Sunset Pet Animal Care And Facilities Act

Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act - grounds for discipline - waiting period after license revocation - fines - mandatory sterilization - continuation under sunset law - appropriation. The act implements some of the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the Colorado "Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act" as follows:

• Adds as grounds for discipline, a conviction of a local, state, or federal offense involving the theft, importation, capture, neglect, or abuse of an animal;
• Extends the commissioner of agriculture's authority to discipline a licensee or deny a license to an applicant for crimes involving animal cruelty to cases where a licensee or applicant has entered a plea of no contest;
• Extends the 2-year waiting period that a licensee whose license has been revoked must wait before applying for a new license to a principal, officer, director, manager, or any other person who has substantial control or authority over the daily operations of the entity, regardless of the reason for the revocation; and
• Requires the state treasurer to credit all fines to the general fund.

The act removes the option of an animal shelter or pet animal rescue to release a dog or cat to a prospective owner with a fee and a signed agreement to have the animal sterilized within 90 days after the date of release and prohibits the animal's release unless the animal has been sterilized by a licensed veterinarian. The commissioner of agriculture may grant an exemption to a facility in an area with limited access to licensed veterinarians.

The automatic termination date of the licensing of pet animal facilities by the department of agriculture is extended until September 1, 2026, pursuant to the provisions of the sunset law.

$123,007 is appropriated to the department of agriculture from the general fund to implement the act along with a 1.6 FTE.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)