Georgia

What’s Hot … Mid-session Updates: FL, GA, HI, IA, and MD

 

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Florida
There have been many attempts over the past 29 years to regulate dog breeders in the state. Once again, those efforts died when SB 1356 and HB 1521 failed to progress.
Senate Bill 1004 amends the consumer protection laws governing pet sales and animal cruelty. It has been enrolled and sent to the governor. If enacted, the pet dealer threshold is raised to selling more than three litters or 30 dogs or cats per year, record-
keeping requirements are added for all pet dealers, and best management practices are established for dog breeders. The bill was signed by the governor.

Georgia
Senate Bill 590 would have expanded regulations on dog breeders had it been enacted. Cat breeders would not have been impacted. Georgia has one of the most restrictive cat and dog breeder laws in the country. Fortunately, the bill died and will not carry over into 2027.

Hawaii
Several bills were introduced in Hawaii that would have burdened cat and dog breeders. House Bill
1594 and SB 3012 would prohibit intact cats and dogs from being imported unless the breeder was registered with the
Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. House Bill 1736-2 would establish a spay/neuter fund at the cost of mandating the sterilization of all cats. Any free-roaming cats caught and sterilized could only be placed in sanctuaries. Fortunately, all these bills died and will not carry over to 2027. Fanciers should expect renewed efforts in 2027.

Iowa
Senate Bill 2306 would have subjected “commercial” breeders to inspection. It would have defined a commercial breeder as “a
person, engaged in the business of breeding dogs or cats, who sells, exchanges, or leases dogs or cats in return for consideration, or who offers to do so, whether or not the animals are raised, trained, groomed, or boarded by the person. A person who owns or harbors three or fewer breeding males or females is not a commercial breeder.” It died.

Maryland
House Bill 1551 died when the legislature adjourned. The bill would have established the Dog Breeder Accountability
Fund and imposed mandates on dog breeders, including requiring that every puppy be issued a birth certificate by the state.

Legislation – What’s Hot…Dekalb County, Georgia, Commissioners Consider Litter Permits, Sales Restrictions, and Consumer Protection Provisions

 

September, 2024

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Georgia has a highly restrictive pet dealer statute, yet Dekalb County Commissioners are considering an even stricter ordinance. State regulations require any person that sells, exchanges, or adopts more than one litter or 30 adult animals in any 12-month period or is otherwise required to be licensed to get a pet dealer license. Dekalb County, with the fourth highest population in Georgia and containing the easternmost 10% of Atlanta, is considering regulating all breeders. The proposed ordinance would mandate companion animal litter permits without exception, consumer protection provisions, and restrictions on selling cats and dogs. According to the ordinance recitals, reducing a “serious pet overpopulation problem” is necessary due to uncontrolled breeding. Proponents of these ordinances sometimes argue that the direct and indirect costs of not regulating small breeders are too high. Those costs include unreported income and sales taxes, licensing violations, and support of criminal enterprise (i.e., dog fighting). 

If adopted, the ordinance would require owners of intact female companion animals to obtain a six-month Companion Animal Litter Permit prior to or within one week after the birth of a litter. The animal must have an intact animal permit and be permanently identified before a litter permit will be issued. Only one permit per female will be allowed in a 12-month period. The number of permits a household may obtain in a 12-month period is also limited, but it is currently silent as to the number allowed. It is also silent on the cost of the permits. The ordinance also includes other mandates, including vaccinations, identification of the offspring, advertising requirements, and record-keeping.

Although Dekalb County Animal Services may waive the permit fees for rescues and fosters, they are subject to all the other provisions. On August 27, the Board of Commissioners deferred consideration of the ordinance to the October 8, 2024 meeting.

You are our eyes and ears! Is detrimental legislation happening in your area? Please let us know. Contact the CFA Legislative Group at legislation@cfa.org

Legislation – What’s Hot . . . . Whatever Happened to This Legislation? CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, KS, and NH

 

October 2020

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

This unusual year made it easy to lose track of state bills and local ordinances. The usual procedures would change unexpectedly leaving everyone – from lawmakers to the public – scrambling to adjust to the monkey wrenches thrown at legislative processes. Legislative priorities quickly focused the limited time and resources on pandemic related legislation with animal bills largely limited to time-sensitive topics. Some measures were enacted while others were simply not heard regardless of need, merit, or improbability.

Many of the 2020 bills or ordinances were retail pet store proposals prohibiting or restricting the sale of cats, dogs, and rabbits on the theory of eliminating “inhumane” breeding. In California, these addressed specific problems that had arisen with enforcement of previously enacted legislation. California Assembly Bill 2152 was signed by the Governor and removes the option for stores to legally acquire “rescue” animals but added express provisions for “showcasing” by public agencies and shelters with a newly narrowed definition for “animal rescue” groups. The state of Colorado, as well as local jurisdictions located therein, Fairplay and Silverthorne, also considered the issue. There were also bills considered in Florida, Kansas, and Naperville, Illinois. The Naperville ordinance allows pet stores to only sell dogs and cats obtained from or displayed in cooperation with humane or welfare organizations or animal rescue groups and revised the rescue definition to exclude relationships with breeders or brokers to deter use of fraudulent rescue groups as happened in Chicago and California.

Evanston, Illinois went further than a pet shop ban by prohibiting sales of cats and dogs from all but USDA licensed breeders. There was no exemption for hobby breeders.

The New Hampshire pet vendor definition thresholds were once again the subject of legislation this year.

Georgia considered a bill that would have required surety bonds of up to $500,000 for all pet dealers. The March 2020 issue of What’s Hot explains why this would include anyone having a single litter.

Honolulu, Hawaii adopted a mandatory microchip ordinance.

As usual, there were bills relating to animal cruelty. One of these was the Florida Allie’s Law bill that would have mandated veterinarians report animal cruelty. Note that a number of states do mandate veterinarian reporting, some just allow it and some have no law at all.

To view all the legislation discussed above, click here to see the chart. https://cfalegislativegroup.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/whats-hot-chart-october-2020.pdf

Other states are still in session, and local legislation can happen at any time. Although many things are clamoring for your attention, please keep your eyes and ears open for legislation affecting you. If you have any concerns or questions about legislation, contact the CFA Legislative Group at the email below. We also have a Facebook page and blog for information of interest to you.

Recent CFA Legislative Group Blog Posts: What’s Hot………… Burke County, North Carolina –– From Animal Services Reform Efforts to Mandatory Sterilization with Breeder Permit Proposal

whats-hot-chart-october-2020-1Download
      whats-hot-chart-october-2020-1Download

      Legislation – What’s Hot . . . . . . . Georgia Surety Bill, Minnesota Companion Animal Board Bill, and Palm Springs, CA Proposed Restrictive Breeder Permit Ordinance

       

      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;

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