Senate committee advances bill to require electronic import health certificates for dogs

Senator Umberg, the bill—s author, told the Senate Agriculture Committee that SB 312 would require dog importers to submit health certificates electronically to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and to buyers within 10 days of shipment. "What SB 312 does is it mandates that dog importers submit health certificates electronically to California Department of Agriculture and to buyers within 10 days of shipment," Umberg said.

The bill—s sponsors and animal-welfare groups said the measure aims to increase transparency in an online market they described as prone to fraud and cruelty. "This is why in 2014, the ASPCA sponsored AB 1809, which required certificates of health to accompany dogs coming into the state for the purpose of resale," Britney Benesee of the ASPCA testified. Juliana Tetlow of the San Diego Humane Society said, "By requiring these health certificates for dogs imported into California to be shared with both the buyer and electronically submitted to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, SB 312 gives consumers access to clear, factual information about where a puppy came from and whether it was healthy and vaccinated at the time of import."

Supporters described a gap between California law and the practices in many other states. Umberg said California has not previously required shippers to send health certificates to CDFA even though "nearly every other state in the country requires anyone shipping a dog into their state for sale to submit a copy of a completed health certificate to the state's equivalent of the California Department of Agriculture." Witnesses told the committee that existing county-level recordkeeping has been inconsistent and sometimes resulted in destroyed or missing certificates, citing an LA Times investigation as evidence that local records alone were insufficient.

Committee members asked whether the bill would affect working or service animals and raised practical questions about pregnant dams and the timing of gestation. In response, witnesses said certificates are already required to accompany animals crossing state lines and they did not anticipate the bill imposing new burdens on police or service dogs. On questions about pregnant animals, Senator Umberg said the bill relies on the veterinarian signing the certificate to perform a preliminary exam; he also acknowledged the record currently does not require an explicit representation about pregnancy and said that point would be taken under consideration.

The committee voted to refer SB 312 as amended to the Appropriations Committee. The assistant called the roll and recorded a 4-0 vote; the measure was placed on call for final voting. The committee action does not itself change state law; the bill will next proceed to Appropriations for further consideration.

Background: witnesses referenced AB 1809 (2014) and a 2017 California ban on the retail sale of puppies as context for the bill—s intent. SB 312 would centralize submitted certificates at CDFA, set a 10-day timeline for transmission to buyers, and allow CDFA to make health-certificate information publicly available to assist consumers and humane-law-enforcement investigations.

Outlook: SB 312 moves to Appropriations with committee approval. Any operational details (such as exact data fields required, public access rules, or exemptions) would be determined in subsequent committee amendments or implementing regulations if the bill becomes law.