GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	2 

SENATE BILL 278*
Marine Resources Committee Substitute Adopted 3/30/89

Short Title:  Animal Welfare Act/Revisions.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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February 27, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REVISE ANIMAL WELFARE AND CONTROL LAWS AND CREATE THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT ENFORCEMENT FUND.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 19A-23 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 
"(4a)	‘Animal control officer' means a city or county employee designated as animal control officer, dog warden, or other designation that may be used, whose responsibility includes the seizing, impounding, or keeping custody of animals."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 19A-23(5) reads as rewritten:
"(5)	‘Animal shelter' means a facility which is used to house or contain animals and which is under contract with, owned, operated, or maintained by a county, city, town, or other municipality, or by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection and humane treatment of animals."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 19A-23(7) reads as rewritten:
"(7)	‘Dealer' means any person who sells, exchanges, or donates, or offers to sell, exchange, or donate animals to the general public, another dealer, pet shop, or research facility; provided, however, that an individual who breeds and raises on his own premises no more than the offspring of five canine or feline females per year, unless bred and raised specifically for research purposes shall not be considered to be a dealer for the purposes of this Article.” 
Sec. 4.  G.S. 19A-24 reads as rewritten:
"§ 19A-24.  Powers of Board of Agriculture.
The Board of Agriculture may:
(1)	Establish standards for the care of animals at animal shelters, boarding kennels, pet shops, and public auctions.
(2)	Prescribe the manner in which animals may be transported to and from registered or licensed premises.
(3)	Require licensees and holders of certificates to keep records of the identity, confinement, and disposition of animals at their establishments on such forms as the Board may establish in order to standardize such recordkeeping.
(3a)	Require licensees and holders of certificates to submit records maintained pursuant to this Article to the Board on a periodic basis.
(4)	Adopt rules to implement this Article, including federal regulations promulgated under Title 7, Chapter 54, of the United States Code.”
Sec. 5.  G.S. 19A-36 reads as rewritten:
"§ 19A-36. Penalty for violation of Article by animal control officer or dog warden.
Violation of any provision of this Article which relates to the seizing, impoundment, and custody of an animal by an animal control officer or a dog warden shall constitute a misdemeanor and the person convicted thereof shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), and each animal handled in violation shall constitute a separate offense.”
Sec. 6.  Article 3 of Chapter 19A of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new sections to read:
"§ 19A-40.  Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund.
(a)	The Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund is established in the Animal Welfare Section of the Department of Agriculture.  The Department of Agriculture shall be responsible for receipt and disbursement of all funds in the Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund as provided in this section.
(b)	Moneys in the Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund shall be used annually for personnel and administrative costs incurred by the Animal Welfare Section of the Department of Agriculture in enforcing the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.
(c)	Moneys in the Fund in excess of personnel and administrative costs shall be available to units of local government as assistance funding for compliance with the Act on the terms and conditions set forth in G.S. 19A-40.1.
"§ 19A-40.1. Animal Control Facility grants; eligible purpose; terms and conditions.
(a)	The Department of Agriculture shall make grants from the Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund to units of local government for new construction of animal control facilities, or for capital improvements of existing facilities to ensure compliance with the standards of the Act.
(b)	The Commissioner or his designee shall set a priority on and approve applications for funds based on a review of the local government's existing facility needs, and the need for State funding to ensure the facility's compliance with the standards of the Act.
(c)	Upon approval of the Commissioner or his designee, based on criteria established by the Board, units of local government shall receive five thousand dollars ($5,000) in matching grant funds for each five thousand dollars ($5,000) allocated by the unit of local government either for new construction of an animal control facility or for capital improvements of an existing facility.  No unit of local government may receive more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in matching funds per year.
(d)	One or more units of local government may apply separately for funds under this section for a jointly utilized facility.
(e)	Funds may not be granted under this section for normal operating expenses of an animal control facility.”   
Sec. 7.  Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 130A-185.1  Rabies vaccination fee.
(a)	There is levied on every person who administers rabies vaccines a fee of fifty cents (50¢) per rabies vaccine administered to a dog or a cat in this State.
(b)	Every person who administers rabies vaccine to a dog or cat shall collect the fee levied by this section and shall state and charge the fee separately from the sales price of the vaccination and show the fee separately on the vaccinator's sales records.  The fee levied by this section shall be reflected on the rabies vaccination certificate required by G.S. 130A-189.  The fee shall be paid by the purchaser of the vaccination to the vaccinator as trustee for and on account of the State.  It is the intent of this section that the fee shall be added to the cost of the rabies vaccination when administered and be borne by and passed on to the customer, instead of being borne by the vaccinator.  
(c)	The Department shall collect and administer the fee levied by this section and shall design, print, and furnish to all vaccinators in the State the necessary forms for filing returns and instructions to ensure the full collection of the fee.
(d)	The fee levied under this section is due and payable to the Department in quarterly installments on or before the 15th day of the month following the end of the quarter in which the fee accrues.  Every vaccinator liable for the fee shall, on or before the date the fee is due, prepare and render a return on the form prescribed by the Department.  The return shall state the total number of rabies vaccines administered by the vaccinator in the preceding quarter.
(e)	The Department shall retain ten percent (10%) of the proceeds collected under this section for the administrative costs of collection and shall deposit, on a quarterly basis, the balance of the proceeds in the Animal Welfare Act Enforcement Fund in the Department of Agriculture.
(f)	The Department may adopt such rules as are necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
(g)	Penalties.
(1)	A person who fails or refuses to file the return required by this section shall pay a penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) for each day's omission.  In case of failure or refusal to file the return or pay the fee for a period of thirty (30) days after the time required for filing the return or for paying the fee, there shall be an additional fee, as a penalty, of five percent (5%) of the fee due in addition to any other penalty, with an additional fee of five percent (5%) for each additional month or fraction thereof until the fee is paid.  The Department may, for good cause shown, compromise or forgive the penalties imposed by this subparagraph.
(2)	Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade a fee imposed under this section or who willfully fails to pay the fee or make and file a return shall, in addition to all other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both."
Sec. 8.  Sections 6 and 7 of this act shall become effective January 1, 1990, and Section 7 applies to vaccinations administered on or after that date.  The remainder of this act is effective on October 1, 1991.