A. The Board shall, by July 1, 2022, and pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.), adopt comprehensive regulations governing the keeping of dogs and cats by any pet shop. Such regulations shall not apply to agricultural animals.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-6501.1

  • Agricultural animals: means all livestock and poultry. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Animal: means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Animal control officer: means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Board: means the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • care: means the responsible practice of good animal husbandry, handling, production, management, confinement, feeding, watering, protection, shelter, transportation, treatment, and, when necessary, euthanasia, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of the animal and the provision of veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering or impairment of health. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • exercise: means the opportunity for the animal to move sufficiently to maintain normal muscle tone and mass for the age, species, size, and condition of the animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Facility: means a building or portion thereof as designated by the State Veterinarian, other than a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, that is used to contain a primary enclosure or enclosures in which animals are housed or kept. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Inspector: means a State Animal Welfare Inspector employed pursuant to § 3. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Law-enforcement officer: means any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Pet shop: means a retail establishment where companion animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Research facility: means any place, laboratory, or institution licensed by the U. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. The regulations adopted pursuant to subsection A shall require every regulated person or facility to register annually with the Department and shall prohibit operation without such registration. The fee for such annual registration shall be $250 for any private, for-profit entity required to register. Such regulations shall provide that a pet shop shall not sell a dog or cat to any research facility.

C. The regulations adopted pursuant to subsection A shall establish standards consistent with the provisions of this chapter for the keeping of animals, including (i) standards of adequate care, exercise, feed, shelter, space, treatment, and water and (ii) standards of proper cleaning and lighting. Where necessary, the Board shall adopt specific regulations that apply only to a particular category of currently unregulated entity; however, the standards established for any two similar categories of regulated entity shall not differ significantly.

D. The Board shall issue guidance setting out the compliance requirements for each regulatory standard adopted pursuant to this section, providing information on what an entity in each category is expected to do to comply with a given regulatory standard.

E. Regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall require a State Animal Welfare Inspector employed pursuant to § 3.2-5901.1 to annually conduct at least one unannounced drop-in inspection of each pet shop.

F. Regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall establish remedies for each finding in a given inspection. Such remedies may include the cancellation of the registration granted pursuant to subsection B; the institution of a conditional probationary period, during which the regulated facility shall be allowed to continue to operate; the renewal of such registration for a limited period; or other actions.

G. Nothing in this section or in any regulation adopted pursuant to this section shall be interpreted to limit the authority of any entity to punish or prosecute a person for a violation of any law or regulation or to prevent any person from alerting an animal control officer or law-enforcement officer regarding the condition or treatment of any animal.

2020, c. 1284.

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