Dear Representative Gallager,

Although I am not a constituent of yours I know that you share my concern for our beloved animal friends ... thank you for your consistent support of animal protection bills.  I hope you might consider sponsoring legislation for 2023 to improve the lives of dogs who live outside.  This is a little bit of a long story, please bear with me ...
At Stoddard's town meeting in 2005  an ordinance was passed that required better standards of shelter for dogs living outside than the state's  standards that are  included in the animal cruelty statute, RSA 644:8.  The ordinance passed by an overwhelming majority, but the police chief refused to enforce it.  After several years of fruitless  discussions with the town selectmen I brought a lawsuit against the town in Cheshire County Superior Court to try to compel enforcement of the ordinance.  My case was dismissed, I never even had my day in Court !  The attorney I was working with gave me a good suggestion, though...  instead of trying to change  the state's standard for adequate shelter, which is nearly impossible, he suggested trying to pass enabling legislation to give cities and towns more authority to pass local ordinances establishing standards of care .
This approach has many advantages... it would give animal control officers and local law enforcement officers the authority to intervene in a situation early on, in a proactive, non-threatening, non-punitive way-- to offer the dog owner assistance with any issues or problems before the situation turns into an animal cruelty case.  This is better for the dog, better for the owners, and better for the city/town and the state by saving time and money on cruelty cases that can linger in the court system for years.  It would also give cities and towns the ability to craft ordinances that are specific to their circumstances... for example some towns might want to exempt sled dogs from their ordinances; some towns might want to include fines for violations, while others might not.
A recent case in Cheshire County offers an example of how local civil ordinances might be used to avoid lengthy, complicated and expensive  criminal animal cruelty cases. In July 2018 , 50 Labrador  Retrievers, both puppies and adults,  were removed from a home when the owner was evicted.  The animals went to the local shelter and the owner was charged with 2 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.  The owner refused to relinquish the animals, so they stayed at the shelter for many, many months until the judge released them for foster care. This case cost the local shelter hundreds of thousands of dollars and kept the dogs in limbo for over a year.  Local police had received complaints about constant barking and dogs running at large, but nothing that would rise to the level of criminal animal cruelty. If the town had a local standard of care ordinance, law enforcement officers or the local humane agent might have been able to intervene much earlier , in a proactive way to offer assistance to the owner for a positive outcome for the dogs, the owner and the town. 
City councils already have the authority to adopt ordinances relative to, " the keeping of dogs" ( RSA 47:17) ; towns have the authority to adopt ordinances relative to the restraint of dogs ( RSA 466:39) .  It might be possible to add non-specific language to both of these statutes that allow for stronger local ordinances.
If this is an idea you might consider for 2023 ( or 2024, if you feel more time would be advantageous), I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience for further discussion. 
Thank you for your consideration, and I wish you a safe and peaceful Independence Day.
