Virginia to regulate how pet shops care for dogs and cats

Nancy Guinn, president of Dog Krazy Inc., a pet store in Richmond, said: “While it’s encouraging to see some steps being taken to regulate the sale of dogs and cats, including registration fees, inspections , and primary care standards, I can’t help but feel it’s barely enough. To me, the issue runs much deeper than just setting minimal standards of care.

“Seeing the conditions in which animals are kept in some pet stores and knowing about the origins of these animals, often from puppy mills, is heartbreaking,” he said.

“The thought of puppies and kittens being treated as mere commodities, raised in conditions that lack compassion, health care, and proper socialization, is deeply troubling. This is a systemic issue that is barely touched by a $250 fee and basic care standards,” he added.

The law sponsored by state Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, in 2020 directed the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs to hire two State Animal Welfare Inspectors. It also directed the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop regulations for pet shops.

The new regulations state that pet stores must be kept clean and dry and provide enclosures that safely house dogs and cats and separate animals of different sexes, ages and attitude Those enclosures need to be ventilated and kept at a comfortable temperature and animals cannot be inside them while they are being cleaned.

Water should be in bowls that cannot tip over, animals should be fed properly, with food utensils and bowls cleaned after each feeding. Animals should have regular exercise and adequate space. Pet stores cannot employ anyone convicted of animal cruelty.

While the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies does not support the sale of companion animals in pet shops, “these regulations provide at least some protections for those animals and the public,” Sue said. Bell, executive director of Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Arlington County.

State law requires animal shelters to follow higher standards than the pet shop proposal and Bell said pet shops should be subject to the same rules.

“Virginia continues to lag behind other states with more progressive and common laws to protect animals, including those in pet stores,” he said. “Given the incredibly challenging state of animal welfare today, it’s past time Virginia took action to stop pet owners from making a living off the backs of animals while our shelters struggle every day to save lives.”

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services estimates that there are about 20 pet shops in Virginia that sell dogs and cats.

That doesn’t include pet stores that keep dogs and cats to facilitate adoptions on behalf of shelters, as most national pet store chains do. Local animal control officers are responsible for inspecting stores that keep dogs and cats up for adoption. The new regulation applies only to private for-profit pet shops that sell dogs and cats.

The new regulations state that pet stores cannot sell dogs and cats to any laboratory or research facility that conducts scientific tests, experiments, or investigations on live animals.

The rescue of about 4,000 beagles from the Envigo research and breeding facility in Cumberland County in 2022, after state inspectors found dozens of violations of Virginia’s animal welfare laws, prompted a series of bills aimed at tightening oversight of how companion animals are treated.

This year, for example, the General Assembly passed:

* Senate Bill 11, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, where people convicted of animal cruelty could be banned from owning pets or horses for life

* Senate Bill 93, sponsored by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, where localities can post lists of people convicted of felony animal abuse

* House Bill 62, sponsored by Del. Ellen Campbell, R-Rockbridge, in which the State Police will create and publish a list of people convicted of animal cruelty

* House Bill 330, sponsored by Del. Bobby Orrock, R-Spotsylvania, where pet shops that finance purchases of dogs or cats must comply with federal and state lending laws

* Senate Bill 412, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, where veterinarians must keep vaccination records and rabies clinics will be allowed to offer microchipping of pets

* House Bill 580, sponsored by Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, said the state should form a task force to identify problems with publicly funded animal testing facilities.

The General Assembly has moved forward for consideration next year House Bill 206, sponsored by Simonds, which would require pet stores to tell the state veterinarian when dogs or cats in their possession aari died on Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Stanley, which would have established a fund to reimburse veterinarians for the sterilization of cats and dogs.