BILL NUMBER: SB 945 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 7, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning
FEBRUARY 3, 2016
An act to add Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 122380) to Part
6 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to pet
boarding facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 945, as amended, Monning. Pet boarding facilities.
Existing law regulates the care and maintenance of animals in the
care of a pet store.
This bill would establish procedures for the care and maintenance
of pets boarded at a pet boarding facility, including, but not
limited to, sanitation, provision of enrichment devices, health of
the pet, and safety. The bill would also prohibit a person convicted
of an offense related to the welfare of animals, as specified, from
operating a pet boarding facility or from being employed as an
employee of a pet boarding facility. The bill would specifically
authorize a city, county, or city and county to adopt ordinances
that establish additional standards and requirements for a pet
boarding facility. The bill would make a violation of these
provisions an infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 for
the first violation and not to exceed $1,000 for each subsequent
violation. Because it would create a new crime, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 122380) is added to
Part 6 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 11. PET BOARDING FACILITIES
122380. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Person" means an individual, partnership, firm, limited
liability company, joint-stock company, corporation, association,
trust, estate, or other legal entity.
(b) "Pet" means any nonhuman animal housed in the pet boarding
facility, including, but not limited to, mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, and fish. However, "pet" does not include a horse.
(c) "Pet boarding facility" means any lot, building, structure,
enclosure, or premises whereupon four or more dogs, cats, or other
pets in any combination are boarded for compensation. However, "pet
boarding facility" does not include a city, county, or city and
county animal control agency, society for the prevention of cruelty
to animals, or humane society that contracts for the care of stray or
abandoned animals. animals, or the premises
of a veterinary facility that is registered pursuant to Section 4853
of the Business and Professions Code.
(d) "Pet boarding facility operator" or "operator" means a person
who owns or operates, or both, a pet boarding facility.
(e) "Primary enclosure" means a structure, including, but not
limited to, an exercise run, kennel, or room, used to restrict a pet,
that provides for the effective separation of a pet from the pet's
waste products.
(f) (1) "Temporary enclosure" means a structure used to restrict a
pet, including, but not limited to, a crate or cage, that does not
provide for the effective separation of a pet from the pet's waste
products.
(2) A pet may be contained in a temporary enclosure for a period
not to exceed four hours during the day and 12 hours at night or the
length of time that is humane for that particular pet, whichever is
less. However, the pet shall remain outside the temporary enclosure
for no less than the amount of time needed for the pet to eliminate
its waste.
(3) A temporary enclosure shall allow the pet to turn about
freely, stand easily, and sit or lie in a comfortable position.
122381. Each pet boarding facility operator shall be responsible
for all of the following:
(a) Ensuring that the entire pet boarding facility is structurally
sound and maintained in good repair, including, but not limited to,
heating and cooling systems, drying cages, flooring, and door latches
and locks.
(b) Ensuring that pests do not inhabit any part of the pet
boarding facility in a number large enough to be harmful,
threatening, or annoying to the pets.
(c) Ensuring the containment of pets within the pet boarding
facility, and, in the event that a pet escapes, being responsible for
reporting this fact immediately to the local agency responsible for
animal control and to the owner and making reasonable efforts to
immediately capture the escaped pet.
(d) Ensuring that the pet boarding facility's interior building
surfaces, including walls and floors, are constructed in a manner
that permits them to be readily cleaned and sanitized.
(e) Ensuring that light, by natural or artificial means, is
distributed in a manner that permits routine inspection and cleaning,
and the proper care and maintenance of the pets.
(f) When pet grooming services are offered by a pet boarding
facility, separating the grooming work area from the pet boarding
facility's primary enclosures, pet food storage areas, and isolation
areas for housing sick pets. The grooming area shall be cleaned and
sanitized at least once daily.
122382. (a) Each primary and temporary enclosure shall comply
with all of the following standards:
(1) Be structurally sound and maintained in good repair to protect
the enclosed pet from injury, to contain the pet, to keep other
animals out, and to promote the health and well-being of the pet.
(2) Be maintained in a comfortable and sanitary manner. When being
cleaned in a manner or with a substance that is or may be harmful to
a pet within the enclosure, that pet shall be removed from the
enclosure.
(3) Be constructed of material suitable for regular cleaning and
sanitizing.
(4) As needed to ensure the comfort and well-being of the pet,
provide heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, shade, and
protection from the elements, including but not limited to, the sun,
wind, rain, and snow.
(b) Each enclosure is either a primary enclosure or a temporary
enclosure.
