | Disaster Animal Rescue
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