Hartford -- State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, the co-chairwoman of the legislature’s Committee on Children, will host an Animal Therapy Day Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the North Lobby of the Capitol.

The event will include therapy dogs and their handlers from statewide organizations such as Tails of Joy, Healers with Halos and Cold Noses, Warm Hearts. Visitors can meet the dogs and learn about the important role they play in times of trauma and crisis.

The event will begin with an 11 a.m. press conference in which Urban along with state Reps. Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield, and Fred Camillo, R-Greenwich, will discuss proposed legislation to protect animals from abuse.

One would require a show of good cause to grant accelerated rehabilitation to someone charged with animal abuse while the second would establish certain requirements for adequate shelter for a dog during adverse weather.

“The problem with AR is the perpetrator’s record is erased once they complete the necessary requirements of their sentencing, thereby erasing a most important indicator of possible future violence against children, domestic partners,” Urban has said.