Hb 1451 passes house floor vote and will go to the senate. Action required now to sto

lease forward to other dog owners who may be affected

TEXAS LEGISLATION 2011

HB 1451 Commercial Dog & Cat Breeder Act

UPDATE 4/26 - HB 1451 PASSES HOUSE FLOOR VOTE AND WILL GO TO THE SENATE. ACTION REQUIRED NOW TO STOP THIS DEVASTATING BILL.

* Call your Senator and request they OPPOSE HB 1451.
* Download Senate Contact Sheet
* Talking points are listed below.


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HB 1451 Status


SYNOPSIS
HSUS Funded Representative Senfronia Thompson (D, 141) filed HB 1451 a bill to regulate Texas dog and cat breeders. HB 1451 is supported by a coalition of animal rights groups including HSUS, PETA, ASPCA, and Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN). Commercial breeder is defined as a person who possesses 11 or more intact female dogs or cats over 6 months of age. Criminal background checks for both kennel owners and staff would be required for kennel license approval. A kennel license can be denied, suspended, or revoked for any infraction of the regulations or record-keeping rules or failure to complete a corrective action in the time allotted in an inspection report. Breeding females must have adequate rest between breeding cycles and a yearly veterinary exam. HB 1451 is only an outline of intended future regulations. The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation would be required to adopt the rules, standards, procedures, and fees necessary to implement the Act by March 31, 2012. Future rules and regulations established must meet or exceed current federal regulations for the handling, care, treatment, and transportation of dogs and cats.

REVISIONS to HB 1451:
Ownership cap of 50 intact animals in the original bill has been removed.

ADDED Sec. 802.066. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The commission shall establish an advisory committee to advise the commission and make recommendations on matter related to the administration and enforcement of this chapter including licensing fees and standard adopted under Subchapter E. The advisory committee consists of nine members appointed by the presiding officer of the commission with approval of the commission and will include: two licensed breeders; two veterinarians; two animal welfare organizations representatives; two public members; and one animal control officer as defined in Section 829.001 of the Health and Safety Code

All reference to sales tax has been removed.

ADDED. .... an adequate period of time, consistent with breed standards elapse between breeding cycles.

ADDED. Sec. 802.004. PRESUMPTION OF USE FOR BREEDING. For purposes of this chapter, each adult intact female possessed by a person engaged in the business of breeding is presumed to be used for breeding purposes unless the person establishes to the department, based on records or other reasonably acceptable evidence, that the animal is not used for breeding.

OPPOSITION POINTS

* HB 1451 authorizes the commission to establish necessary fees to cover the costs of administering and enforcing the commercial dog and cat breeder act. The objective is to make this program self-funding; however this goal may not be achievable as factual data on the numbers of breeders to be regulated is lacking. The Fiscal Note claims costs of operation would be offset by generated revenue. Kennel license fees may have to be set at thousands of dollars to have a zero impact to the state.

* Increasingly, animal rights activists have broadened the term puppy mill until anyone who breeds a dog is fair game for attack. Even someone who only breeds an occasional litter is at risk of being labeled as a dreaded “puppy mill” by activists who do not approve of breeding or procreation in the first place.

* HB 1451 assumes that an owner of 11 or more intact dogs or cats is not capable of managing and maintaining their animals in good health without state intervention. There is no correlation between numbers of owned animals and quality of care.

* The Texas legislature unveiled a budget will cut billions in spending to close the state's massive budget deficit estimated between $15 and $27 billion. Education, health and human services, and the criminal justice department will be hard hit and thousands of government jobs will be eliminated. It is unconscionable for lawmakers to even consider trading scarce funds for human needs and services in order to implement costly kennel inspections.

* Applicants must pay both a prelicense fee and a license fee. Fees collected will be used to pay third party inspectors. Unless license fees are exorbitant it is unlikely that inspection training and enforcement costs will be covered.

* Third party inspectors can include state agencies, animal control personnel, and any local law enforcement official including firemen. The wide variety of backgrounds, ability, experience, and resources for such a diverse source of inspectors is of concern as expertise in animal husbandry may vary widely and result in inequitable inspection results despite a state established training program.

* Inspectors are not required to provide advance notice to a commercial breeder before arriving at the facility.

