Local Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Disclose Animal Breeding Facility Data

A bill introduced at the Capitol this week would allow consumers to make a more informed decision if they wanted to buy a dog or cat from an animal breeder.

“We want to make sure that people who bring these sweet animals into their homes have access to information that they have not previously had,” said Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth.

Westlin is chief author in the Senate of the Dog and Cat Data Transparency Bill. Wednesday at the Capitol, she was joined by other state lawmakers — and several pets from the Animal Humane Society — to announce the legislation.

Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL Plymouth, holds a puppy during a news conference on the Dog and Cat Data Transparency Bill.

The bill, SF 3458, would let consumers verify information about an animal’s health, the conditions of the facility where they were raised, the size of the breeding operation and whether that breeder had any violations.

In 2014, the legislature passed a law to provide oversight of large-scale commercial breeding operations, but it restricted access to certain data.

“Due to lobbying efforts by the Minnesota Pet Breeders Association, a last-minute change to the bill made essentially all information on state licensed dog and cat breeders secret,” said Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, who authored the bill in the House. “So as a result, information in the law [that] was designed to collect and share became inaccessible to the general public, and it’s time to make that data public.”

The Dog and Cat Data Transparency Bill received a hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Agriculture, Broadband and Rural Development Committee. 

Related: Animal Humane Society Teaches Kids About Pet Body Language

Golden Valley | Plymouth