this proposal and to report its progress to the General Assembly as provided in the Findings and 

 Recommendation. 



The Commission's most recent draft of a proposal includes the following features: 



• The draft covers only sales of dogs. 



• It provides remedies to the purchaser of a dog that is unfit for sale at the time of 

 the sale due to illness or a hereditary or congenital defect or condition. The draft 

 sets out criteria for determining that a dog is "unfit for sale" based on similar 

 criteria in other puppy lemon laws. 



• This determination must be made by a veterinarian and documented in writing. 



• The determination must be made within 1 4 days after the purchaser takes 

 possession of the dog unless the problem is congenital or hereditary, in which case 

 the time for diagnosing the problem is extended to one year. 



The term "purchaser" is limited to an individual who purchases a dog without 

 intent to resell. 



Remedies include return of the dog for refund or exchange for another dog, which 

 is available to a purchaser from any seller. If the seller was a pet shop or "covered 

 breeder," the remedy includes reimbursement for veterinarian fees up to the dog's 

 purchase price. A purchaser entitled to this reimbursement may keep the dog and 

 seek only the reimbursement. 



• The term "covered breeder" is defined as a breeder that sells directly to a 

 purchaser, excluding a person who breeds and raises on his or her premises no 

 more than three litters in a calendar year. Because a purchaser may have no way 

 of telling how many litters a year a seller breeds, the definition includes a 

 rebuttable presumption that a person with more than 20 dogs at the time of a sale 

 is a covered breeder. 



The purchaser must notify the seller within five days of the veterinarian's 

 determination. 



• The seller may have the dog examined by another veterinarian. 



• The seller has 10 business days to comply with the purchaser's request for a 

 remedy. After that time, the purchaser may bring a civil action to obtain the 

 remedy. Although most actions are likely to be brought in small claims court, the 



