- Animal Welfare organizations will be regulated under similar rules to petshops
- State vets must examine all pets imported within 48hrs
- Certificates of health signed by a State vet must be profided to adopters
- Legislation intended to eliminate surprises for new pet families
The evolution of the animal-adoption business has created horror stories about high fees and sick dogs passed on to new owners. From that problem, and a groundswell of concern among area veterinarians and state officials, a new law has emerged.
The legislation that will regulate people and entities that import dogs and other animals to Connecticut for adoption was recently signed by Gov. Dannell Malloy. It will become law Oct. 1. House Bill 5368, “An Act Extending Certain Pet Shop Licensee Requirements to Persons and Organizations That Import Animals for Adoption,” will make several changes affecting animal importers.
“The law now requires organizations involved in dog importation to register prior to bringing the dog into Connecticut, and have a Connecticut-licensed veterinarian
examine the animal shortly after they get [in] and before they transfer,” said Dr. Gayle Block, a veterinarian at Town and Country Veterinary Associates in Vernon and president of the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA).
Dr. Block said the new law will ensure that families adopting animals will not face any surprises. The bill requires animal importers to register with the agriculture commissioner, have the imported animals examined by a state-licensed veterinarian and notify the Department of Agriculture and local zoning officials before offering the animals for sale, adoption, or transfer. The bill establishes various fines for violations of its provisions.
It requires that a veterinarian examine a cat or dog within 48 hours of the animal being imported and within 15 days before the sale, adoption or transfer of the animal, and authorizes the agriculture commissioner to inspect imported animals and animal importers’ records.
“People that do rescue the proper way are not going to be affected,” said Dr. Block, who also sits on the advisory board of the Animal Population Control Program, which was implemented in 1995 to provide vaccination and sterilization benefits for un-sterilized dogs and cast adopted from a municipal impound facility in Connecticut, according to the Web site at www.ct.gov.
Dr. Block said this law prohibits illegitimate groups from importing puppy-mill puppies under the guise of acting as Humane Society-type organizations.
“I think it’s wonderful to get animals from shelters. Municipal pounds are the most wonderful place to go. I am huge promoter of neutering and spaying,” said Dr. Block. “We’re hoping that this adds some control to the situation.”
“We’ve seen some really terrific animals, the people from down south are doing the temperament testing, I think they do a good job,” said Dr. Sandefer of the Sand Road Animal Hospital in Falls Village. “There is a completely different thought pattern from south to north about getting animals spayed and neutered.”
Dr. Block said that whenever there is money involved, the best decisions aren’t always made.
According to Stephen Eaton, supervising accounts examiner for the Department of Consumer Protection’s Public Charity Division, some animal-rescue charitable organizations are registered with the state Department of Consumer Protection.
“If they charge a fee for adopting animals and they make a representation [that] part of the fee allows them to do the work they are doing, that is considered a charitable solicitation. Because of that they would have to be on file with the Department of Consumer Protection,” said Mr. Eaton.
He added that some small groups can claim an exemption from the solicitation rule, and those groups only have to provide basic information.
Dr. Robert Belden, a veterinarian from the New Milford Animal Hospital, endorsed the effort to help protect “good Samaritans” who are adopting pets.
“The whole idea here is to make these people more responsible transporting these animals. We don’t want to reduce the healthy pets coming up,” he said, adding, “We have no control of any of their policies in other states. All we can do is raise the bar here in Connecticut and improve the health status of these animals.”
Dr. Belden said the while the new law will protect consumers, another primary goal is to help improve the health of the imported animals.
“There are contagious diseases from animals that are being brought here that are dangerous to the consumer,” said Dr. Belden, who was part of the government affairs committee that helped shape the forming of the bill.
Ray Connors, supervisor of the State Animal Control Division of the Department of Agriculture, said the bill originated from Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association, and the department has been receiving complaints from people purchasing dogs from out of state agencies that carrying horrible diseases.
“It puts a financial burden on the family; what this law does [is] it gives the Department of Agriculture the tools needed to stop the importation of sick dogs into the state of Connecticut,” said Mr. Connors.
While he said many groups importing animals for adoption are legitimate, other groups an individuals are simply trying to make money while cloaked in the guise of a humane group.
The going rate to adopt an animal from some of these groups reaches $600, along with the payment of the transport.
“We have no idea the number of dogs coming into the state right now. Hopefully this will allow us to get a handle on the number of animals being brought into the state,” said Mr. Connors.
Dr. Arnold Goldman, of Canton Animal Hospital in Canton, was one of 20 veterinarians on the board of directors for the CVMA and said that board members came to realize that they were all seeing clients who had new animals from out of state—and a large proportion of these animals had illnesses.
Dr. Goldman called the rescue phenomenon a “Wild West show,” explaining that trucks come from the South to commuter lots in certain towns early in the morning, where these animals were being transferred to those adopting them.
“There is no legal framework the Department of Agriculture to make anyone responsible for the transport. They are bringing 20,000 animals a year in,” said Dr. Goldman. “I do think Connecticut -sourced animals should be adopted first.”
‘We have no idea the number of dogs coming into the state right now.’
—Ray Connors, State Animal Control Division
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