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July 15, 2009
View legislative update (PDF)
In the past month, state legislatures and regulatory agencies have continued to advance significant animal and veterinary-related legislation. A select group of the recently adopted bills and regulations are highlighted below.
Adopted Bills
Connecticut adopted two significant Senate bills (SB 650 and SB 499). SB 650 provides that a testamentary or inter vivos trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal or animals alive during a settlor's or testator's lifetime. Pursuant to this legislation, a pet trust shall designate a trust protector in the trust instrument whose sole duty shall be to act on behalf of the animal or animals provided for in the trust instrument. Pet trusts will terminate upon the death of the last surviving animal. SB 499 amends the laws relating to both rabies vaccinations and pet lemon laws. As adopted, SB 499 provides that a licensed veterinarian, upon request of the Chief Animal Control Officer or any other animal control officer, shall submit a copy of a rabies vaccination certificate and any associated rabies vaccination records for a dog or cat that has bitten a person or another animal. In addition, the bill amends existing pet lemon laws to provide that if, within 20 days of sale, any sold dog or cat becomes ill or dies of any illness which existed at the time of sale, or within 6 months of sale, or any sold dog or cat is diagnosed with a congenital defect that adversely affects or will adversely affect the health of such dog or cat, the pet shop licensee shall provide certain remedies to the consumer. In addition, the bill amended the existing pet retail laws to require any dog sold or offered for sale by a pet shop licensee in Connecticut to be accompanied by a certificate of origin identifying the name and address of the person, firm, or corporation that bred the dog and of any person, firm or corporation that sold the dog to the pet shop licensee.
Hawaii adopted an animal cruelty bill and an animal welfare bill allowing for the protection of pets in restraining orders (SB 1222, HB 1512). SB 1222 (1) prohibits the confinement of a pet animal in a kennel or cage in a cruel or inhumane manner, (2) prohibits the tethering, fastening, tying, or restraining of a dog to a dog house, tree, fence, or any other stationary object by means of a choke collar, pinch collar, prong collar, except when walking a dog with a hand-held leash or while the dog is in a supervised activity, and (3) reduces from 20 to 15 the number of dogs or cats required to be possessed for the animal hoarding statute to apply. HB 1512 authorizes a family court to issue a temporary restraining order in certain circumstances involving an animal identified to the court as belonging to a household.
Oregon adopted three bills that affect veterinarians, pet retail, and the possession and sale of exotic animals (HB 2462, HB 2470, and SB 391). HB 2462 provides that a veterinarian or veterinary technician acting within the scope of his or her license is not a pesticide user subject to the pesticide use reporting system. HB 2470 amends the pet retail laws to prohibit possessing, controlling or having charge of more than 50 sexually intact dogs that are two years of age or older for primary purpose of reproduction. It imposes conditions on persons who possess, control or have charge of certain numbers of sexually intact dogs that are eight months of age or older and imposes oversight conditions on persons who possess, control or have charge of more than 75 dogs. The new law also provides customers of pet dealers with specific remedies if a purchased dog has disease or congenital disorder. SB 391 amends possession, breeding and permit requirements for exotic animals, and prohibits the sale of an exotic animal to a person located in Oregon unless it is to a wildlife rehabilitation center or a facility operated under a valid license granted by the USDA pursuant to the Federal Animal Welfare Act.
Texas adopted an emergency preparedness bill and a pharmacy bill (HB 1831, HB 2765). HB 1831 requires that the Department of Agriculture and the Texas Animal Health Commission prepare and keep current an agriculture emergency response plan as an annex to the state emergency management plan. HB 2765 provides that in certain emergency situations, a veterinarian may dispense any drug (other than a controlled substance), prescribed by another veterinarian, including a veterinarian licensed in another state.
Louisiana HB 369 adds veterinary care plan insurance providing care for a pet animal of an insured owner in the event of illness, accident, or death as a subcategory under the definition of marine and transportation insurance. HB 554 provides that during a declared state of emergency, a person who gratuitously and voluntarily renders any disaster relief or recovery services in coordination with the state or its political subdivisions shall not be liable to the recipient thereof for any injury or death to a person or any damage to property resulting therefrom, except in the event of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Adopted Regulations
In Iowa, both the Revenue Department and the Pharmacy Board adopted new regulations that affect veterinarians. The Revenue Department adopted regulations to clarify that veterinary services are not subject to sales tax. The regulations provide that purchases of food, drugs, medicines, bandages, dressings, serums, tonics, and the like which are used in treating livestock raised as part of agricultural production are exempt from tax. However, where these same items are used in treating animals maintained as pets or for hobby purposes, they are not exempt from sales tax. The regulations further provide that purchases of equipment and tools used in the veterinary practice are subject to tax. Finally, they provide that a veterinarian must charge sales tax on any sales of tangible property or enumerated services, such as pet grooming, that are not part of professional veterinarian services. The Iowa Pharmacy Board adopted regulations which establish a prescription monitoring program (PMP) that compiles a central database of reportable prescriptions dispensed to patients in Iowa. Pursuant to the regulations, an authorized health care practitioner may, but is not required to, access PMP information regarding the practitioner's patient to assist in determining appropriate treatment options and to improve the quality of patient care.
The Oklahoma Board of Pharmacy adopted regulations which amend drug compounding rules to bring them up to federal compounding standards for sterile and non-sterile products and amend the requirements for compounding of veterinarian products. The regulations provide that prescriptions for animals may be compounded based on an order or prescription from a licensed prescriber and that compounding for office use for administration by veterinarians is allowed. They further provide that the preparation is to be administered by a veterinarian and not dispensed to the patient and that the preparation label should state 'for office use only-not for resale'. The regulations also prohibit compounding with bulk chemicals for food-producing animals.
Welfare of Livestock and Poultry
Ohio and Michigan are currently considering legislation to create mechanisms which would regulate the welfare of livestock and poultry. Ohio SJR 6 and HJR 2 would place a constitutional provision on the 2009 November ballot which would create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to establish and implement standards governing the care and well-being of livestock and poultry. Governor Ted Strickland is expected to sign HJR 2, which was approved by the state House and Senate. SJR 6 passed the Senate and is awaiting passage by the House. As a constitutional amendment, the measure will still need to be approved by voters. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) opposes these bills and has stated that it will try to place its own constitutional amendment before voters. HSUS' proposed constitutional amendment will be modeled on California's Proposition 2.
Michigan introduced legislation to establish the Michigan Agriculture Commission and Michigan Agriculture Department as the sole authority for regulation of livestock and poultry health and welfare. The department would (1) establish science-based standards for animal care that producers must implement by 2020, (2) create an animal care advisory council to keep the standards updated, and (3) establish a third-party auditing system to make sure the standards are implemented.
The link at the top or bottom of the page will take you to the latest chart of significant pending bills and regulations from around the country.
View legislative update (PDF)
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