After a Baltimore County woman charged with 328 counts of animal cruelty found a way to get her pets back, county officials are introducing legislation to close loopholes in existing animal welfare laws.

County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said at a Monday morning news conference that council members would introduce three bills that would reduce shelter stays, costs and abuse at a council meeting later Monday.

“I believe that how we treat them says a whole lot about who we are as a society,” she said. “Too often cruelty towards or neglect of pets can go unnoticed and unreported.”

Councilmen Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, and David Marks, a Republican from Perry Hall, are co-sponsoring the legislation, which aims to:

• Limit the time animals are held by Baltimore County Animal Services during administrative appeals
• Designate a “Reckless Animal Owner” label that stipulates if individuals are found in violation of county law two or more times, they would be prohibited from owning animals for four years
• Establish a tiered series of designations for animals that pose or potentially pose a threat to others

“I think it’s going to result in clear rules for people to follow because clearly, clearly most of us love our animals,” Jones said. “Most of us have animals and most of us, if not all of us, do not want to see any animal mistreated.”

The case of Kimberly Klein

The county spent over $400,000 caring for and housing the 80-plus animals it removed from Kimberly Klein’s Halethorpe home last year.

In February, though, county animal services found 14 dogs, 21 birds, several reptiles and a cat at the home while she was on probation after being charged with 328 counts of animal cruelty.

During Monday’s news conference, Lisa Radov, president and chair of the nonprofit Maryland Votes for Animals, acknowledged the glaring gaps in the law that Klein’s case exposed.

The three-bill package proposed by Klausmeier and sponsored by the councilmen takes immediate action, she said.

“Closing loopholes that have allowed neglect and abuse to persist, establishing a ‘reckless animal owner’ designation to hold repeat offenders accountable, accelerating the legal process to reduce the time that animals have to spend in shelters — and also as a cost reduction — is an important step in these long stays,” Radov said. “We’ve seen that in this last case.”

Records show Klein’s original animal cruelty case was reopened in Baltimore County Circuit Court last month and remains ongoing.

Long time coming

Jones stressed that the legislation had been in the works for over a year, since before the public outrage over Klein’s case.

He said that the Baltimore Humane Society’s board president, Andrew Levine, approached him with a series of recommendations in March 2025.

“It predated the Klein case,” Jones said.

The councilman added that none of this would be possible if advocates had not continued to push the county to do better.

“It started many, many years ago when they would show up at every work session complaining and giving recommendations for how we could do better,” Jones said. “That resulted in us building a new animal shelter. That advocacy continued.”

In addition to the three bills, Jones and Marks plan to introduce another bill Monday updating language in the article of county code that addresses animals and public safety.