TULSA, Okla. — Two bills moving through the Oklahoma state legislature would increase transparency and accountability for dog breeders while working to address a growing pet overpopulation crisis in the state.
House Bill 3391 and House Bill 4055 both target the Commercial Pet Breeders Act, with changes designed to tighten the breeding process and make purchasing from a breeder more transparent for consumers.
HB 3391, sponsored by Rep. Amanda Clinton, would require commercial pet breeders to include their state license number, issued by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, on all advertisements when selling pets. The bill would also require the department to establish rules to implement and enforce the requirement.
The measure is designed to hold breeders accountable for the welfare of animals before they are sold and to provide recourse for buyers who receive sick puppies or incomplete breeding paperwork.
HB 4055, sponsored by Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, would make several changes to the Commercial Pet Breeders Act, including increasing licensing fees and penalties. The bill would also create a new fund, the Commercial Pet Breeders and Animal Shelter Licensing Fund, which would use licensing fees and penalties to pay for pet breeder inspectors and allow for grants supporting animal welfare and spay and neuter programs.
Additionally, the bill would reduce the number of intact, non-spayed females a non-commercial breeder may own without a license from 10 to 3.
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The Humane Society of Tulsa spoke with us about the impact these bills could have. The organization was one of several rescues involved in a pet overpopulation case in Stroud last July, in which more than 400 Maltese dogs were rescued from a breeding facility.
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"I think it's time that the state starts updating some of their, some of the legislature regarding pet breeders."
Lawrence Depreist, the director of operations at Humane Society of Tulsa, said.
"Reducing the number of intact females to be licensed is going to be a great improvement for the state. You know, we're experiencing an overpopulation crisis with pets right now; intakes are definitely outnumbering the outcomes," Depriest said.
The organization said passing these bills into law would help address overcrowding at shelters.
"When we run into breeding, you know, situations where we're requested to come in by law enforcement due to, you know, illegal breeding operations. It puts a huge strain on the system because, you know, we are already at capacity for our normal day-to-day operations, and then we have large influxes of animals come in when these cases do arise," Depriest said.
HB 3391 has already cleared committee and is nearing a full House vote. HB 4055 is still awaiting committee action.
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