Legislation – What’s Hot                                                                                                                      March 2020                                                                                                                                          Kelly S. Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Georgia
The Georgia Senate passed an amended Senate Bill 338 on March 10, 2020 which would require licensed pet animal breeders to pay a $7500 to $500,000 surety bond in addition to the license fee for a pet dealer license. The surety funds would be used to provide for the health and welfare of animals when the licensee is unable or unwilling to care for the animals or if the animals were impounded. A license shall be revoked without a hearing if the surety becomes insufficient. Although the original bill’s threshold had been 20 animals, the amendment returned it to the current statutory threshold for licensing as selling, adopting, exchanging, or offering to do the same for more than 30 cats or dogs (or other covered pets) in a twelve-month period. The statute as well as this bill authorize the Department of Agriculture Commissioner to reduce that threshold. The Commissioner has historically required anyone whose cat, dog, or other covered animal has more than one litter in a twelve-month period to be licensed. Thus, the one litter rule should still be in effect if S.B. 338 is enacted. The bill also increases the maximum license fee from $400 to $800.

Minnesota
Senate File 3481, similar to House File 3584, would transfer the licensing, enforcement, and inspection of companion animal kennels, dealers, and commercial breeders from the Board of Animal Health (BAH) to the newly created Companion Animal Board (CAB) if enacted. The BAH consists of two veterinarians and three livestock producers, whereas the CAB would have 13 members, only one of which would be a regulated companion animal breeder. Although the board has the authority to create an “advisory task force with a majority of members who have a working knowledge of companion health and welfare issues,” it is not a requirement. The CAB would be responsible for serving the public, state and local governments, and nonprofit animal welfare organizations. Its duties include providing public education on companion animal issues, providing expertise to government entities, assist with companion animal disaster relief services, and analyze and distribute information on data collected relating to companion animals in the state. Under Minnesota Statute 347.57 (5), a “commercial breeder” means a person who possesses or has an ownership interest in animals and is engaged in the business of breeding animals for sale or for exchange in return for consideration, and who possesses ten or more adult intact animals and whose animals produce more than five total litters of puppies or kittens per year.

Palm Springs, California
Mayor Pro Tem Christy Holstege has again proposed an ordinance that would make it virtually impossible for small in-home show breeders to pursue their hobby in the city. Calling it a “compromise” position from the proposed 2018 total ban on “backyard breeding” (February 27, 2020 council meeting video), this new proposal would still make it difficult for breeders to pursue their hobby in a meaningful way. The proposed breeding permit states the “breeding permit shall authorize no more than one (1) dog or cat litter per domestic household in any twelve (12) month period, or the offering of a male dog or cat for stud once in any twelve ( 12) month period.” Emphasis added. Under the administrative penalties section, however, it is a violation to allow an animal to be bred more than once in a twelve month period. There is a clear disconnect between the permit language and the penalty language as a single breeding, or even multiple breedings, may not yield a litter. Not only would this ordinance preclude viable breeding programs, but if someone owned both a male and a female and bred them together, they would violate the proposed ordinance. The annual permit fee would be $100. With existing laws and a population under 50,000, one wonders if this just a solution in search of a problem. For example, according to the council discussion at the February 27, 2020 council meeting, all breeders must have a business permit and are subject to inspection under current law. In addition, the city has a kennel ordinance applying to anyone with four or more cats or dogs at least four months of age, and an ordinance restricting the source of dogs and cats sold at pet stores. State law also limits the sources of cats and dogs sold in pet stores to so-called humane sources such as government-run shelters. And breeders in the state are subject to the 2007 California Board of Equalization policy requiring a seller’s permit to collect and remit sales tax for sellers of more than two pets or other nonfood animals during a twelve month period.

Recent CFA Legislative Group Blog Post:                                                                                          Florida Pet Store Bans, Preemption, and Hobby Breeders;