BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 945
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
945 (Monning)
As Amended August 1, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 32-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Business & |15-0 |Salas, Brough, Baker, | |
|Professions | |Bloom, Campos, | |
| | |Chávez, Dodd, Eggman, | |
| | |Gatto, Gomez, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Mullin, Ting, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |18-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
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| | |Weber, Wood, Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes standards for pet boarding facilities and
pet boarding operators, as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "enrichment" to mean providing objects or activities,
appropriate to the needs of the species, as well as the age,
size, and condition of the pet that stimulate the pet and
promote the pet's well-being.
2)Defines "person" to mean an individual, partnership, firm,
Limited Liability Company, joint-stock company, corporation,
association, trust, estate, or other legal entity.
3)Defines "pet" to mean any nonhuman animal housed in the pet
boarding facility including, but not limited to, mammals,
birds, reptiles and amphibians, but does not include a horse.
4)Defines "pet boarding facility" to mean any lot, building,
structure, enclosure, or premises, or portion thereof,
whereupon four or more dogs, cats, or other pets in any
combination are boarded at the request of, and in exchange for
compensation provided by their owner, but 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, or the premises of a registered veterinary facility.
5)Defines a "pet boarding facility operator" to mean a person
who owns or operates, or both, a pet boarding facility.
6)Defines a "permanent or fixed enclosure" to mean a structure,
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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.
7)Defines a "temporary enclosure" to mean 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 product.
8)Requires each pet boarding facility operator to be responsible
for all of the following:
a) Ensuring the entire pet boarding facility, including all
equipment therein, is structurally sound and maintained in
good repair;
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 the 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
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cleaning, and the proper care and maintenance of the pets;
f) If grooming services are offered by a pet boarding
facility, separating the grooming work area from the pet
boarding facility's permanent or fixed or temporary
enclosures and ensuring that the grooming area is cleaned
and sanitized at least once daily;
g) Storing food in an area separate from permanent or fixed
enclosures or temporary enclosures; and,
h) Maintaining an area for isolating sick pets from healthy
pets.
9)Requires each permanent and fixed enclosure and temporary
enclosure to comply with all of the following:
a) 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;
b) Be maintained in a comfortable and sanitary manner, and
when being cleaned in a manner or with a substance that is
or may be harmful to a pet within the enclosure, the pet
must be removed from the enclosure;
c) Be constructed of material suitable for regular cleaning
and sanitizing;
d) Provide heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, shade,
and protection from the elements, as needed to ensure the
comfort and well-being of the pet; and,
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e) Allow a pet to turn around freely, stand easily, and sit
or lie down in a comfortable position.
10)Requires each enclosure to be either a permanent or fixed
enclosure or a temporary enclosure.
11)Requires a permanent or fixed closure for a cat to provide an
elevated platform, as specified.
12)States that 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; and the pet must remain
outside the temporary enclosure for no less than the amount of
time needed for the pet to eliminate its waste.
13)Requires a pet boarding facility operator to 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;
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d) Provide each pet with nutritious food in quantities and
at the intervals suitable for that pet;
e) Provide each pet daily with enrichment sufficient to
maintain the behavioral health of the pet;
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, recovery that are applicable to the
location of the pet boarding facility which must be
reviewed with each employee providing animal care, and must
be available in writing in the facility and available to
all employees;
g) Isolate 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;
and,
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 specified, to the extent access to the pet is reasonably
available.
14)Requires a pet boarding facility operator to provide each
owner with written information describing all of the
following:
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a) Days and times during which the pet boarding facility
permits pets to be dropped off and picked up;
b) Days and times during which no personnel is on site;
c) The square footage of the permanent or fixed enclosures
and temporary enclosures in which the species of pet that
the owner is boarding is customarily observed by personnel;
d) The number of times and at which intervals during each
24-hour period the breed of pet that the owner is boarding
is customarily contained; and,
e) The pet boarding facility's customary daily activity
schedule for the breed of pet that the owner is boarding.
15)Requires the pet boarding facility operator to disclose to
the owner any deviation from the customary practices.
16)Requires a pet boarding facility to maintain either a fire
alarm system that is connected to a central reporting station
that alerts the local fire department in case of a fire, or a
fire sprinkler suppression sprinkler system.
17)Requires an animal control officer, a humane officer, or a
peace officer, as specified, if he or she decides a violation
warrants formal action, to issue a single notice to correct
that contains the following:
a) Specify each violation found in the inspection;
b) Identify the corrective action for each violation; and,
c) Include a specific period of time during which the
listed violation or violations are to be corrected.
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18)Requires the appropriate officer in number 17) above, after
issuing a notice to correct to verify compliance by conducting
a subsequent investigation of the pet boarding facility within
a reasonable period of time.
19)Requires an exact legible copy of a notice to correct to be
delivered to the pet boarding facility operator, as specified.
20)Relieves a pet boarding facility operator who is verified to
have complied with a notice to correct from specified fines.
