---
type: "Bill"
title: "Cats and dogs; local government may, by ordinance, provide for lifetime licenses."
description: "Authorizes the governing body of a county or city to provide for a lifetime dog or cat license. The bill removes the minimum annual tax for a dog or cat, sets the maximum tax for a lifetime license at $50, and limits the fee for a duplicate dog or cat tag to $1. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 1477"
citation: "Virginia HB 1477 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Agriculture", "Animal Care and Food", "Counties", "Cities and Towns", "Taxation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert D. Orrock, Sr."]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2016-12-13"
last_action: "2017-03-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9fc29ece-4bfa-426b-9c43-2376d6c6a81f"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1477"
source_hash: "55355e7c7cfdb88601c639316b3bb63e0eed7e7f2555fbedbbe28f3eb4e91f17"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1477 (2017) — Cats and dogs; local government may, by ordinance, provide for lifetime licenses.

Authorizes the governing body of a county or city to provide for a lifetime dog or cat license. The bill removes the minimum annual tax for a dog or cat, sets the maximum tax for a lifetime license at $50, and limits the fee for a duplicate dog or cat tag to $1. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0559)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0559)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1477ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1477ER)
3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101360D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1477)
4. **House: Printed as engrossed 17101360D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1477E)
5. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17105182D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1477S1)

## Votes

- Conference report agreed to by House — **100–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite — **13–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **7–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Senate substitute rejected by House 17105182D-S1 — **0–100** (fail) · legislature
- Passed Senate with substitute — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Senate insisted on substitute — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Conference report agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Robert D. Orrock, Sr. — primary (person)
- Christopher K. Peace — cosponsor (person)
- Richard L. Anderson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-12-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101360D `introduction`
- **2016-12-13** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-12** Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-26** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-27** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2017-01-27** Engrossed by House as amended HB1477E
- **2017-01-27** Printed as engrossed 17101360D-E
- **2017-01-30** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-07** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-07** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 17105182D-S1
- **2017-02-07** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1477S1
- **2017-02-09** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-09** Senate substitute rejected by House 17105182D-S1 (0-Y 100-N)
- **2017-02-13** Senate requested conference committee
- **2017-02-14** House acceded to request
- **2017-02-14** Conferees appointed by House
- **2017-02-15** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2017-02-23** Amended by conference committee
- **2017-02-23** Conference report agreed to by House (100-Y 0-N)
- **2017-03-07** Enrolled
- **2017-03-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-03-10** Signed by President
- **2017-03-13** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 3/13/17
- **2017-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-16** Approved by Governor-Chapter 559 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9fc29ece-4bfa-426b-9c43-2376d6c6a81f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).