June 2023

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison
Sharon Coleman, CFA Legislative Legal Analyst

Animal rights activists began campaigning to reduce the licensing threshold of the ineffective Texas Dog and Cat Licensed Breeders Act after the Sunset Commission recommended eliminating the program in 2020. Failing in the 2021 legislative session, activists succeeded when Governor Abbott signed SB 876 into law on May 29, 2023. Effective September 1, 2023, the licensing threshold will be reduced from 11 breeding females to “5 or more adult intact female animals and is engaged in the business of breeding those animals for direct or indirect sale or for exchange in return for consideration.” It also eliminates the transaction threshold of not fewer than 20 transactions in a calendar year. Breeders have until January 1, 2024 to comply with the new requirements.

Legislators threw pedigreed cat breeders under the bus by refusing to provide a pedigreed cat breeder exemption comparable to the exemption added for people breeding dogs for conformation shows. The CFA Legislative Group worked with TICA to suggest similar exemption language for pedigreed cat fanciers. But bill authors Senators Flores and Whitmire, and authors of the identical House Bill 2238, Representatives Buckley, Patterson, and Lalani, ignored our requests for equity.

As a result, Texas cat breeders should review the amended law to determine if they would prefer licensing and meeting all the inspection, facility, and care requirements designed for large-scale breeders or adjusting their breeding programs for the new threshold. They should also review their public profile, such as websites, to ensure that it reflects their decision – just as they did when APHIS changed the federal pet dealer licensing exemption or for other changes, like retiring or changing cattery names.