21)States that a pet boarding facility operator who violates the
same provision on more than one occasion within a five-year
period in not eligible to receive a notice to correct and is
guilty of an infraction on the second violation, and is guilty
of a misdemeanor on the third or subsequent violation.
22)States that a pet boarding facility operator that causes or
allows harm or injury to an animal, or allows an animal to be
subject to an unreasonable risk of harm or injury is guilty of
a misdemeanor.
23)States that a pet boarding facility operator, who violates
any provision of the pet boarding requirements, unless
specified in 17, 21, and 22 above, is guilty of an infraction,
punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 for the first
violation and by a fine not to exceed $1,000 for each
subsequent violation, as specified.
24)States that the above provisions do not limit or affect the
application or enforcement of any other law that protects
animals or the rights of consumers, as specified.
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25)Specifies that a city, county, or city and county may adopt
ordinances that establish additional standards and
requirements for a pet boarding facility.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, negligible state fiscal impact. Any local costs are
not reimbursable.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill creates a statewide standard for the
operational requirements of pet boarding facilities and facility
operators. This bill is sponsored by the State Humane
Association of California. According to the author, "[This
bill] would establish minimum standards for the care of pets
while they are in boarding facilities, as current law is silent
on animal and consumer protections relating specifically to pet
boarding facilities. Pet owners who board their pets may be
unaware that California law does not establish minimum standards
of care for conditions at pet boarding facilities such as
quantity of food and water, limitations on the time pets spend
in cages, veterinary care, or emergency evacuation plans. This
bill would provide operators of pet boarding facilities with
clear guidance, help ensure the safety and wellbeing of pets,
and provide protection to pet-owning consumers."
Background. Pet Boarding Facility Regulation. Unlike pet
stores, pet boarding facilities, also referred to as "kennels",
are not uniformly regulated throughout the state. California
law does not provide detail on the daily operating practices of
pet boarding facilities, such as what constitutes appropriate
animal enclosures, feeding, watering, general health veterinary
treatment, and record keeping, among other related matters.
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Local jurisdictions are responsible for enacting ordinances
pertaining to the operation and control of pet boarding
facilities. For example, the City of Newport Beach requires the
operator of a kennel to obtain a permit from the city. In
California, because pet boarding facilities are not licensed,
and therefore not directly regulated by a state agency,
enforcement is complaint driven.
The Lockyer-Polanco-Farr Pet Protection Act (Pet Protection
Act), pertains to the regulation of the retail sale of dogs and
cats, but does not specifically address pet boarding facilities
(California Health and Safety Code Section (HSC) 122155). As
part of the Pet Protection Act, pet dealers are required to
maintain facilities where dogs are kept in sanitary conditions,
provide dogs with adequate nutrition and water, adequate space
appropriate to the age, size and weight of the dog, provide dogs
with adequate socialization and exercise, and requires a fire
alarm system connected to a central reporting station that
alerts the local fire department or maintain a fire suppression
sprinkler system, among other requirements. A number of the
requirements for facilities in the Pet Protection Act are
similar to the provisions in this bill. Currently, under
California Building Code Section 431 only those pet kennels
regulated under the Pet Protection Act are required to adhere to
the specified automatic sprinkler system requirements.
The author notes that because there is no existing law regarding
the standards of operating a pet boarding facility, if something
were to go wrong with an animal being cared for at a facility,
there is no enforcement recourse for the consumer. This bill
seeks to establish a new statewide minimum standard for the
operation of a pet boarding facility. However, as currently
drafted, this bill does not prohibit a city, county, or city and
county from adopting an ordinance that establishes additional
standards and requirements
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Issues at Pet Boarding Facilities. Recent news articles and
reports have highlighted issues in pet boarding facilities which
have led to animal death or harm. On May 10, 2016, KTLA 5
reported that a five year old Yorkshire terrier was mauled to
death by another dog while staying at a boarding facility in
Corona. In 2015, a fire at a pet boarding facility killed 14
dogs in Monterey. ABC 7 reported in January of 2016, that an
injured dog found near the highway in Brentwood was reunited
with his family after escaping from a boarding facility. This
bill places requirements on pet boarding facilities including
fire systems and a notification protocol for animals that may be
harmed or escape.
Other states. There are federal laws which establish the
minimum standards for the care of cats and dogs by commercial
breeders, but do not necessarily pertain to pet boarding
facilities. Some states have enacted regulations that may be
more stringent than what is required under federal statutes
specifically applicable to breeders. In addition, at least
three other states have established uniform requirements for pet
boarding facilities. Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts
have established standards for the operation of pet boarding
facilities. Standards in those states include specifications
related to enclosure requirements, protection from inclement
weather, flooring standards for cages, specifications for
lighting and sanitation, requirements for clean and fresh water,
and maintaining general humane conditions, among others.
Analysis Prepared by:
Elissa Silva / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0003821
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