pet stores; pet dealers

SB1789 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
pet stores; pet dealers

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1789

Introduced by

Senator
Kuby: Representatives Garcia, M�rquez

AN
ACT

amending sections 44-1799.08, 44-1799.10
and 44-1799.11, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to pet dealers.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 44-1799.08, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
44-1799.08.

Violation; civil penalties; enforcement actions; injunctive
relief

A. Except as provided in subsection B or C of this
section, a pet dealer who violates this article is subject to a civil penalty
of not more than
one thousand dollars

$1,000
per violation.
This state or a city,
town or county may enforce this article.

B.
In an action brought by a city,
town or county to enforce an ordinance against
A pet store or pet dealer
who
knowingly
obtains a dog or cat for sale or resale in
violation of section 44-1799.10
, subsection A or B or who
should have known the dog or cat was obtained for sale or resale in violation
of section 44-1799.10, subsection A or B, the pet store or pet dealer

is subject to the following penalties:

1. For a first violation, a civil penalty of not
more than
one thousand dollars

$1,000

per violation.

2. For a second violation within a five-year
period, a civil penalty of not more than
two thousand five
hundred dollars

$2,500
per violation.

3. For a third or subsequent violation within a five-year
period:

(a) A civil penalty of not more than
five
thousand dollars

$5,000
per violation.

(b) An order entered by the court
enjoining

that enjoins
the pet store or pet dealer from selling or
offering for sale, for up to three years, a dog or cat obtained from any person
other than a publicly operated pound or a private, charitable nonprofit humane
society or from any animal adoption activity conducted by a pound or humane
society.

C. In an action brought to enforce section 44-1799.10,
subsection A or B:

1. A violation is a subsequent violation if it
occurs within a five-year period after a
final judgment or
order that the pet store or pet dealer knowingly violated section 44-1799.10,
subsection A or B or should have known of the

previous

violation.

2. In addition to any other defense
that may be raised, a pet store or pet dealer is presumed to have acted in good
faith and to have satisfied its obligation to ascertain whether a person meets
the criteria described in section 44-1799.10, subsection A if, when
placing an order to obtain a dog or cat for sale or resale, the pet store or
pet dealer conducts a search for inspection reports of the breeder on the
animal care information system search tool maintained by the United States
department of agriculture.

3.

2.
Each
order placed by a pet store or pet dealer to obtain a dog or cat for sale or
resale
shall be

is
considered a
single act, regardless of the number of dogs or cats obtained
in

by
the order.

D. A person in this state may seek
injunctive relief in a court of local jurisdiction against a pet store or pet
dealer that is in violation of section 44-1799.10, subsection A or B.

D.

E.
This
section does not prohibit prosecution for criminal violations.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 44-1799.10, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
44-1799.10
.

Pet stores; pet
dealers; prohibitions on dog and cat purchases; recordkeeping; display of
animal information

A. A pet store or pet dealer may not obtain a dog or
cat for resale or sell or offer for sale any dog or cat
that is

obtained from a person who is required to be licensed by the pet dealer
regulations of the United States department of agriculture under the animal
welfare act (7 United States Code sections 2131 through 2159) if any of the
following applies:

1. The person is not currently licensed by the
United States department of agriculture under the animal welfare act (7 United
States Code sections 2131 through 2159).

2. Within two years before obtaining the dog or cat
,
the person commits a direct violation of any of the pet
dealer regulations of the United States department of agriculture under the
animal welfare act (7 United States Code sections 2131 through 2159).

3.
During the two-year period before
the person obtains the dog or the cat,
the person receives
an

two
indirect
,
no
access
violation

violations
on
each of
the
two most recent
inspection
reports issued by the United States department of agriculture under the animal
welfare act (7 United States Code sections 2131 through 2159).

4. The person commits three or more indirect
violations of the pet dealer regulations of the United States department of
agriculture during the two-year period before obtaining the dog or cat
for violations relating to the health or welfare of the animal and the
violations were not administrative in nature. The indirect
violations described in this paragraph do not include
a violation

the violations
described in paragraph 3 of this
subsection.

B. A pet store or pet dealer may not obtain a dog or
cat for resale or sell or offer for sale any dog or cat
that is

obtained from a person who directly or indirectly obtained a dog or cat from a
person described in subsection A of this section.
A
pet store or pet dealer is presumed to have acted in good faith and to have
satisfied its obligation to ascertain whether a person meets the criteria
described in subsection A of this section if, when placing an order to obtain a
dog or cat for sale or resale, the pet store or pet dealer conducts a search
for inspection reports of the breeder on the animal care information system
search tool maintained by the United States department of agriculture.

C. Notwithstanding subsections A and B of this
section, a pet store or pet dealer may obtain a dog or cat for resale or sell
or offer for sale any dog or cat obtained from a publicly operated pound or a
private, charitable nonprofit humane society or from any animal adoption
activity conducted by a pound or humane society.

D. A
pet store or
pet dealer
shall
maintain
submit to the Arizona
department of agriculture all
records
,

verifying its compliance with this section for at least two years after
obtaining the dog or cat to be sold or offered for sale

including inspection reports that are related to acquiring a dog or cat from a
person pursuant to subsection A of this section
. Records
maintained
submitted
pursuant to this
subsection shall be
open to inspection on request by a municipal
or county peace officer or enforcement official
made
available on request
.

E. A pet dealer shall display the source of any dog
or cat
that is
offered for sale by providing the name of
the breeder of the animal
,

and
the
United States department of agriculture license number of the breeder
,
if the animal is from a breeder that is licensed by the
United States department of agriculture
,
and the United
States department of
agriculture

agriculture's

website
address
where information about the
breeder may be obtained.� The pet dealer shall display the information
described in this subsection on both of the following:

1. The cage or enclosure for each animal.

2. All printed or electronic marketing materials
about a specific dog or cat that has been obtained by the pet dealer and that
is being offered for sale.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 44-1799.11, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
44-1799.11
.

Pet dealer
regulation; state preemption

The regulation of pet dealers is a matter of statewide concern
except that this state or a city, town or county may enforce section
44-1799.10 against a pet store or pet dealer
.
A city, town or county may enact or enforce an ordinance to enforce
section 44-1799.10 against a pet store or pet dealer.
Any
local law, rule, regulation or ordinance that imposes requirements on pet
dealers that exceed the requirements of section 44-1799.10 or penalties
prescribed by section 44-1799.08 is preempted.� Any local law, rule,
regulation or ordinance may not directly or indirectly prohibit or be applied
to prohibit the sale of dogs or cats by a pet store or pet dealer, expressly or
in effect,
based

by basing the sale
on
the source from which the animal is obtained if obtained in compliance with
section 44-1799.10.
END_STATUTE