Companion bills that would regulate commercial dog breeders and establish a puppy warranty for both commercial breeders and retailers awaited further action after January hearings in their respective committees.

Senate Bill 308 and Assembly Bill 567 would subject commercial breeders to licensing requirements, annual reporting requirements and rules promulgated by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection that set minimum standards of care, engineering standards for facilities and transportation standards.

The bills also would prohibit pet retailers from buying dogs from commercial breeders that they know are not licensed under this law.

The bills define a “commercial breeder” as anybody “engaged in the business of breeding dogs and who either sells, or offers to sell, at least 60 dogs in a year or who has at least eight breeding females.”

Commercial dog breeders, as well as anyone else who sells dogs that are under 18 months of age to a pet owner, also would be subject to a statutory warranty for all dogs they sell.

A purchaser would be entitled to a remedy if, within a certain time frame, a veterinarian certifies that the dog was unfit for sale due to a congenital or hereditary condition, or because of injury, defect or illness. The purchaser must present the certification to the seller within a certain time frame from which he or she received the animal from the seller. The seller then has 10 days to comply with the specified remedies. The total amount of reimbursement for veterinary fees is limited to twice the amount the purchaser paid for the dog.

If the seller does not comply, a purchaser may bring a cause of action against the seller. If the purchaser prevails, he or she would be awarded twice the amount of damages and reasonable attorney fees.

The bills were introduced in November. [March 2008 PET AGE]