Pet broker sales.

Led by Assembly Member Berman, with principal coauthors Bennett and Umberg and additional coauthors Haney and Cervantes, the measure would add a new regulatory framework within the Health and Safety Code to address the role of brokers in the sale or transfer of dogs, cats, and rabbits bred by others for profit. The core change would prohibit a broker from making available for adoption, selling, or offering for sale a dog under one year of age, a cat, or a rabbit, subject to defined exemptions. The measure defines a broker as a person or business that sells, arranges, negotiates, or processes the sale of such animals bred by another for profit, including facilitating transfers, and it defines related terms to establish the scope of entities covered or exempted.

Exemptions include bona fide owner transfers up to three times per calendar year; transfers to governmental agencies; transfer of ownership of guide, service, or support dogs; public animal control agencies or shelters; animal rescue groups; and nonprofit organizations engaged in youth education related to animal care. The text does not specify enforcement mechanisms or an effective date, and it adds a parallel regulatory regime rather than amending existing pet-protection provisions. The measure could constrain for-profit intermediaries while preserving transfer pathways through shelters and rescues, and it intersects with existing online financing prohibitions and consumer-rights provisions by targeting a distinct class of actors in the companion-animal market.