D72AE9325CA30D55872583B40075CE39 Hearing Summary

Senator Ginal, bill sponsor, presented Senate Bill 19-158.  The bill continues the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) in the Department of Agriculture (CDA) from September 1, 2019, until September 1, 2026, and implements some of the recommendations of the Department of Regulatory Agencies sunset review of the program. The recommendations contained in the bill include:

• directing forfeited sterilization deposits to the Pet Overpopulation Fund;
• repealing language allowing a shelter or rescue to reclaim an animal that was not sterilized within 90 days;
• authorizing additional staffing for administering PACFA and including an appropriation;
• requiring a principal, major shareholder, member, officer, or anyone in a position of control at a PACFA licensee to wait two years to apply for a new license after a revocation;
• making it a PACFA offense for a licensee to violate any federal, state, or local animal health and fitness law in force where a facility is located;
• including theft, importation, capture, cruelty, neglect, or abuse of animals in any local, state, or federal jurisdiction, in the grounds for discipline;
• authorizing the Commissioner of Agriculture to discipline a licensee or deny a license to an applicant who has entered a plea of no contest for a crime involving animal cruelty; and
• requiring that all civil fine revenue be deposited in the General Fund instead of the Pet Animal Care and Facility Fund.