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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6240
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF ANIMALS
SOLD AT PET STORES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 22-354 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2025): 3
(b) Any dog sold or offered for sale by a pet shop licensee in this state 4
shall be accompanied by a certificate of origin identifying the name and 5
address of the person, firm or corporation that bred such dog and of any 6
person, firm or corporation that sold such dog to such pet shop licensee. 7
Such certificate shall be in a form as prescribed by the Commissioner of 8
Agriculture. Such information contained in the certificate of origin shall 9
be posted on the sign described in section 22-344d and such information 10
shall be visible to customers. A copy of such certificate shall be provided 11
to the purchaser of such dog at the time of sale and shall be filed by such 12
licensee with the Department of Agriculture not later than seven days 13
after such sale. No pet shop licensee shall purchase a dog or cat for resale 14
or sell or offer for sale any dog or cat purchased from: (1) Any breeder 15
that (A) is not in possession of a current license issued by the United 16
States Department of Agriculture and any applicable state agency, (B) 17
was found to have committed a direct violation of pet dealer-related 18
regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture during the 19
[two-year] three-year period prior to such purchase, or (C) was found to 20
have committed three or more indirect violations of pet dealer-related 21 Substitute Bill No. 6240
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regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture during the 22
[two-year] three-year period prior to such purchase provided such 23
violations pertained to the health or welfare of an animal and were not 24
administrative in nature; or (2) any other person, firm or corporation 25
that: (A) Is not in possession of a current license issued by the United 26
States Department of Agriculture and any applicable state agency, (B) 27
was found to have committed a direct violation of pet dealer-related 28
regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture during the 29
[two-year] three-year period prior to such purchase, (C) was found to 30
have committed three or more indirect violations of pet dealer-related 31
regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture during the 32
[two-year] three-year period prior to such purchase provided such 33
violations pertained to the health or welfare of an animal and were not 34
administrative in nature, or (D) directly or indirectly, has obtained such 35
dog or cat from a breeder described in subdivision (1) of this subsection. 36
Any pet shop licensee violating the provisions of this subsection shall 37
be fined not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. Each 38
day a pet shop licensee is in violation of this subsection shall constitute 39
a separate offense. Not later than February first of each year, the 40
Commissioner of Agriculture shall submit a report to the joint standing 41
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 42
relating to the environment, in accordance with section 11-4a, that 43
indicates (i) the place of origin of all animals sold by pet shop licensees 44
for the previous calendar year, as determined by the certificates filed by 45
such licensees pursuant to this subsection, and (ii) the number of 46
violations of the provisions of this subsection that the Department of 47
Agriculture issued for the previous calendar year and the nature of each 48
such violation. 49
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 22-354(b)
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.