Woofie's

This handsome sweet boy found in Ashbrook. Please let me know if he's yours!

Thank you so much for fighting Woofys. I was so confused and thought y'all were franchising in Chantilly or opening a store. Was anyone else as confused as I was?

I thought you may be interested in this Bill that Senator David Marsden wrote on February 11, 2020. It relates to the situation with that terrible pet store!!! 2020 SESSION AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources on February 4, 2020) (Patron Prior to Substitute––Senator Marsden) Senate Amendments in [ ] - February 11, 2020 A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6500 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 3.2-5901.1 and 3.2-6501.1, relating to keeping of dogs, cats, and rabbits; State Animal Welfare Inspector; regulations. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That § 3.2-6500 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 3.2-5901.1 and 3.2-6501.1 as follows: § 3.2-5901.1. State Animal Welfare Inspector. The Commissioner shall employ and direct at least two licensed veterinary technicians, each of whom shall be known as the State Animal Welfare Inspector (the Inspector) and shall have the duty to carry out the tasks assigned to him pursuant to Chapter 65 (§ 3.2-6500 et seq.). The Inspector shall have the power to carry out the laws of the Commonwealth and the regulations of the Board and the Commissioner. § 3.2-6500. Definitions. As used in this chapter unless the context requires a different meaning: "Abandon" means to desert, forsake, or absolutely give up an animal without having secured another owner or custodian for the animal or by failing to provide the elements of basic care as set forth in § 3.2-6503 for a period of four consecutive days. "Adequate care" or "care" means the responsible practice of good animal husbandry, handling, production, management, confinement, feeding, watering, protection, shelter, transportation, treatment, and, when necessary, euthanasia, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of the animal and the provision of veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering or impairment of health. "Adequate exercise" or "exercise" means the opportunity for the animal to move sufficiently to maintain normal muscle tone and mass for the age, species, size, and condition of the animal. "Adequate feed" means access to and the provision of food that is of sufficient quantity and nutritive value to maintain each animal in good health; is accessible to each animal; is prepared so as to permit ease of consumption for the age, species, condition, size and type of each animal; is provided in a clean and sanitary manner; is placed so as to minimize contamination by excrement and pests; and is provided at suitable intervals for the species, age, and condition of the animal, but at least once daily, except as prescribed by a veterinarian or as dictated by naturally occurring states of hibernation or fasting normal for the species. "Adequate shelter" means provision of and access to shelter that is suitable for the species, age, condition, size, and type of each animal; provides adequate space for each animal; is safe and protects each animal from injury, rain, sleet, snow, hail, direct sunlight, the adverse effects of heat or cold, physical suffering, and impairment of health; is properly lighted; is properly cleaned; enables each animal to be clean and dry, except when detrimental to the species; during hot weather, is properly shaded and does not readily conduct heat; during cold weather, has a windbreak at its entrance and provides a quantity of bedding material consisting of straw, cedar shavings, or the equivalent that is sufficient to protect the animal from cold and promote the retention of body heat; and, for dogs and cats, provides a solid surface, resting platform, pad, floormat, or similar device that is large enough for the animal to lie on in a normal manner and can be maintained in a sanitary manner. Under this chapter, shelters whose wire, grid, or slat floors (i) permit the animals' feet to pass through the openings, (ii) sag under the animals' weight, or (iii) otherwise do not protect the animals' feet or toes from injury are not adequate shelter. "Adequate space" means sufficient space to allow each animal to (i) easily stand, sit, lie, turn about, and make all other normal body movements in a comfortable, normal position for the animal and (ii) interact safely with other animals in the enclosure. When an animal is tethered, "adequate space" means that the tether to which the animal is attached permits the above actions and is appropriate to the age and size of the animal; is attached to the animal by a properly applied collar, halter, or harness that is configured so as to protect the animal from injury and prevent the animal or tether from becoming entangled with other objects or animals, or from extending over an object or edge that could result in the strangulation or injury of the animal; is at least ten feet in length or three times the length of the animal, as measured from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail, whichever is greater, except when the ENGROSSED ENGROSSED SB891ES1 2/26/20 14:7 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 animal is being walked on a leash or is attached by a tether to a lead line; does not, by its material, size, or weight or any other characteristic, cause injury or pain to the animal; does not weigh more than one-tenth of the animal's body weight; and does not