STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2624

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2120

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 2120 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PET SALES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to, beginning January 1, 2025, to:

(1) Establish provisions relating to retail pet sales; and

(2) Authorize retail pet stores to showcase pet animals owned by a nonprofit animal welfare organization.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from The Humane Society of the United States; Hawaiian Humane Society; Kauaʻi Humane Society; Animal Welfare Institute; Animal Interfaith Alliance; and sixteen individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from The Pet Depot LLC; Pacific Pet Alliance; Koolau Pets, Inc.; and twenty-one individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the American Kennel Club.

Your Committees find that despite the high popularity of pets in the State, there are few regulations of retail pet businesses, placing consumers at risk of purchasing sick pets, including pets that may carry diseases that are transmissible to people and other pets. Your Committees further find that the lack of regulation allows retail pet businesses to acquire animals from large-scale commercial breeders, which may not provide sanitary or humane living conditions for their animals. Therefore, this measure requires retail pet stores to maintain certain source and medical information relating to the animals that they sell, which will improve the health and safety of both pets and pet owners in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have required a retail pet store to retain physical copies of shipment records and invoices for pet animals purchased from a foreign breeder or broker, and certain licenses and photo identification cards of breeders and brokers;

(2) Allowing, rather than requiring, retail pet stores to provide certain records pertinent to a pet animal to a prospective purchaser before any sale is finalized;

(3) Deleting language that would have required a retail pet store to submit records annually to the county's animal control services agency or contractor;

(4) Deleting language that would have made each pet animal sold or offered for sale in violation of this measure a separate violation;

(5) Deleting language that would have required all fines collected upon a violation to be paid into the treasury of the county where the violation occurred;

(6) Deleting language that would have prohibited new retail pet stores that were not in operation before January 1, 2025, from selling or offering for sale any pet animal;

(7) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(8) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2040, to encourage further discussion; and

(9) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2120, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2120, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair