Kansas to Consider New Pet Animal Inspection Division on Thursday, March 17

Kansas Senate Bill 551 would establish a new division within the Kansas Department of Agriculture specifically tasked with inspecting pet animal facilities that will include breeders licensed by the state, pet shops, boarding kennels, rescues, distributors, research facilities, and shelters. This division will be known as the Pet Animal Facilities Inspection Division.

SB 551 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources where it has a hearing on Thursday, March 17^th at 8:30am.

Summary:

Kansas has an existing pet animal inspection program that falls under the purview of the Division of Animal Health within the Department of Agriculture.  This includes inspections of both hobby and retail breeders. Hobby breeders are defined in current state law as premises where three, four or five litters and less than 30 dogs may be sold in a license year. A retail breeder premises is defined as premises that sells 6 or more litters and 30 or more dogs in a license year.

SB 551 would require a new division to take over the inspection and administration duties from the Division of Animal Health outlined within the existing Kansas Pet Animal Act.

It would further require the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture to appoint a director to oversee the establishment and administration of the new pet division.

What You Can Do:

The American Kennel Club encourages those impacted by this legislation to submit respectful comments to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that detail your position on SB 551.

Members of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee can be contacted at the information below:

AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) will continue to monitor all legislation related to dogs in Kansas and will continue to provide updates as necessary.  For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.