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New law allows Michigan animal shelters to run background checks

Posted at 6:43 PM, Dec 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-30 16:48:22-05

KENT COUNTY, Mich. -- A new state law will allow animal shelters to do a criminal background check before approving a pet adoption. Logan's law is designed to allow Michigan shelters to make sure potential adopters don't have any history of animal cruelty.

While shelters will be given the option to do a background check, they wouldn't be required. FOX 17 spoke with the Kent County Animal Shelter's program supervisor. She said the department already has a similar system in place, but the new state law will make things more efficient.

"Being that we're an animal control agency here for all of Kent County, yes we do get thousands of calls per year concerning animal neglect and cruelty," program supervisor Carly Luttman said.

"I can`t really think of a single instance where we've had a concern with somebody who has adopted from us, then gotten engaged in some sort of neglectful or abusive situation," Luttman added.

The shelter said they'll start working on incorporating the new legislation into their existing policy.