SB 208

Licensing of dog sellers, animal shelters, and animal control facilities

This bill requires certain persons who sell dogs or operate animal shelters or

animal control facilities to be licensed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and

Consumer Protection (DATCP), beginning 18 months after the bill is enacted into

law.

The bill requires all of the following to obtain licenses, with limited exceptions:

1. A person who sells 25 or more dogs in a year (including a nonresident who

brings dogs into this state for sale).

2. A person who operates a dog breeding facility (a place at which dogs are bred

and raised) from which 25 or more dogs are sold in a year.

3. A person who operates an auction at which 50 or more dogs are sold or offered

for sale in a year.

4. A person who operates an animal shelter that is used to shelter at least 25

dogs in a year.

5. A person who operates an animal control facility under a contract with a city,

village, town, or county.

The bill requires DATCP to inspect each location in this state at which a person

who applies for a license operates before issuing an initial license and at least once

every two years thereafter, except that during the first 12 months in which licenses

are required DATCP may issue a temporary initial license before conducting the

required inspection. The bill allows DATCP to make additional inspections during

regular business hours to ensure compliance with requirements established in the

bill.

The bill specifies fees for licenses, generally based on the number of dogs sold,

and authorizes DATCP to set higher fees by rule if necessary to cover the costs of

administering the program.

Sale of dogs

This bill prohibits a licensee from transferring a dog to a buyer before the dog

is seven weeks old. The bill requires a licensee to provide the purchaser of a dog with

a copy of the dog's vaccination records and with a statement from a veterinarian who

examined the dog stating that the dog had no infectious or contagious diseases at the

time of examination.

The bill prohibits any person from selling at auction a dog that is not spayed or

neutered unless the dog has tested negative for brucellosis.

The bill also requires a person who sells or offers to sell a dog at a temporary

dog market, such as a flea market, to provide information about the dog to the

operator of the temporary dog market. It requires the operator of a temporary dog

market to register with DATCP, review and keep the information provided by sellers,

and, if dogs are sold or offered for sale on two or more consecutive days, have a

veterinarian examine the dogs.