Last week, a bill was filed in the New Jersey Assembly that seeks to regulate “residential kennels”. Assembly Bill 4920 would define residential kennel as a “residential property owned or rented by a person on or at which the person keeps, houses, or otherwise possesses 15 to 25 dogs.” It would impose numerous requirements on residential kennels, including municipal licensing and inspection requirements, commercial kennel operation standards, and onerous recordkeeping requirements. The American Kennel Club (AKC) is deeply concerned with A.4920’s impact on breeders, and strongly encourages New Jersey residents to contact the bill sponsor, Assemblymember Herb Conaway, and members of the Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee, to express opposition to the bill.
A detailed analysis of the bill is available here.
REASONS A.4920 SHOULD BE OPPOSED AS INTRODUCED:
- It would require commercial facility construction standards to be incorporated into private residential properties.
- It would subject private residential properties to inspections, raising the risk of invasions of privacy.
- It allows for inspections upon complaints being received, without requiring substantiation of complaint, raising the risk of complaint-driven harassment.
- It could effectively lead to elimination of “residential kennels” in municipalities that choose not to issue licenses.
- It would allow each municipality to create its own additional care and conditions requirements for licensees, which would result in a confusing patchwork of differing laws throughout the state.
- It would impose burdensome and tedious recordkeeping requirements for licensees.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
New Jersey residents are strongly encouraged to contact A.4920’s sponsor, Assemblymember Herb Conaway, and members of the Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee, to express opposition to A.4920.
Sponsor:
Assemblymember Herb Conaway, Jr. M.D. – (856) 461-3997, AsmConaway@njleg.org
Assembly Agriculture and Food Safety Committee:
Assemblymember Roy Freiman, Chair – (908) 829-4191, AsmFreiman@njleg.org
Assemblymember William W. Spearman, Vice-Chair – (856) 547-4800, AsmSpearman@njleg.org
Assemblymember Joe Danielsen – (732) 247-3999, AsmDanielsen@njleg.org
Assemblymember Alex Sauickie – (609) 758-0205, AsmSauickie@njleg.org
Assemblymember Parker Space – (908) 300-0200, AsmSpace@njleg.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact AKC Government Relations at doglaw@akc.org.