February 11, 2019
The Washington Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Washington House Committee on Consumer Protection and Business will hold hearings on identical bills on Tuesday, Feb. 12.
Senate Bill 5209 and House Bill 1640 will prohibit retail pet stores from selling dogs or cats, unless those animals were obtained from an animal care and control agency or animal rescue group. Both bills also require all animals be spayed or neutered before being sold and create certain recordkeeping, display and marketing requirements.
Please see the previous alert on HB 1640 for talking points against this restrictive legislation. As SB 5209 is identical legislation, these talking points are also on point for the Senate version of the House bill:
For additional talking points, read AKC’s position statement on Pet Choice, and the article Why Pet Shop Laws Affect You
What You Can Do:
Contact the following Representatives and Senators and ask them to not support House Bill 1640 and Senate Bill 5209. When contacting them, be sure to mention if you are a Washington resident or have purchased an animal in the state.
- Contact the members of the Washington House Committee on Consumer Protection & Business (click on their name for email, phone number and social media contact information):
Committee Chair Steve Kirby
Committee Vice Chair Kristine Reeves
Ranking Minority Member Brandon Vick
Assistant Ranking Minority Member Larry Hoff
Committee Member Andrew Barkis
Committee Member Brian Blake
Committee Member Jeremie Dufault
Committee Member Cindy Ryu
Committee Member Sharon Tomiko Santos
Committee Member Derek Stanford
Committee Member Mike Volz
Committee Member Amy Walen
Committee Member Alex Ybarra - Contact the members of the Washington Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce (click on their name for email, phone number and social media contact information):
Chair Karen Keiser
Vice Chair Steve Conway
Committee Member John Braun
Committee Member Curtis King
Committee Member Rebecca Saldana
Committee Member Maureen Walsh
Committee Member Lisa Wellman
AKC Government Relations continues to closely monitor this bill. For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.