Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter
18.92 RCW to read as follows:
(1) A higher education facility that receives public money, including tax exempt status, or a facility that provides research in collaboration with a higher education facility, that utilizes dogs or cats for scientific, educational, or research purposes, upon conclusion of a dog or cat's use for scientific, educational, or research purposes shall:
(a) Have the facility's attending veterinarian or designee assess the health of the dog or cat and determine if the dog or cat is suitable for adoption, consistent with guidelines promulgated by the American veterinary medical association; and
(b) Make reasonable efforts to offer the dog or cat for adoption, when the dog or cat is deemed suitable for adoption, through the facility's own adoption program or through an animal care and control agency or an animal rescue group as defined in RCW
82.04.040. A facility that offers dogs or cats for adoption to an animal care and control agency or an animal rescue group under this section may enter into an agreement to facilitate adoptions.
(2) Nothing in this section shall:
(a) Create a duty upon an animal care and control agency or an animal rescue group to accept a dog or cat offered for adoption by a research facility; or
(b) Prohibit a facility from completing scientific research or educational use prior to making a suitability for adoption determination.
(3) A research facility that provides a dog or cat for adoption pursuant to this section is immune from any civil liability for acts or omissions relating to the adoption of a dog or cat pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, other than acts constituting willful or wanton misconduct.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act may be known and cited as the homes for animal heroes act."
EFFECT: Strikes the definition for "licensed animal adoption organization" and replaces it with a reference to an "animal care and control agency or an animal rescue group" as defined in RCW
82.04.040, which means a nonprofit organization that:
(1) Is exempt from federal income taxation under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code;
(3) Has as its primary purpose the prevention of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or homelessness of animals; and
(4) Exclusively obtains dogs, cats, or other animals for placement that are stray or abandoned, surrendered or relinquished by animal owners or caretakers, transferred from other animal rescue organizations, or were born in the care of such a nonprofit organization.