
Advocacy
CalAnimals recognizes that playing an active role in Sacramento is a vital part of ensuring the welfare of California's animals and the communities we serve. Since 2009, we have retained a professional legislative advocate who works on behalf of our members to ensure that we have a voice in legislation affecting animal shelters as well as our state's animals, whether stray, homeless, or abused animals.
In addition to sponsoring legislation creating substantive protections for animals, such as bills that banned the roadside sales of animals, established minimum standards for pet boarding facilities, placed restrictions on the ability of flea markets to allow sales of animals, and established a voluntary tax checkoff to benefit homeless and abused animals, CalAnimals actively supports sensible animal-related legislation. In addition, CalAnimals works with sponsors and legislators to improve animal-related bills and actively opposes bills that are not in the best interests of California's animals and the communities we serve.
To learn more about legislative priorities and challenges we are currently facing in this state, please read this letter.
2023 Pending Legislation
Small Title
AB 332 Rabies Control Data
SUPPORT
Existing law requires the governing body of each city, city and county, or county to maintain or provide for the maintenance of an animal shelter system and a rabies control program. This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to collect certain rabies control program data from each city, city and county, or county, as outlined. By increasing the data collected from each city, city and county, and county, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
Small Title
AB 554 Corporations for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Enforcement of Laws
This bill would authorize a corporation, or humane officer thereof, proffering a complaint under existing law to bring it as a civil action to obtain specific or injunctive relief to enforce laws relating to or affecting animals. This bill contains other related provisions.
Small Title
AB 595 Animal Shelters: 72 Hour Public Notice: Euthanasia: Study
OPPOSE
This bill would require all animal shelters, as defined, to provide public notice on their internet website at least 72 hours before euthanizing an adoptable dog or cat, as defined, and include the date that an adoptable dog or cat is scheduled to be euthanized, as provided. By creating new requirements regarding this public notice, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program.
Small Title
AB 781 Emergency Shelters: Persons with Pets
SUPPORT
The bill would require a city that has previously adopted an emergency plan designating emergency shelters to update its emergency plan to designate emergency shelters able to accommodate persons with pets on or before July 1, 2024. The bill would require an emergency shelter designated as able to accommodate persons with pets to be in compliance with safety procedures regarding the sheltering of pets established in the component of the state and local emergency plan and applicable disaster assistance policies and procedures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This bill would require that whenever a city or county designates an emergency shelter, cooling center, or warming center that it also designate an emergency shelter, cooling center, or warming center, as applicable, that can accommodate persons with pets.
Small Title
AB 829 Crime: Animal Abuse
SUPPORT
This bill would delete the requirement that a defendant granted probation complete counseling and would, instead, require the court to order a defendant convicted of specified offenses, including the above-described offense, against animals and granted probation to successfully complete counseling designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct disorders.
Small Title
AB 1215 Grants: Homeless Shelters: Domestic Violence Shelters: Pets
SUPPORT
This bill would require the department to develop and administer the Pets Assistance With Support Grant Program (PAWS), to award grants to qualified homeless shelters and qualified domestic violence shelters, as defined. The bill would require grant recipients to meet certain availability and service requirements as they relate to the pets of people experiencing homelessness and people escaping domestic violence. The bill would provide that the program would only become operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.
Small Title
AB 1237 Veterinary Debt Relief Program
SUPPORT
This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the California Public Interest Veterinary Debt Relief Program under the administration of the commission to award funds to California-licensed veterinarians, in relief of their educational loan debt, as defined, who enter into a contract with the commission to provide veterinary services in eligible premises settings, as defined, on a full-time basis, as specified. The bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the California Public Interest Veterinary Debt Relief Program Fund as the initial depository of all moneys appropriated, donated, or otherwise received for the program and would require the commission to disburse moneys in the fund for purposes of the program, as provided.
Small Title
AB 1399 Veterinary Telemedicine
SUPPORT
This bill would authorize a licensee to practice veterinary telemedicine, as defined. The bill would require a veterinarian who practices veterinary telemedicine, among other things, to employ sound professional judgment to determine whether using veterinary telemedicine is an appropriate method for delivering medical advice or treatment to the patient, provide quality of care consistent with prevailing veterinary medical practice, and be able to refer the client to a veterinarian who may be able to see the patient in person upon the request of the client. The bill would also define the term “client” for purposes of the act and make other conforming changes.
Small Title
AB 1518 Service Dogs
This bill would require the department, in consultation with service dog schools and advocacy organizations, to conduct a statewide educational campaign concerning the problems faced by qualified service dog users, subject to appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose. The bill would authorize the department to solicit donations from private sources, including service dog schools, to support this campaign.
Small Title
SB 371 Undomesticated Burros
SUPPORT
This bill would also authorize a nonprofit that contracts with a county to provide services to undomesticated burros to remove an undomesticated burro that strays onto private land, to remove an undomesticated burro that strays onto a public roadway, and to provide medical care or treatment to an undomesticated burro that is seriously ill or injured, as provided.
Small Title
SB 669 Veterinary Client Patient Relationships
This bill would authorize a veterinarian, for the purpose of permitting a registered veterinary technician to administer to an animal patient preventive or prophylactic vaccines or medications for the control or eradication of an apparent or anticipated internal or external parasite, to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship by satisfying other specified criteria.
Legislation Passed
in 2022
Updated (12/28/2022)
Small Title
AB 1648 Disaster Preparedness: Animal Evacuation Plans
This bill requires a city or county that requires a kennel license or permit to operate a kennel within its jurisdiction, to require, as a condition for obtaining the kennel license or permit, that the kennel owner create and submit to the city or county an animal natural disaster evacuation plan for any kennel covered by the license or permit.
Small Title
SB 1029 One Health Program: zoonotic diseases
This bill requires the State Department of Public Health, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to jointly establish and administer the One Health Program for the purpose of developing a framework for interagency coordination in responding to zoonotic diseases and reducing hazards to human and nonhuman animal health, in accordance with the One Health principles set forth by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Small Title
SB 971 Low Income Housing-Household Pets
This bill requires any housing development that is financed on or after January 1, 2023, pursuant to the act or by any moneys administered or otherwise provided by the department, or that is the basis for the receipt, on or after January 1, 2023, of any low-income housing tax credit, as described, to authorize a resident of the housing development to own or otherwise maintain one or more common household pets, as defined, within the resident’s dwelling unit, subject to applicable state laws and local government ordinances related to public health, animal control, and animal anticruelty and other reasonable conditions, as defined. The bill would, among other things, prohibit the imposition of a monthly fee for the ownership or maintenance of a common household pet in these housing developments. This bill contains other existing laws.
Small Title
AB 1781 Safe Transportation of Dogs & Cats
This bill requires the conditions in a mobile or traveling housing facility, as defined, for dogs and cats to not endanger the health or well-being of an animal due to heat, cold, lack of adequate ventilation, lack of food or water, or other circumstances that could reasonably be expected to cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal. The bill applies to public and private organizations, including animal shelters, rescue groups, and humane society shelters.
Small Title
AB 2723 Animals: Microchips: Theft
This bill requires that the owner or new owner of the dog or cat to be registered with the microchip registry company as the primary owner of the dog or cat. The bill prohibits the agency, shelter, or group from being listed as the primary owner of the dog or cat beginning 90 days after the dog or cat has been released to the owner or adopted, sold, or given away to a new owner. This bill requires a 2 year retention of records of all efforts made to contact the animal’s “demonstrated owner.”