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What’s Hot … New York Bills Would Force Virtually Every Breeder to be State Licensed

 

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Introduced in 2025, identical bills AB 8653B and SB 8252B would require most small in-home breeders to obtain a pet breeder license, subject to commercial breeder requirements and consumer protection provisions. A single litter in a year could put someone over the threshold if it is large enough. Two litters would definitely be courting licensure requirements. The bills remove the twenty-five-animal sale exception and define a pet dealer as:

“‘Pet breeder’ shall mean any person who breeds animals and sells, or offers to sell, more than nine animals per year, born and  raised  on such person’s premises, directly to a consumer.”

The bills have been amended twice (hence the B in the number). Originally, the threshold was a lifetime one rather than a per-year one, but the born and raised problem remains. Most of the changes affecting breeders clean up the language changes required by the 2024 New York Puppy Mill Pipeline Act. The bills also add:

“Except as provided in subdivision two of this section, the transfer of a dog, cat, or rabbit for profit, including, but not limited to, the sale, offer for sale, lease, offer for lease, arrangement, or negotiation of such animals, is hereby prohibited No person, firm, corporation, partnership,  or other legal entity shall transfer such animals in violation of this section.

2. The prohibition on the transfer of dogs, cats, and rabbits prescribed in subdivision one of this section shall not apply to the following:

(a) pet breeders, as defined in section  seven  hundred  fifty-two  of this article; or

(b)  any other person who breeds and sells, or offers to sell, dogs, cats, or rabbits, born and raised on such person’s premises, directly to a consumer.”

Both bills have been recommitted to the agriculture committee in their respective houses, but neither has yet been assigned a public hearing. Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris, sponsor of the Senate bill, was recognized by ASPCA with the National “Champion for Animals” Award in 2022 and plans to retire at the end of 2026. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal is the primary sponsor for AB 8653 and AB 107, a bill recognizing animal sentience.

Legislation — What’s Hot…Silence in Advocacy is Not Golden!

 

January 2025

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Cat and dog fanciers have borne the burden of anti-breeder and anti-pet legislation for years. Brick by legislative brick, that weight will continue getting heavier if we do not speak out loudly and effectively against bad laws. Nobody else can advocate for our hobby as well as we can, and failure to advocate for ourselves only invites the end of our hobby!  Those already in the trenches fighting for the fancy have our profound appreciation. But our hobby needs every fancier to get involved.

Last year, a European Union-style “unethical breeding” ordinance arbitrarily banning many popular cat and dog breeds for their traits or color grabbed a toehold in the U.S. via a small Californian town. Breeds with short snouts, hairlessness, and folded ears fall among the targeted animals. The first cat and dog fanciers heard of the ordinance was after it became law. Preventing legislation from becoming law is much easier than repealing it – but we cannot stop what we don’t know about, which is an animal rights strategy. Thus, Ojai’s unethical breeding ban became the first ordinance of its kind to become law in the United States, but not the first effort. New Hampshire has that dubious honor. Fortunately, a group of cat fanciers, dog fanciers, veterinarians, and others successfully prevented that bill from being passed. Elsewhere, a Texas dog breeder demonstrated what a single voice could accomplish with the dog exemptions added to the Texas Dog and Cat Breeder Law in 2021. However, history tells us animal rights activists will not be satisfied with a single tiny win in Ojai, California, just as they aren’t satisfied with winning over several EU countries. Rewriting animal legislation globally is necessary to achieve their ultimate goal – no animal use of any kind, including as pets. And they are willing to achieve it one little baby step at a time.

Mink farming, fur and leather clothing, trophy hunting, animal use in research, and veganism were well-known animal rights issues when I started exhibiting cats in the late 1990s. I did not realize there was also a war against pets until I was asked to join the legislative committee of another organization.  Over twenty years later, I am still working on the legislative front. Did I mention I passionately dislike politics? I do not do this because I love politics but because I love my cats and showing. A persistent offense requires a consistent defense.

