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A1110
ASSEMBLY, No. 1110
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires certain veterinary facilities to obtain
signed consent form for unsupervised overnight stays of domestic companion
animals.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning supervision of domestic companion
animals at certain veterinary facilities and amending P.L.2015, c.110.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2015,
c.110 (C.45:16-8.3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.��� a.�� Every veterinary
facility in the State shall post its normal business hours in a conspicuous
location easily visible to the public.
���� b.��� (1)�� A veterinarian
overseeing the care of a domestic companion animal at a veterinary facility
that does not provide domestic companion animals with supervision after normal
business hours by a person physically on the premises shall provide written
notification to each person bringing a domestic companion animal to the
veterinary facility for care or treatment.� The written notification may be
provided as a sign posted next to the posting required pursuant to subsection
a. of this section, as part of a sign used to meet the posting requirement of
that subsection, or on an intake form provided to each person bringing a
domestic companion animal to the veterinary facility.
���� (2)�� The written notification
provided in accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection shall include the
following specific language:
���� "This veterinary facility
does NOT provide supervision for animals after normal business hours by a
person physically on these premises."
���� This language shall be printed
in no less than 12-point font in an intake form and no less than 24-point font
on a posted sign.
����
(3)�� (a)�� A veterinarian
overseeing the care of a domestic companion animal at a veterinary facility
that does not provide domestic companion animals with supervision after normal
business hours by a person physically on the premises shall be required to
obtain a consent form signed by the owner of the domestic companion animal or
the person bringing the animal to the veterinary facility for care or treatment.�
The form shall include information on the frequency of injuries, both fatal and
non-fatal, to domestic companion animals that occur as a result of unsupervised
overnight care at the veterinary facility.�
����
(b)�� (i)��� A veterinarian
who fails to collect a consent form from the owner of the animal or the person
bringing the animal to the veterinary facility for care or treatment shall not
charge for any veterinary services rendered due to an injury to the animal that
occurs as a result of unsupervised overnight care.
����
(ii)�� A veterinarian who
fails to collect a consent form from the owner of the animal or the person
bringing the animal to the veterinary facility for care or treatment shall be
strictly liable for any injuries or death to the animal that occur as a result
of unsupervised overnight care.�
����
(iii) Nothing in this
paragraph (3) shall be deemed to grant immunity to any veterinarian who
collects a consent form from the owner of an animal or the person bringing the
animal to the veterinary facility for care or treatment.
���� �c.��� As used in this
section:
���� "Domestic companion
animal" means any animal commonly referred to as a "pet," which
has been bought, bred, raised or otherwise acquired, in accordance with local
ordinances and State and federal law, for the primary purpose of providing
companionship to the owner, rather than for business or agricultural purposes.
���� "Normal business
hours" means the times posted at a veterinary facility indicating the
hours that the veterinary facility is open for business with supervising staff
available.
���� "Veterinarian" means
any person engaged in the licensed practice of veterinary medicine as defined
by R.S.45:16-8.1.
���� "Veterinary
facility" means any place or establishment, operated on a for-profit
basis, where a domestic companion animal, which is not owned by either the
proprietor or care-giving veterinarian, is treated, temporarily sheltered, fed,
and watered for veterinary care purposes. "Veterinary facility" may
include an animal or veterinary facility as defined in section 1 of P.L.1983,
c. 98 (C.45:16-1.1).
���� �d.�� A veterinarian who fails
or refuses to comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to a
public reprimand by the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and any
other penalties the board imposes.
(cf: P.L. 2015, c.110, s.1)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires for-profit
veterinary facilities that board domestic companion animals overnight without
having a person physically present at the facility to obtain a signed consent
form from the owner of the animal or the person bringing the animal to the
veterinary facility for care or treatment.� The bill requires the consent form
to include information about the frequency of injuries relating to the
unsupervised overnight boarding of domestic companion animals at the facility.
���� In addition, the bill provides
that, in the event that a veterinary facility fails to collect the signed
consent form from the owner of a domestic companion animal staying unsupervised
overnight or from the person bringing the animal to the veterinary facility for
care or treatment, the veterinarian will be strictly liable for any injury or
death occurring as a result of the unsupervised overnight stay.� The bill also
provides that the veterinarian may not charge for any veterinary services
rendered due to an injury occurring from lack of overnight supervision. In
addition, the bill provides that nothing in the bill shall be deemed to grant
immunity to any veterinarian who collects a consent form from the owner of an
animal or the person bringing the animal to the veterinary facility for care or
treatment.