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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 594
January Session, 2019
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF CERTAIN CONTRACTS FOR THE
SALE OR LEASE OF CAT S AND DOGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Any contract entered 1
into on or after October 1, 2019, that is described in subdivision (1) or 2
(2) of this subsection shall be deemed void: (1) A contract to transfer 3
ownership of a dog or cat that is contingent upon the making of 4
payments over a period of time by one party subsequent to the transfer 5
of possession of such dog or cat to such party, and (2) any contract for 6
the lease of a dog or cat that provides for or offers the option of the 7
transfer of ownership of such dog or cat at the end of such lease. The 8
provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not be deemed to 9
apply to any payment to repay an unsecured loan for the purchase of 10
any dog or cat. 11
(b) In addition to any other remedy provided under state or federal 12
law, any person who takes possession of a dog or cat that is transferred 13
pursuant to a contract described in subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection 14
(a) of this section shall be deemed the owner of such dog or cat and 15
shall be entitled to the return of all amounts said person paid pursuant 16
to such contract. 17
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to 18 Substitute Bill No. 594
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any lease or rental of any of the following animals provided such 19
animal is used in accordance with any applicable provision of federal 20
or state law or any municipal ordinance: (1) Any purebred dog that is 21
rented for the purpose of breeding, pursuant to a written lease, when 22
such lease is recorded with a national purebred dog registry and such 23
lease is for a specific period of time and contains an end date for such 24
lease, (2) any animal used in a spectator event, show, exhibition, 25
motion picture, audiovisual media, including, but not limited to, any 26
animal exhibition, any racing event, any field trial, polo or any rodeo, 27
or (3) any working animal that is trained or utilized to perform tasks, 28
including, but not limited to, guide dogs, security dogs, law 29
enforcement dogs and any assistance animal. 30
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.