Grassroots advocacy is the backbone of our fight. While legislative advocacy does not come naturally to many people, we frequently advocate for things without giving them a second thought. When we describe to a potential pet buyer how great our breeds are, we are advocating. The CFA Legislative Group can help you apply those skills to the many roles in grassroots advocacy. Silence is the antithesis of advocacy—individuals must speak up. The alternative is more bricks.

Almost all U.S. state legislatures will be in session by the end of January. Add in the U.S. Congress, other nations, and local governments, and legislation is happening year-round. If you become aware of bad legislation in your area and want to break some bricks in 2025, contact us at legislation@cfa.org.

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…Texas to Review the Dog and Cat Breeders Program Rules

 

December 2024

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation announced its intent to review the Dog and Cat Breeders Program Rules to determine if they need re-adoption, revision, or repeal. This is a regular housekeeping review, a process required every four years. The Notice of Intent to Review was published in the Texas Register on November 22, 2024. People have until December 23, 2024, to submit written comments on Chapter 91 at TDLR’s site.

Comments should focus on administrative rules already adopted and the purpose
of the review. The rules will be assessed according to the following criteria:

  1. whether it is obsolete,
  2. whether it reflects current legal and policy considerations, and
  3. whether it is in alignment with current TDLR procedures.

The Department is not proposing any rule changes at this time, but if it determines that changes are necessary, the changes will undergo a separate rulemaking process. They will be published in the Proposed Rules section of the Texas Register and open for public comment before final adoption. The Texas Legislature, through statutes, defines what discretion TDLR has regarding its rule making efforts.

The Dog and Cat Breeders Act requires TDLR to adopt only those rules necessary to explain the law and how it will be enforced. However, the department cannot change the exemptions benefitting dog breeders the legislature approved during the 2023 legislative session. During that session, while CFA and TICA worked with AKC and RPOA to kill the threshold reduction bill, an individual dog breeder convinced legislators to add exemptions for her interests. At that point, killing the bill was unlikely, and the cat registries submitted letters requesting cat breeders also receive those exemptions as applicable. Legislators refused to make that change then, and any effort to make that change now must go through the legislative process. If a Texas cat breeder wishes to help amend the law to include exemptions during the 2025 legislative session, please contact the CFA Legislative Group at legislation@cfa.org

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 … New Texas Regulations in the Works

 

September 2023

Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and its governing board, the Texas Commission on Licensing and Regulation, are about to engage in the rulemaking process, not once but twice, to adopt new rules for the state’s Licensed Breeder Program. At the September 1, 2023, Licensed Breeder Advisory Committee meeting , the committee discussed why rule changes were needed. This year’s enacted Senate Bill 876, which reduced the licensing threshold and expanded the dog breeder exemptions, along with a change in fees, group record-keeping provisions, and general housekeeping issues necessitate the first proposed rule change. These rules must be expedited since affected breeders must be licensed by January 1, 2024. The committee provided its advisory vote to approve the draft of the proposed rules. Next, the Department will publish a Summary of Proposed Rule changes in the Texas Register on September 22. Then, public comments will be accepted until October 23. Instructions are available here.

Informative presentations about the Texas Administrative Procedure Act, including the rulemaking process, Open Meetings Act, and Public Information Act, were presented during the meeting for fanciers wishing to review that information. The committee will meet again on November 1, 2023.

The timeline mandated by SB 876 requires handling the second rulemaking effort dealing with recent changes to the federal standards regulation separately. The 2011 Licensed Dog and Cat Breeders Act mandates that state rules meet the federal regulations at a minimum. Thus, state rules must be updated when federal regulations change. Remember, nothing prevents the state from exceeding federal regulations and possibly opening the door to prohibitive barriers to licensing. These rule changes are expected to take longer and would delay those required by SB 876. The federal regulations are in The Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations “Blue Book“. The section dealing with standards is 9 C.F.R. Part 3, Subpart A; it starts on page 126.

Information about the Texas Licensed Breeders Program is available at the TDLR website.

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