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---
type: "Bill"
title: "Animal welfare regulations; keeping of dogs, cats, and rabbits."
description: "Animal welfare regulations; keeping of dogs,cats, and rabbits; Animal Welfare Inspector. Directs the Boardof Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt comprehensive regulationsgoverning (i) the keeping of dogs, cats, and rabbits by any commercialdog breeder, dealer, pet shop, or private or public animal shelterand (ii) the keeping of companion animals by zoos. The regulationsare to require an annual $25 registration by every regulated personor facility and may establish standards that apply only to a particularcategory of regulated entity. The bill creates the position of State Animal Welfare Inspector as an employee of the Commissioner of Agricultureand Consumer Services and directs the Inspector or a representativeto conduct two annual inspections of each regulated facility. Finally,the bill directs the State Veterinarian to convene a technical advisorycommittee that includes representatives of potentially affected breeders,dealers, pet shops, shelters, agencies, zoos, veterinarians, and others, as well as representatives of the Office of the Attorney General,to assist in the development of regulations and guidance requiredby the bill."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 891"
citation: "Virginia SB 891 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David W. Marsden"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 62
vote_count: 14
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-05-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/76f815c4-9826-4194-8266-dbfbb095cb0b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB891"
source_hash: "8e468a4058e25ce6205f67a4dd5e3e24e268723075818948fd37ef80a8bb957a"
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 SB 891 (2020) — Animal welfare regulations; keeping of dogs, cats, and rabbits.
Animal welfare regulations; keeping of dogs,cats, and rabbits; Animal Welfare Inspector. Directs the Boardof Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt comprehensive regulationsgoverning (i) the keeping of dogs, cats, and rabbits by any commercialdog breeder, dealer, pet shop, or private or public animal shelterand (ii) the keeping of companion animals by zoos. The regulationsare to require an annual $25 registration by every regulated personor facility and may establish standards that apply only to a particularcategory of regulated entity. The bill creates the position of State Animal Welfare Inspector as an employee of the Commissioner of Agricultureand Consumer Services and directs the Inspector or a representativeto conduct two annual inspections of each regulated facility. Finally,the bill directs the State Veterinarian to convene a technical advisorycommittee that includes representatives of potentially affected breeders,dealers, pet shops, shelters, agencies, zoos, veterinarians, and others, as well as representatives of the Office of the Attorney General,to assist in the development of regulations and guidance requiredby the bill.
## Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1284)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1284)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB891ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB891ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB891ES1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB891ES1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB891S1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB891S1)
5. **Reenrolled bill text (SB891ER2)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB891ER2)
## Votes
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (14-Y 0-N) — **140** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **140** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **80** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (36-Y 0-N) — **360** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **400** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 3-N) — **53** (pass) · lower
- Senate rejected Governor's recommendation #1 (3-Y 36-N) — **336** (fail) · upper
- House amendments agreed to by Senate (29-Y 10-N) — **2910** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (38-Y 2-N) — **382** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments (17-Y 5-N) — **175** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: (58-Y 33-N) — **5733** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (64-Y 35-N) — **6335** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Appropriations with amendments (13-Y 9-N) — **139** (pass) · lower
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendations #'s 2,3 and 4 (30-Y 9-N) — **309** (pass) · upper
## Sponsors
- David W. Marsden — primary (person)
- Wendy W. Gooditis — cosponsor (person)
## Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101575D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB891)
- **2020-01-29** Assigned ACNR sub: Companion Animals `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20107722D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-06** Impact statement from DPB (SB891S1)
- **2020-02-06** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed (36-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-11** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-02-11** Committee substitute agreed to 20107722D-S1
- **2020-02-11** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-11** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-11** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB891ES1
- **2020-02-11** Printed as engrossed 20107722D-ES1
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Passed Senate (38-Y 2-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB891ES1)
- **2020-02-14** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-14** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-14** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-26** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments (17-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-26** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-26** Assigned App. sub: Commerce Agriculture & Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (5-Y 3-N)
- **2020-02-28** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-28** Reported from Appropriations with amendments (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-04** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources amendments rejected
- **2020-03-04** Committee on Appropriations amendments rejected
- **2020-03-04** Amendments by Delegate Bulova agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Passed by for the day
- **2020-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-03-05** Passed House with amendments (64-Y 35-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Passage (64-Y 35-N)
- **2020-03-05** House amendments agreed to by Senate (29-Y 10-N)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB891ER)
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-11** Governor's recommendation received by Senate
- **2020-04-22** Senate rejected Governor's recommendation #1 (3-Y 36-N)
- **2020-04-22** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendations #'s 2,3 and 4 (30-Y 9-N)
- **2020-04-22** House concurred in Governor's recommendation #'s 2, 3 and 4 (58-Y 33-N)
- **2020-04-22** VOTE: (58-Y 33-N)
- **2020-04-22** Governor's recommendation adopted in-part
- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled
- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled bill text (SB891ER2)
- **2020-04-22** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2020-04-22** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2020-04-29** Reenrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on April 29, 2020
- **2020-04-29** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., May 22, 2020
- **2020-05-21** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1284 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`
## Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/76f815c4-9826-4194-8266-dbfbb095cb0b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).