Substitute House Bill No. 6577
          Substitute House Bill No. 6577

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-255


AN ACT CONCERNING CONTROL OF NUISANCE WILDLIFE.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section  26-47  of  the  general  statutes  is
repealed and the following is substituted in  lieu
thereof:
    (a) When it  is  shown  to the satisfaction of
the   commissioner  that   wildlife   is   causing
unreasonable damage to  agricultural  crops during
the night and it is found by the commissioner that
control   of   such    damage   by   wildlife   is
impracticable  during  the   daylight  hours,  the
commissioner may issue  permits  for the taking of
such wildlife as  he  deems  necessary  to control
such  damage by  such  method  as  he  determines,
including the use  of  lights,  during  the period
between   sunset   and   sunrise,   upon   written
application of the  owner  or  lessee of record of
the land on  which  such  crops  are  grown.  Such
permits may be  issued  to  any  qualified  person
designated by such landowner or lessee. The person
to  whom such  permit  is  issued  shall  be  held
responsible  for  complying  with  the  conditions
under which such  permit is issued. The provisions
of this section shall not apply to deer.
    (b) (1) No person shall engage in the business
of controlling nuisance  wildlife, OTHER THAN RATS
OR MICE, without  obtaining  a  license  from  the
commissioner. Such license  shall  expire  on  the
last day of December next succeeding its issuance.
The fee for  such  license shall be fifty dollars.
The  controlling  of   nuisance  wildlife  at  the
direction of the commissioner shall not constitute
engaging in the  business  of controlling nuisance
wildlife for the  purposes  of  this  section.  NO
PERSON SHALL BE  LICENSED  UNDER  THIS  SUBSECTION
UNLESS HE PROVIDES  EVIDENCE,  SATISFACTORY TO THE
COMMISSIONER, THAT HE HAS COMPLETED TRAINING WHICH
INCLUDED INSTRUCTION IN  SITE  EVALUATION, METHODS
OF APPROVED LETHAL  RESOLUTION  OF COMMON NUISANCE
WILDLIFE   PROBLEMS,   TECHNIQUES    TO    PREVENT
REOCCURRENCE OF SUCH  PROBLEMS AND HUMANE CAPTURE,
HANDLING AND EUTHANASIA  OF NUISANCE WILDLIFE. The
commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance
with the provisions  of chapter 54 which [(1)] (A)
define  the  scope  and  methods  for  controlling
nuisance wildlife PROVIDED  SUCH REGULATIONS SHALL
INCORPORATE THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 1993 REPORT
OF  THE AMERICAN  VETERINARY  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION
PANEL  ON EUTHANASIA  AND  FURTHER  PROVIDED  SUCH
REGULATIONS MAY PROVIDE  FOR  THE  USE OF SPECIFIC
ALTERNATIVES  TO  SUCH   RECOMMENDATIONS  ONLY  IN
SPECIFIED CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE  USE  OF A METHOD OF
KILLING APPROVED BY SUCH ASSOCIATION WOULD INVOLVE
AN IMMINENT THREAT  TO  HUMAN HEALTH OR SAFETY AND
ONLY IF SUCH ALTERNATIVES ARE DESIGNED TO KILL THE
ANIMAL AS QUICKLY  AND  PAINLESSLY  AS PRACTICABLE
WHILE  PROTECTING HUMAN  HEALTH  AND  SAFETY,  and
[(2)] (B) establish  criteria  and  procedures for
issuance of a license.
    (2)   EXCEPT   AS    OTHERWISE   PROVIDED   IN
REGULATIONS ADOPTED UNDER  THIS SECTION, NO PERSON
LICENSED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION MAY KILL ANY ANIMAL
BY  ANY METHOD  WHICH  DOES  NOT  CONFORM  TO  THE
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 1993 REPORT OF THE AMERICAN
VETERINARY    MEDICAL   ASSOCIATION    PANEL    ON
EUTHANASIA. NO PERSON  MAY  ADVERTISE ANY SERVICES
RELATING  TO  HUMANE   CAPTURE  OR  RELOCATION  OF
WILDLIFE  UNLESS  ALL  METHODS  EMPLOYED  IN  SUCH
SERVICES CONFORM TO SUCH REGULATIONS.
    (3) ANY PERSON  LICENSED UNDER THIS SUBSECTION
SHALL PROVIDE A  PROSPECTIVE CLIENT WITH A WRITTEN
STATEMENT   REGARDING  APPROVED   LETHAL   OPTIONS
AVAILABLE TO THE  CLIENT  FOR  RESOLUTION  OF  THE
NUISANCE  PROBLEM  PRIOR   TO  PROVIDING  NUISANCE
WILDLIFE CONTROL SERVICES.
    (4) ON OR  BEFORE FEBRUARY FIRST OF EACH YEAR,
EACH PERSON LICENSED  UNDER  THIS SUBSECTION SHALL
SUBMIT  A  REPORT   TO   THE   COMMISSIONER  WHICH
SPECIFIES  THE MEANS  UTILIZED  IN  EACH  CASE  OF
NUISANCE WILDLIFE CONTROL  SERVICE PROVIDED IN THE
PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR  INCLUDING ANY METHOD USED
IN THOSE CASES  WHERE  AN  ANIMAL  WAS KILLED. ANY
INFORMATION   INCLUDED  IN   SUCH   REPORT   WHICH
IDENTIFIES A CLIENT OF SUCH PERSON OR THE CLIENT'S
STREET ADDRESS MAY BE RELEASED BY THE COMMISSIONER
ONLY  PURSUANT  TO  AN  INVESTIGATION  RELATED  TO
ENFORCEMENT OF THIS SECTION.
    (c) Any person  who  violates any provision of
this  section, or  any  condition  under  which  a
permit or license  is  issued,  shall be fined not
less than twenty-five  dollars  nor  more than two
hundred dollars or  be  imprisoned  not  more than
sixty days or  be  both  fined and imprisoned; and
any permit or  license  issued to such person, and
all other such  permits  or licenses issued to any
other person for  such  property, shall be revoked
by the commissioner  and  the right to obtain such
permit or license  shall remain suspended for such
period of time as the commissioner determines.
    (d) Any permit  or  license  issued under this
section shall not authorize the taking of deer.

Approved June 27, 1997