(c) In addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (a),
a primary enclosure for a cat shall provide an elevated platform
appropriate for the size of the cat.
122383. A pet boarding facility operator shall comply with all of
the following animal care requirements:
(a) House only one pet at a time in an enclosure unless otherwise
consented to by the owner.
(b) Observe each pet as necessary, but no less than once every 24
hours, in order to recognize the signs of sickness, injury, or
distress, and in order to ensure that the pet, food, and waste or
debris is removed as necessary to prevent contamination or injury.
(c) Provide each pet with easy and convenient access to potable
water at all times, or if the behavior of the pet makes unrestricted
access to water impracticable, offer water as often as necessary to
ensure the pet's health and well-being. However, water may be
restricted as directed by the owner or a licensed veterinarian.
(d) Provide each pet with food of the type, in the quantities, and
at the intervals as directed in writing by the owner, or in the
absence of written directions by the owner, with nutritious food in
quantities and at intervals suitable for that pet.
(e) Provide each pet with at least one enrichment device that is
appropriate for the age, size, and condition of the pet unless
otherwise directed in writing by the owner.
(f) Maintain and abide by written policies and procedures that
address animal care, management and safe handling, disease prevention
and control, routine care, preventative care, emergency care,
veterinary treatment, and disaster planning, evacuation, and recovery
that are applicable to the location of the pet boarding facility.
These procedures shall be reviewed with each employee who provides
animal care and shall be present, in writing, either electronically
or physically, in the facility and made available to all employees.
(g) Isolate those pets that have or are suspected of having a
contagious condition.
(h) Ensure that each sick or injured pet is immediately provided
with veterinary treatment and that the owner of the pet is notified
immediately of the pet's condition.
(i) In the event of a natural disaster, an emergency evacuation,
or other similar occurrence, ensure that the humane care and
treatment of each animal is provided for, as required by this
chapter, to the extent access to the pet is reasonably available.
122384. (a) A pet boarding facility
operator shall provide, in writing, provide
each owner with written information describing all
of the following:
(a) Times, if any, when there will be no personnel on site.
(b)
(1) Days and times during which the pet boarding facility permits
pets to be dropped off and picked up.
(2) Days and times during which no personnel is on site.
(3) The square footage of any
the primary and temporary enclosures in which the pet
will be breed of pet that the owner is boarding is
customarily contained.
(c)
(4) The number of times and at which intervals during
each 24-hour period the pet will be breed of
pet that the owner is boarding is customarily observed by
personnel.
(d)
(5) The pet's anticipated pet
boarding facility's customary daily activity schedule,
schedule for the breed of pet that the owner is
boarding, including the length of time the pet will
spend in and out of the number of hours spent in
primary and temporary enclosures, the time or times at which the
pet will be breed of pet is fed, and
the opportunities the pet will have breed of
pet has to exercise and eliminate bodily waste.
(6) Additional services that the owner may purchase for the pet,
if any, and the cost of those services.
(b) If the pet boarding facility will materially deviate from the
customary practices described in the written information required by
subdivision (a) with respect to an owner's pet, the pet boarding
facility operator shall disclose those deviations to the owner, in
writing.
122385. A pet boarding facility shall maintain either of the
following:
(a) A fire alarm system that is connected to a central reporting
station that alerts the local fire department in case of fire.
(b) A fire suppression sprinkler system.
122385. 122386. A person convicted
of an infraction, misdemeanor, a misdemeanor
or felony directly related to the welfare of
animals, including, but not limited to, a violation of Section 597 of
the Penal Code, is prohibited from operating a pet boarding facility
or from being employed as an employee of a pet boarding facility.
If a pet boarding facility is located within a pet store, this
prohibition only applies to an employee who works directly with pets
that are boarded overnight in the pet boarding facility.
122386. 122387. A pet boarding
facility operator who violates any provision of this chapter is
guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine not to exceed two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first violation and by a fine
not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent
violation. The court shall weigh the gravity of the offense in
setting the penalty.
122387. 122388. (a) Nothing in this
chapter shall be construed to in any way limit or affect the
application or enforcement of any other law that protects animals or
the rights of consumers, including, but not limited to, Section 597
of the Penal Code.
(b) Nothing in this chapter limits, or authorizes any act or
omission that violates, Section 597 of the Penal Code, or any other
local, state, or federal law that protects animals or the rights of
consumers.
122389. Pursuant to Section 7 of Article XI of the California
Constitution, a city, county, or city and county may adopt ordinances
that establish additional standards and requirements for a pet
boarding facility.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.