have weights or other heavy objects attached to it. The walking of an animal on a leash by its owner shall not constitute the tethering of the animal for the purpose of this definition. When freedom of movement would endanger the animal, temporarily and appropriately restricting movement of the animal according to professionally accepted standards for the species is considered provision of adequate space. The provisions of this definition that relate to tethering shall not apply to agricultural animals. "Adequate water" means provision of and access to clean, fresh, potable water of a drinkable temperature that is provided in a suitable manner, in sufficient volume, and at suitable intervals appropriate for the weather and temperature, to maintain normal hydration for the age, species, condition, size and type of each animal, except as prescribed by a veterinarian or as dictated by naturally occurring states of hibernation or fasting normal for the species; and is provided in clean, durable receptacles that are accessible to each animal and are placed so as to minimize contamination of the water by excrement and pests or an alternative source of hydration consistent with generally accepted husbandry practices. "Adoption" means the transfer of ownership of a dog or a cat, or any other companion animal, from a releasing agency to an individual. "Agricultural animals" means all livestock and poultry. "Ambient temperature" means the temperature surrounding the animal. "Animal" means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. For the purposes of § 3.2-6522, animal means any species susceptible to rabies. For the purposes of § 3.2-6570, animal means any nonhuman vertebrate species including fish except those fish captured and killed or disposed of in a reasonable and customary manner. "Animal control officer" means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § 3.2-6555. "Boarding establishment" means a place or establishment other than a public or private animal shelter where companion animals not owned by the proprietor are sheltered, fed, and watered in exchange for a fee. "Boarding establishment" shall not include any private residential dwelling that shelters, feeds, and waters fewer than five companion animals not owned by the proprietor. "Collar" means a well-fitted device, appropriate to the age and size of the animal, attached to the animal's neck in such a way as to prevent trauma or injury to the animal. "Commercial dog breeder" means any person who, during any 12-month period, maintains 30 or more adult female dogs for the primary purpose of the sale of their offspring as companion animals. "Companion animal" means any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. Agricultural animals No agricultural animal, game species, or any animals animal regulated under federal law as a research animals animal shall not be considered a companion animals animal for the purposes of this chapter. "Consumer" means any natural person purchasing an animal from a dealer or pet shop or hiring the services of a boarding establishment. The term "consumer" shall not include a business or corporation engaged in sales or services. "Dealer" means any person who in the regular course of business for compensation or profit buys, sells, transfers, exchanges, or barters companion animals. The following shall not be considered dealers: (i) any person who transports companion animals in the regular course of business as a common carrier or (ii) any person whose primary purpose is to find permanent adoptive homes for companion animals. "Direct and immediate threat" means any clear and imminent danger to an animal's health, safety or life. "Dump" means to knowingly desert, forsake, or absolutely give up without having secured another owner or custodian any dog, cat, or other companion animal in any public place including the right-of-way of any public highway, road or street or on the property of another. "Emergency veterinary treatment" means veterinary treatment to stabilize a life-threatening condition, alleviate suffering, prevent further disease transmission, or prevent further disease progression. "Enclosure" means a structure used to house or restrict animals from running at large. "Euthanasia" means the humane destruction of an animal accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that involves anesthesia, produced by an agent that causes painless loss of consciousness, and death during such loss of consciousness. "Exhibitor" means any person who has animals for or on public display, excluding an exhibitor licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Facility" means a building or portion thereof as designated by the State Veterinarian, other than a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, that is used to contain a primary enclosure or SB891ES1 2 of 5 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 enclosures in which animals are housed or kept. "Farming activity" means, consistent with standard animal husbandry practices, the raising, management, and use of agricultural animals to provide food, fiber, or transportation and the breeding, exhibition, lawful recreational use, marketing, transportation, and slaughter of agricultural animals pursuant to such purposes. "Foster care provider" means a person who provides care or rehabilitation for companion animals through an affiliation with a public or private animal shelter, home-based rescue, releasing agency, or other animal welfare organization. "Foster home" means a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds, or