AUGUSTA – One of the dozen bills heard Friday by the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee garnered a lot of attention because it deals with pet food – a hot topic for pet owners who recently have struggled with the potential of feeding their animals tainted food sold from store shelves.

Instead of addressing meals Friday, however, it was all about doggie snacks.

LD 1673, an act to change the registration fees for home-based manufacturers of pet foods, was sponsored by Sen. Dana Dow, R-Waldoboro.

He testified that original state laws are aimed at major pet food manufacturers, not at cottage industry.

“But I have a constituent who makes home-baked dog biscuits and sells them exclusively at farmers markets and craft fairs,” Dow testified. “She had 10 different flavors. That triggered a $120 charge for each flavor, which amounted to $1,200 a year. By the way, she took all of her profits and gave them to pet shelters.”

Dow said that if the woman had baked pies for human consumption, she could have sold 50 different flavors with only a $20 yearly fee.

The proposed law would change the fee to a one-time, all-flavor $100 fee.

In all, 12 bills were presented Friday, ranging in topic from rabies in wolf hybrids to surgical removal of dogs’ vocal chords – so many that they were grouped into three sections and presented together, eliciting more than four hours of testimony. No date has been set for work sessions on any of the bills.

In other hearings:

. LD 1293 clarifies that it is the responsibility of the municipal animal control officer, a local health officer or a law enforcement officer to euthanize an animal for testing any wolf hybrid exposed to the rabies virus.

State Epidemiologist Kathleen Gensheimer threw her support behind the bill, explaining that wolf hybrids cannot be vaccinated for rabies and there is no established time period for quarantine for this breed. If rabies is suspected, wolf hybrids must be euthanized. Gensheimer said that treatment for rabies in humans can cost up to $3,000. In 2006, Maine had 127 positive rabies tests in animals brought to the state laboratory, she said.

. Rep. Dawn Hill, D-York, presented LD 1727, a bill that would require veterinarians to send rabies confirmations to municipalities. Hill said many dog owners provide their pets with adequate veterinary care but fail to license their dogs at the local town hall.

This system would provide a link between vaccinations and licenses. “This already is being done very successfully in New Hampshire,” Hill testified. “This is a public safety and health issue and could provide additional revenue to the state. Maine ACOs say that up to 50 percent of Maine’s dogs are not licensed.”

Hill said it is estimated that this bill could provide an additional $70,000 to state coffers in 2008.

Others supporting the bill included the Maine Animal Control Officers Association, and the York Police Department.

Opposing the bill was the Maine Veterinary Medical Association, although representatives testified it was not opposed in principle but rather with the mechanism and the paperwork, and did not want to get into the middle of an issue that is between the public and the state.

. LD 516 would change the $25 surcharge pet shops pay on the sale of dogs and cats that have not been neutered to $5. The bill was proposed to encourage pet adoption.

Maine’s Animal Welfare Division opposed the bill, stating it was “dangerous” in that it would make it too easy for “puppy mills” to function, and would reduce funding to the Department of Agriculture by at least $45,000.

. LD 758 would require the manufacturers of antifreeze to put a bittering agent in their products to prevent the accidental poisoning of pets and other animals. Robert Fisk of the Maine Friends of Animals testified it would cost the manufacturers 3 cents a gallon to add the agent, while 10,000 pets a year die from ingesting antifreeze. Similar bills have been enacted in California, Oregon and New Mexico, and are under consideration in six other states.

. LD 923 would prohibit the surgical removal of dogs’ vocal chords, a procedure done to inhibit barking, a bill supported by the state’s Animal Welfare Advisory Council.