Friday, January 23, 2026
TARR IN THE NEWS | 1.20.26
'Cruelty case raises concerns about kennel licensing, lack of regulation of trainers'
By Teddy Tauscher | Gloucester Daily Times
EXCERPT BELOW:
"MSPCA Director of Advocacy Kara Holmquist said there is no actual license required to train dogs in Massachusetts though she pointed to a law signed in recent years that’s beginning to have an impact on the problem of unregulated canine trainers.
Ollie’s Law, championed by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and signed by Gov. Maura Healey in September 2024, revamped regulations around kennels including requesting communities keep tabs on businesses that might otherwise be missed by local inspectors.
“Sometimes we hear about kennels that are completely off the radar,” Holmquist said.
However, she said even this basic piece of record keeping has not been fully implemented in some communities.
Holmquist said municipalities were supposed to submit lists of their community’s kennels by July 1, 2025, but 114 towns or cities of the state’s 351 missed the deadline.
She said lawmakers and advocates discovered some cities and towns were not issuing kennel licenses as they should have been."
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