any facility other than a public or private animal shelter, at which site through an affiliation with a public or private animal shelter, home-based rescue, releasing agency, or other animal welfare organization care or rehabilitation is provided for companion animals. "Groomer" means any person who, for a fee, cleans, trims, brushes, makes neat, manicures, or treats for external parasites any animal. "Home-based rescue" means an animal welfare organization that takes custody of companion animals for the purpose of facilitating adoption and houses such companion animals in a foster home or a system of foster homes. "Humane" means any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animal's health and well-being. "Humane investigator" means a person who has been appointed by a circuit court as a humane investigator as provided in § 3.2-6558. "Humane society" means any incorporated, nonprofit organization that is organized for the purposes of preventing cruelty to animals and promoting humane care and treatment or adoptions of animals. "Incorporated" means organized and maintained as a legal entity in the Commonwealth. "Inspector" means a State Animal Welfare Inspector employed pursuant to § 3.2-5901.1 or his representative. "Kennel" means any establishment in which five or more canines, felines, or hybrids of either are kept for the purpose of breeding, hunting, training, renting, buying, boarding, selling, or showing. "Law-enforcement officer" means any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office that is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth. Part-time employees are compensated officers who are not full-time employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff's office. "Livestock" includes all domestic or domesticated: bovine animals; equine animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae animals; animals of the genus Lama or Vicugna; ratites; fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in § 3.2-2600; enclosed domesticated rabbits or hares raised for human food or fiber; or any other individual animal specifically raised for food or fiber, except companion animals. "New owner" means an individual who is legally competent to enter into a binding agreement pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § 3.2-6574, and who adopts or receives a dog or cat from a releasing agency. "Ordinance" means any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of any locality. "Other officer" includes all other persons employed or elected by the people of Virginia, or by any locality, whose duty it is to preserve the peace, to make arrests, or to enforce the law. "Owner" means any person who: (i) has a right of property in an animal; (ii) keeps or harbors an animal; (iii) has an animal in his care; or (iv) acts as a custodian of an animal. "Pet shop" means a retail establishment where companion animals are bought, sold, exchanged, or offered for sale or exchange to the general public. "Poultry" includes all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity. "Primary enclosure" means any structure used to immediately restrict an animal or animals to a limited amount of space, such as a room, pen, cage, compartment, or hutch. For tethered animals, the term includes the shelter and the area within reach of the tether. "Private animal shelter" means a facility operated for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals that is used to house or contain animals and that is owned or operated by an incorporated, nonprofit, and nongovernmental entity, including a humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or any other similar organization. "Properly cleaned" means that carcasses, debris, food waste, and excrement are removed from the primary enclosure with sufficient frequency to minimize the animals' contact with the above-mentioned contaminants; the primary enclosure is sanitized with sufficient frequency to minimize odors and the 3 of 5 ENGROSSED SB891ES1 SB891ES1 4 of 5 183 hazards of disease; and the primary enclosure is cleaned so as to prevent the animals confined therein 184 from being directly or indirectly sprayed with the stream of water, or directly or indirectly exposed to 185 hazardous chemicals or disinfectants. 186 "Properly lighted" when referring to a facility means sufficient illumination to permit routine 187 inspections, maintenance, cleaning, and housekeeping of the facility, and observation of the animals; to 188 provide regular diurnal lighting cycles of either natural or artificial light, uniformly diffused throughout 189 the facility; and to promote the well-being of the animals. 190 "Properly lighted" when referring to a private residential dwelling and its surrounding grounds means 191 sufficient illumination to permit routine maintenance and cleaning thereof, and observation of the 192 companion animals; and to provide regular diurnal lighting cycles of either natural or artificial light to 193 promote the well-being of the animals. 194 "Public animal shelter" means a facility operated by the Commonwealth, or any locality, for the 195 purpose of impounding or sheltering seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, unwanted, or surrendered 196 animals or a facility operated for the same purpose under a contract with any locality. 197 "Releasing agency" means (i) a public animal shelter or (ii) a private animal shelter, humane society, 198 animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other similar entity or 199 home-based rescue that releases companion animals for adoption. 