California enacts Animal Control Standards Act

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Animal control officers have no standard training requirements. Each locality decides what training it wants to provide other than on the job experience. Yet these officers go into private homes to sell licenses. issue citations for animal related violations, investigate animal cruelty, handle dangerous animals and are often in confrontational situations. 

It is in the best interests of the public, our animals and the officers’ safety to provide standardized training and to professionalize the profession as a whole. These officers are not “dog catchers” but rather legitimate law enforcement personnel/public safety officers who should be treated as such.

Governor Newsome has just signed a law, the Animal ControlStandards Act (AB 1125)  which will mandate the creation of standards and training to certify animal control officers. Hopefully, every officer in California will be certified.

Animal control officers are NOT the same as Humane Officers who are sworn, may exercise the powers of peace officers, have mandated extensive training and are not the subject of this legislation.

New DOG BITE DISCLOSURE law - effective January 2020

California Governor, Gavin Newsom, has signed AB 588 into law. The law effectively mandates the disclosure of a dog’s bite history, prior to their being re-homed. The bill goes into effect January 1, 2020.

Despite existing civil and criminal remedies that apply in addressing fraudulent and deceptive practices, such as sanitizing bite histories, or laundering a bite dog through the rescue community, AB 588, requires that an animal shelter -- defined to include a public animal control agency or shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals shelter, humane society shelter, or rescue group, must disclose a dog’s bite history and the circumstances related to the bite and obtain a signed acknowledgment from the person to whom a dog is sold, given away, or transferred.

Rescue groups are defined as a for-profit or not-for-profit entity or a collaboration of individuals that removes dogs from a public animal control agency or shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals shelter, or humane shelter, or re-homes a dog that has been previously owned by any person other than the original breeder of that dog.

The bite history begins at 4 months of age and is a bite that broke a person’s skin.

The public looks to the animal welfare community to be forthright regarding an animals’ history. If we obfuscate, we lose the public’s trust who will then turn elsewhere to adopt a dog. This legislation protects the shelters and the public, and writes into law what has always been the best practice of credible organizations and rescue groups.

Please take this time to create the documentation requirements before the effective date of the law.