* The arbitrary threshold number used in HB 1451 is overreaching and conscientious hobby breeders will be caught up in this definition of commercial breeder and the onerous provisions of this legislation even though they are not businesses in the true sense. As written, HB 1451 requires licensure and inspection of kennels and catteries for simply owning intact animals even if breeding is occasional. Intact does not equal “bred”.

* The current definition will incorrectly classify and regulate many sporting dog owners as large commercial breeding operations. Although, these responsible dog owners may keep more than 11 intact females and occasionally sell dogs, they are not commercial breeders and should not be treated as such.

* HB 1451 requires licensure and inspection of kennels and catteries for simply owning intact dogs/cats even if breeding is occasional. Dog owners who breed even one or two litters a year or those who breed dogs to be used as working dogs, security dogs, herding dogs, livestock guardian dogs, service dogs, as well as dogs and cats for family pets will be severely impacted by the enormous cost of ordinance-compliant facilities.

* HB 1451 includes a definition for “controlling person” or any individual with even a 25% interest in the commercial breeder’s business or property. Controlling persons would include co-owners who would now be required to have intrusive criminal background checks.

* HB 1451 is part of a nationwide campaign to place dog breeding under government regulations and restrictions with which the average home-based breeder cannot comply. Lawmakers who write bills aimed at eliminating puppy mills leave the definitions up to those who lobby for the laws. As a result, publicity campaigns highlight kennels where hundreds of dogs are kept in poor conditions, but the bills themselves generally target and cause collateral damage to responsible hobby and commercial breeders with far fewer breeding dogs while not solving the problems of the largest kennels where problems may be found.

* The proposed ordinance mandates "examination at least once yearly by a licensed veterinarian for breeding dogs and cats." There are no standardized, specific laboratory tests or specialized reproductive examination procedures that are suitable for assessing the health status of either dogs or cats for breeding. The veterinarian will only be able to assess external physical condition, maybe over or under weight or teeth should be cleaned, and can only make observations that the breeder is most likely already aware of. The veterinarian has no authority to perform any treatment not authorized by the breeder/client. There are no guidelines for what is an acceptable veterinary report for documenting the exam. There is no measurable benefit to this mandated exam and serves only to increase maintenance costs for the breeder.

* Requiring yearly veterinary exams takes away the owner's right to choose how they take care of their property.

* Requires each adult intact female animal be provided with adequate rest between breeding cycles consistent with breed standards. Breed standards are set for physical appearance and do not address breeding cycles. Frequency of breeding is a decision that should be made by the owner in consultation with the owner’s veterinarian and not by legislative mandate.

* Cat physiology is not the same as that of a dog. Requiring rest between breeding cycles for cats can lead to reproductive problems, including a condition known as "cystic ovaries" which can render the cat sterile.

* Primary enclosure definition includes a room, pen, run, cage, or compartment. Standards to be adopted in Sec. 802.201 require that the commercial breeder provide all dogs over 12 weeks with an exercise area with 3 times more square feet than the dog’s primary enclosure. If the dog’s primary enclosure is a 10X10 pen or run the proposed rule would require daily access to an additional 300 SF area for every dog.

* Facility standards and regulations, yet to be written, will be modeled after federal commercial standards and are certain to eliminate the ability to home-raise puppies. The 60-page Federal regulations are administered by USDA/APHIS as part of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) which governs the humane care, handling, and transportation of commercially bred dogs. The AWA does not define either "commercial kennel" or "puppy mill” and was intended for use regulating high volume commercial facilities selling at wholesale to retail stores and outlets. The regulations were never intended for use regulating individual dog breeders in private residences. The regulations are not compatible with small home-based breeding programs.

* Compliance with Federal regulations would require small and mid-size sporting dog and hobby breeders to construct temperature controlled kennel buildings costing tens of thousands of dollars.

* HB 1451 overreaches any perceived need to ensure humane conditions for dogs by attempting to regulate owners of a small number of intact dogs regardless of frequency of breeding or numbers bred. Not only the financial issues, but the life style changes will be enormous if HB 1451 is allowed to become law. Many counties have zoning restrictions which do not allow in-home businesses; labeling and registering breeders as commercial kennels because of the number of intact dogs owned will end many hobby kennels throughout the state.

* Under Sec. 802.004 Presumption of Use for Breeding added in committee substitute one is “guilty until proven innocent” and owners must prove to the Department intact dogs are not being used for breeding.