BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 986| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) |Version: | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 986 Author: Ridley-Thomas (D) Amended: 6/9/08 Vote: 21 SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEVELOP. COMMITTEE : 5-0, 1/14/08 AYES: Ridley-Thomas, Calderon, Florez, Simitian, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Corbett, Denham, Harman SENATE FLOOR : 34-1, 1/24/08 AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Ashburn, Battin, Calderon, Cogdill, Correa, Cox, Denham, Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Harman, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Machado, Maldonado, Margett, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Romero, Runner, Scott, Simitian, Steinberg, Torlakson, Wiggins, Wyland, Yee NOES: Kuehl NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Corbett, Hollingsworth, Ridley-Thomas, Vincent ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 7/14/08 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Pet stores SOURCE : Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council DIGEST : This bill revises the guidelines by which a pet store operator or employee may euthanize rodents and rabbits intended as food for another animal, as specified. CONTINUED SB 986 Page 2 Assembly amendments added a new section to the bill which specifies that a rodent or rabbit intended as food for another animal may be destroyed by a pet store operator or an employee of a pet store only if the animal is euthanized as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing Law 1. Establishes the Pet Store Animal Care Act (Act), which regulates the care and maintenance of animals in the custody of a pet store and provides limits on the sale or transfer of those animals. 2. Provides that the Legislature does not intend, by this Act, to regulate the care of handling of animals in or on farms, ranches, livestock or horse auctions, livestock markets, slaughtering facilities, or any place other than pet stores. 3. Defines a "pet store" as any retail establishment open to the public and selling or offering for sale of animals. This bill: 1. Specifies that a rodent or rabbit intended as food for another animal may be destroyed by a pet store operator or an employee of a pet store only if the animal is euthanized by a method that is performed in a humane manner, appropriate for the species, authorized by state law, and in compliance with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines on Euthanasia dated June 2007. 2. Specifies that the euthanasia shall be performed by the pet store operator or employee only if a California-licensed veterinarian has certified in writing that the pet store operator or employee is properly trained and proficient in performing euthanasia on that particular species. SB 986 Page 3 3. Specifies that the certification shall be valid for a period of not more than three years, and may be recertified for additional three-year periods. 4. Specifies that the certification of a pet store operator or employee shall be retained by the pet store for three years, unless a longer period is otherwise required under California law. 5. Specifies that the certification shall be made available upon request to appropriate law enforcement officers, as specified. 6. Specifies that it is the responsibility of the pet store operator to ensure that euthanasia is performed in compliance with this bill. 7. Excludes from the definition of "pet store" a retail establishment directly related to an agricultural operation for the commercial growing and harvesting of crops or the raising of livestock or poultry on a farm or a ranch. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/24/08) Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (source) California Veterinary Medical Association PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, the sponsor, this bill is a minor clean-up to last year's AB 1347 (Caballero), Chapter 703, Statutes of 2007, which enacted the Act that will go into effect on January 1, 2009. This bill in its current form addresses a request made by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to ensure that agricultural establishments are not considered pet stores for purposes of the Act. As the Sponsor indicates, the Act included this exemption in intent language, but it did not include the agricultural exclusion in the text of the law itself. As a condition of CDFA's support for AB 1347, it was agreed SB 986 Page 4 that the agricultural exclusion language be placed in the substantive text of the law itself. This bill takes care of that issue in a way that "pet store" is defined in the new law. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Nunez, Parra, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Bass NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Leno, Plescia, Sharon Runner, Soto JJA:do 8/1/08 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****