New Jersey Senate Bill 63 has been placed on the agenda for a vote tomorrow, Thursday, June 30, in the New Jersey State Senate.
It is imperative that all New Jersey fanciers, enthusiasts, breeders, and owners contact their state senator and Senate President Steve Sweeney and request SB 63 not be voted on Thursday; and further request the bill be amended to address the concerns as outlined below.
Click here to read details on the amended version of SB 63.
Click here to read the current version of SB 63.
AKC’S CONTINUED OBJECTIONS TO SB 63: As currently worded, several important issues remain that must be addressed if SB 63 is to become law.
- The definition of “pet dealer” remains overly broad and vague. This definition is important because those who are considered pet dealers are subject to significant licensing, operational, regulatory, and recordkeeping requirements. We strongly encourage the definition of pet dealer to be amended for clarity to ensure that unintended parties are not included.
- The bill continues to contain more than two pages of “findings” that that assail the reputations of dog breeders with broadly-discredited conjecture, questionable statistics and out-of-date USDA information. The use of such biased and discredited information undermines responsible owner-breeders and will likely serve as the justification for additional regressive legislation that will earn New Jersey the title of most unfriendly state to dog owners. The AKC believes New Jersey can do better than using biased, discredited and misleading anti-breeder language in state statute—and continues to strongly urge its removal.
TAKE ACTION NOW! New Jersey fanciers, enthusiasts, breeders, and owners are strongly encouraged to contact Senate President Steve Sweeney and their state senator and request SB 63 not be voted until the bill’s language has been clarified and stakeholders have had ample opportunity to understand the implications of the amended bill and express concerns to their elected representatives.
Email for Senate President Steve Sweeney – SenSweeney@njleg.org
AKC will continue to provide updates on SB 63 as developments warrant. For more information on the status of and problems with SB 63, contact AKC’s Government Relations Department at (919) 816-3720, or email doglaw@akc.org.
New Jersey Senate Bill 63 has been placed on the agenda for a vote tomorrow, Thursday, June 30, in the New Jersey State Senate.