https://www.akc.org/legislative-alerts/california-2025-legislative-session-draws-close/

October 14, 2025

Yesterday, California’s 2025 legislative session came to a close as Governor Gavin Newsom had a midnight deadline to act on bills that landed on his desk. AKC appreciates all who helped throughout the year to protect the rights of responsible dog owners; we are most successful when working together. Your actions made a difference for dogs!

As was the case during the 2024 legislative session, California faced a budget shortfall, which put a brake on many legislative proposals. However, AKC had many wins during the year including seeing the defeat of a bill that would have increased onerous regulations on hobbyist dog breeders, continuance of Californians to be allowed to provide basic care on their own animals (like administering vaccines), and passage of bills expanding consumer protection on pet purchases in the state, and expanded protection to the pets of domestic violence victims, to name a few.

Below are the conclusions of key bills the AKC tracked throughout the year.  AKC is in the process of finalizing a more comprehensive summary on how the new consumer protection laws and others will impact sellers and breed club rescues.  This will be sent in the near future.

Bills Supported by AKC

• Assembly Bill 506 – Pets: sales of dogs, cats, and rabbits.
  Status: Signed by the governor with some AKC amendments.
  Summary: AB 506 expands consumer protection rights for pet buyers in the state. AKC worked extensively on the bill with stakeholders to expand consumer protection provisions so that sellers- including breeders and rescues – will be required to provide certain information regarding the dog’s health and background at the time of sale.
  
  
• Senate Bill 312 – Dog importation: health certificates.
  Status: Signed by the governor with some AKC amendments.
  Summary: This bill clarifies where (already required) health certificates for dogs imported for resale should be submitted, and which state agency is responsible for record-keeping.  After concerns were expressed by the AKC and club members, a provision that would have established a public website with seller and purchaser information was removed from the bill.
  
  
• Senate Bill 221 – Crimes: stalking
  Status: Signed by the governor.
  Summary: This bill seeks to expand what constitutes stalking to include behavior that seeks to harm or threaten a domestic violence victim’s pets, service animals, or emotional support animals. This bill strengthens California’s anti-stalking statutes.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 478 – Accessibility to emergency information and services: evacuations: pets.
  Status: Signed by the governor.
  Summary: AB 478 requires California cities and counties to update emergency plans to include pet rescue procedures during evacuations (such as wildfires), ensure public access to related information, and protect rescued pets from adoption or euthanasia for 30 days.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 631 – Animals: animal shelters: transparency.
  Status: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee, did not become law.
  Summary: This bill would have required California animal shelters to collect, regularly update, and publicly share detailed intake and outcome data for all animals, increasing transparency and accountability in shelter operations.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 400 – Law enforcement: police canines.
  Status: Vetoed by the governor.
  Summary: This bill was amended to require, on or before July 1, 2028, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to study and issue recommendations to the Legislature on the use of canines by law enforcement. The governor vetoed the measure stating in his message that the bill was redundant to existing practices.

Bills Opposed by AKC:

• Assembly Bill 1482 – Bowie’s Law: animals: adoption, shelter overcrowding, and breeding.
  Status: Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee; did not advance this year.
  Summary: This bill, opposed by AKC, would have changed the definition of a dog breeder in California from someone who breeds three litters or transfers 20 dogs to someone who transfers two litters or 10 dogs.  AKC thanks the clubs who took the time to reach out to express concerns on this bill.

Bills Monitored by AKC:

• Assembly Bill 519 – Pet broker sales.
  Status: Signed by the governor with some AKC amendments.
  Summary: AB 519 prohibits brokers from selling or facilitating the sale of dogs, cats, or rabbits. AKC believes that AB 506 is a better solution, which does not prohibit certain sellers, but instead expands consumer protection. However, we appreciated the amendments to allow for exemptions for dogs over 12 months, service and police dogs, along with 3 owner transfers allowed per year.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 1502 – Veterinary medicine: California Veterinary Medical Board
  Status: Signed by the governor.
  Summary: Currently, animal owners in California can perform certain functions on their animals such as giving vaccines or basic wound care under what’s known as the “owner exemption”—allowable under current regulations from the California Veterinary Medical Board (CVMB).
  
  This policy (and others affecting veterinarians) was considered by the California Legislature as a part of their bigger “sunset review” of various regulations of the CVMB.  AKC and local clubs reached out to lawmakers and were successful in ensuring that the CVMB will continue to allow the owner exemption to remain part of the regulations.  We will continue to closely monitor this issue area closely next year for any possible changes.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 867 – Veterinary medicine: cat declawing.
  Status: Signed by the governor with AKC-requested amendment.
  Summary: AB 867 as introduced restricted declawing procedures – including the removal of dewclaws—to licensed veterinarians for “therapeutic purposes” only, requiring documentation and allowing for disciplinary actions against violators. At the request of AKC, the bill was amended in the Assembly Business and Professions Committee to ensure the bill would solely apply to cat declawing and would not prevent dog dewclaw removal.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 793 – Potentially dangerous and vicious dogs
  Status: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee; did not become law this year.
  Summary: AB 793 revises the criteria for designating dogs as dangerous or vicious, requiring clear evidence and uniform standards across California, while prohibiting such designations if the dog was provoked or defending against an attack.
  
  
• Assembly Bill 516 – Registered veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants: scope of practice.
  Status: Signed by the governor.
  Summary: The bill clarifies the roles of veterinary technicians and assistants, allowing them to perform more health care services under supervision, including dental procedures, and broadens the settings in which they can operate.

AKC Government Relations will continue to provide updates as these laws go into effect, and continue to watch for local issues impacting dog owners.  For questions or more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.