200 "Research facility" means any place, laboratory, or institution licensed by the U.S. Department of 201 Agriculture at which scientific tests, experiments, or investigations involving the use of living animals 202 are carried out, conducted, or attempted. 203 "Sanitize" means to make physically clean and to remove and destroy, to a practical minimum, 204 agents injurious to health. 205 "Sore" means, when referring to an equine, that an irritating or blistering agent has been applied, 206 internally or externally, by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any burn, cut, or laceration that 207 has been inflicted by a person to any limb or foot of an equine; any tack, nail, screw, or chemical agent 208 that has been injected by a person into or used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; any other 209 substance or device that has been used by a person on any limb or foot of an equine; or a person has 210 engaged in a practice involving an equine, and as a result of such application, infliction, injection, use, 211 or practice, such equine suffers, or can reasonably be expected to suffer, physical pain or distress, 212 inflammation, or lameness when walking, trotting, or otherwise moving, except that such term does not 213 include such an application, infliction, injection, use, or practice in connection with the therapeutic 214 treatment of an equine by or under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Notwithstanding anything 215 contained herein to the contrary, nothing shall preclude the shoeing, use of pads, and use of action 216 devices as permitted by 9 C.F.R. Part 11.2. 217 "Sterilize" or "sterilization" means a surgical or chemical procedure performed by a licensed 218 veterinarian that renders a dog or cat permanently incapable of reproducing. 219 220 by 221 222 the person's ownership, custody or charge, appropriate for the age, species, condition, size and type of 223 the animal. 224 "Veterinary treatment" means treatment by or on the order of a duly licensed veterinarian. 225 "Weaned" means that an animal is capable of and physiologically accustomed to ingestion of solid 226 food or food customary for the adult of the species and has ingested such food, without nursing, for a 227 period of at least five days. 228 § 3.2-6501.1. Regulations for the keeping of certain animals. 229 A. The Board shall, by July 1, 2022, and pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Process 230 Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.), adopt regulations providing for certain inspections of private animal shelters 231 and comprehensive regulations governing the keeping of dogs and cats by any pet shop. Such 232 regulations shall not apply to agricultural animals. 233 B. The regulations adopted pursuant to subsection A shall require every regulated person or facility 234 to register annually with the Department and shall prohibit operation without such registration. The fee 235 for such annual registration shall be no more than $25. 236 C. The regulations adopted pursuant to subsection A shall establish standards consistent with the 237 provisions of this chapter for the keeping of animals, including (i) standards of adequate care, exercise, 238 feed, shelter, space, treatment, and water and (ii) standards of proper cleaning and lighting. Such 239 regulations, where applicable, shall also govern contact between members of the public and animals 240 being exhibited. Where necessary, the Board shall adopt specific regulations that apply only to a 241 particular category of regulated entity; however, the standards established for any two similar 242 categories of regulated entity shall not differ significantly. 243 D. The Board shall issue guidance setting out the compliance requirements for each regulatory 244 standard adopted pursuant to this section, providing information on what an entity in each category is "Treasurer" includes the treasurer and his assistants of each county or city or other officer designated law to collect taxes in such county or city. "Treatment" or "adequate treatment" means the responsible handling or transportation of animals in 5 of 5 245 expected to do to comply with a given regulatory standard. 246 E. Regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall require a State Animal Welfare Inspector 247 employed pursuant to § 3.2-5901.1 to annually conduct at least one unannounced drop-in inspection of 248 each pet shop and private animal shelter. 249 F. Regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall establish remedies for each finding in a given 250 inspection. Such remedies may include the cancellation of the registration granted pursuant to 251 subsection B; the institution of a conditional probationary period, during which the regulated facility 252 shall be allowed to continue to operate; the renewal of such registration for a limited period; or other 253 actions. 254 G. Nothing in this section or in any regulation adopted pursuant to this section shall be interpreted 255 to limit the authority of any entity to punish or prosecute a person for a violation of any law or 256 regulation or to prevent any person from alerting an animal control officer or law-enforcement officer 257 regarding the condition or treatment of any animal. 258 [ 2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless an appropriation effectuating 259 the purposes of this act is included in a general appropriation act passed in 2020 by the General 260 Assembly that becomes law. ]