While those of you in California have to be concerned with Frag swaps, hobbyists in Massachusetts might get a little something extra if a new proposed bill goes through. House Bill 192 would require pet shops to provide basic care information to purchasers of certain animals including live animals in the saltwater industry. For those pet store owners that operate in Massachusetts they might remember a form of this bill in 2007 and 2008 as this bill made no progress in the legislature. Specifically the bill states that “Every person engaged in the business of operating a pet shop and selling pet animals on the premises, shall display and provide free basic care information on… fish sold on the premises. The care information shall be developed with and approved by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine and contained on at least one 8 ½ by 11-inch sheet of paper that shall be provided free of charge to consumers.” The data and content on the cards would have to be approved by The Massachusetts
Board of Registration of Veterinary Medicine.
Receiving a 8 1/2 by 11 inch of paper full of care information for fish, corals (we are assuming inverts too) would probably be a good idea for those newbies out there, but then again most shouldn’t be buying the livestock they are anyway. This bill does bring up some interesting questions, like who would make the care sheet? The state of Massachusetts or the pet store owner? What about internet retailers? Are they required to provide a care sheet when shipping to the state? Drop down below for the full proposed bill. What do you think?
HOUSE No. 192
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine.
PRESENTED BY:
Demetrius J. Atsalis
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in
General Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
PETITION OF:
Name: District/Address:
Demetrius J. Atsalis
Second Barnstable
Kevin Aguiar 7th Bristol
AN ACT REQUIRING PET SHOP OWNERS TO PROVIDE BASIC PET CARE INFORMATION TO
CONSUMERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 129 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby
amended by inserting after section 39A, the following section 39A:-
Section 39A. Every person engaged in the business of operating a pet shop and selling pet animals on
the premises, shall display and provide free basic care information on all birds, mammals, reptiles,
amphibians and fish sold on the premises. The care information shall be developed with and approved by
the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine and contained on at least one 8 by 11-
inch sheet of paper that shall be provided free of charge to consumers.
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This thing has 4 Comments
In this day and age information is available every where. With a click of a mouse you can find thousands of websites dedicated to the care of animals. Why is it the pet shop owners responsibility to educate people. Most pet stores sell books on the proper care of the animals they sell. How about YOU do some research before YOU decide to care for a pet? I’m so sick of people blaming other for their ignorance.
Yeah Jody I agree that people NEED to do some research before they buy a pet but I also look at this as making the pet retailer themselves become more liable for some of their practices. How many of us know a LFS that would be happy to sell you a $500 Scoly knowing full well that you didn’t have the expertise, raise your hand. If they do this right, and the information should be done by the state and a 3rd party, then we could see an increase of knowledgable people and a more responsible market.
It should be noted in that post that this very type of bill was passed many years ago in California and is barely enforced.
I’ve always wondered why pet stores don’t do this in the first place. How much would it really cost a store to print out fact sheets on their animals? I don’t understand why local stores don’t embrace the internet. It isn’t going to go away.
I feel the same way about all the high-end retail stores. I much prefer online shopping because I can do research at the same time. I know the people working the store in theory can explain these things, but who knows everything, and the closer to 3rd party info I could read the better.
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