State of North Carolina 



General Statutes Commission 



9001 Mail Service Center 



RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA 



27699-9001 



REPORT TO THE 



2005 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 



2006 REGULAR SESSION, 



ON 



PUPPY MILLS 



BACKGROUND 



Section 2 of Session Law 2003-208 (Senate Bill 669, Civil Remedy for Animal Cruelty) 

 authorized the General Statutes Commission (Commission), in consultation with the North 

 Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to study "the need to regulate the 

 unlimited breeding of dogs and cats and the animal cruelty resulting from the operations 

 commonly referred to as 'puppy mills.'" The Commission was further authorized to make an 

 interim report to the 2003 General Assembly, 2004 Regular Session, and to make its final report 

 to the 2005 General Assembly. Session Law 2003-208 became law on June 19, 2003, and is 

 attached as part of Appendix A. 



The Commission filed an Interim Report to the 2003 General Assembly of North 

 Carolina, 2004 Regular Session, on Puppy Mills ( Interim Report) , dated May 31, 2004, attached 

 as Appendix A. 



The General Statutes Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1945. The 

 statutory provisions relating to the Commission are found in Article 2 of Chapter 164 of the 

 General Statutes (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 164-12, et seq.). 



PROCEEDINGS 



As set out more fully in the Interim Report , the Commission began working on this study 

 at its September 3, 2003, meeting. Over the next nine months, the Commission received 

 information, both written and oral, from various individuals and entities. At the Commission's 

 December 5, 2003, meeting, staff reported that a subcommittee of the House Interim Committee 

 on the Prevention and Disposition of Unwanted and Abandoned Companion Animals (House 

 Interim Committee) had begun to examine a proposal to license all dog breeders, which would 

 potentially moot any need for legislation specifically directed at puppy mills. To avoid 

 duplication of effort, the Commission requested its staff to monitor the Committee's work on 



