SENATE BILL No. 658

     (c) A zoological park approved or accredited by the American

 

zoo and aquarium association.Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

 

     (d) A person approved by the association of sanctuaries or the

 

American sanctuary association.Global Federation of Animal

 

Sanctuaries.

 

     (e) A law enforcement officer acting under the authority of

 

this act.

 

     (f) A veterinarian temporarily in possession of a large

 

carnivore to provide veterinary care for or humanely euthanize the

 

large carnivore.

 

     (2) Sections 4, 5, 6(1)(d) to (5)(d), 8, and 14(3) do not

 

apply to a person who is not a resident of this state and who is in

 

this state only for the purpose of travel between locations outside

 

of this state.

 

     (3) Subject to subsection (2), this act does not apply to a

 

person who meets all of the following requirements:

 

     (a) Is conducting a for-profit or nonprofit business, if the

 

primary purpose of that business is the presentation of animals

 

including large carnivores to the public for education or

 

exhibition purposes.

 

     (b) Is a class C licensee that possesses and maintains a class

 

C license under 9 CFR parts 1 and 2.

 

     (c) Meets or exceeds all standards, including but not limited

 

to standards for training, housing, care, and transport of large

 

carnivores, required of a class C licensee under 9 CFR parts 1 and

 

2.

 

     (d) Except as provided in subsection (4), does not allow a

 

patron to do any of the following:

 

     (i) Come into direct contact with a large carnivore.

 

     (ii) Come into close enough contact with a large carnivore

 

over 20 weeks of age so as to place the patron in jeopardy of being

 

harmed by the large carnivore.

 

     (e) Does not sell large carnivores, except to another person

 

that meets the requirements of this subsection.

 

     (f) Does not breed large carnivores.

 

     (4) This act does not apply to a person who allows a patron to

 

come into contact with a large carnivore under subsection (3)(d)(i)

 

or (ii) if the large carnivore is a bear less than 36 weeks of age

 

or a bear weighing 90 pounds or less if the person otherwise meets

 

the requirements of subsection (3) and satisfies 1 of the

 

following:

 

     (a) The person was in possession of a bear on the effective

 

date of the 2013 amendatory act that amended this section.March 26,

 

2013.

 

     (b) The person acquired a business described in subsection

 

(3)(a) from a person who was in possession of a bear on the

 

effective date of the 2013 amendatory act that amended this

 

section.March 26, 2013.

 

     (5) This act does not apply to a circus.

 

     (6) Section 3(b) and (c) does not apply to a person who, in

 

addition to complying with the requirements of this act, does all

 

of the following:

 

     (a) Ensures that a facility in which a large carnivore is

 

housed is adequately lit and free of clutter. Service doors shall

 

be clearly marked and in good working condition, and sufficient

 

barriers shall be in place to prevent unauthorized access to areas

 

not intended for public access.

 

     (b) Provides immediate access to staff working with or around

 

large carnivores to designated emergency response personnel through

 

a walkie-talkie, cellular telephone, alarm, or other electronic

 

device.

 

     (c) Puts written emergency protocols in place for large

 

carnivore escapes and injuries to humans by large carnivores. These

 

protocols shall include communication systems to notify local law

 

enforcement and emergency services. Emergency drills shall be

 

conducted annually to practice responses for large carnivore

 

escapes and injuries to humans by large carnivores.

 

     (d) If law enforcement is not within a reasonable distance

 

from the facility, puts a trained firearms team in place. A trained

 

firearms team shall have professional training and shall practice

 

emergency responses at least 2 times each year.

 

     (e) Provides adequate security at the facility 24 hours per

 

day.

 

     (f) Provides a large carnivore that is not native to a

 

temperate environment with a heated enclosure or environment. An

 

environment that relies on climate control shall have an emergency

 

backup system available, and all mechanical equipment shall be

 

included in a documented preventative maintenance program.

 

     (g) Ensures that the conditions in which the large carnivore

 

is kept take into account all of the following:

 

     (i) Need for space.

 

     (ii) Environmental complexity.

 

     (iii) Choice and control over social partners and use of

 

space.

 

     (iv) Protection from injury and disease.

 

     (h) Trains staff to recognize abnormal behavior and clinical

 

signs of illness and have knowledge regarding the diets, husbandry,

 

natural history, and care required for large carnivores under their

 

care to ensure the well-being of the large carnivores.

 

     (i) Does not perform disfiguring procedures, including, but

 

not limited to, declawing and canine tooth removal, unless

 

considered medically necessary by the attending veterinarian, and

 

does not remove socially or nutritionally dependent young large

 

carnivores from their mothers for hand-rearing unless deemed

 

medically necessary by the attending veterinarian.

 

     (j) Has a written policy for the acquisition, transfer, and

 

disposition of large carnivores. The written policy described in

 

this subdivision shall satisfy all of the following:

 

     (i) The policy shall comply with all applicable local, state,

 

federal, and international laws and regulations.

 

     (ii) The policy shall require documentation of ownership of

 

large carnivores and any applicable chain of custody.

 

     (iii) The policy shall establish a system for the

 

documentation of acquisition, transfer, and disposition of large

 

carnivores using a comprehensive institutional record-keeping

 

system. Individual large carnivores shall be permanently identified

 

as provided in section 5.

 

     (iv) The policy shall require the acquisition of a free-

 

ranging animal to be done in accordance with applicable local,

 

state, federal, and international laws and regulations and shall

 

prohibit the acquisition if it is detrimental to the long-term

 

viability of the large carnivore species in the wild.

 

     (k) Does not do any of the following:

 

     (i) Transfer a large carnivore to a person that is not

 

qualified or capable of safely maintaining the large carnivore or

 

ensuring its well-being.

 

     (ii) Transfer a large carnivore to an animal auction or to a

 

person that may display or sell the large carnivore at an animal

 

auction.

 

     (iii) Transfer a large carnivore to a person that allows the

 

hunting of large carnivores.

 

     (iv) Raise a large carnivore for the purpose of providing

 

food, fur, pelts, body parts, organs, or bodily fluids, or transfer

 

a large carnivore to a person that will use the large carnivore for

 

any of these purposes.

 

     (l) Meets all applicable local, state, federal, and

 

international laws and regulations when designating a large

 

carnivore for reintroduction and release into the wild.

 

     (m) Satisfies all of the following requirements:

 

     (i) Provides sufficient evidence of its financial stability to

 

the department by submitting complete financial reports, including,

 

but not limited to, an operating budget that indicates that the

 

financial support from the governing authority of the person or the

 

support organization meets the person's needs. This subparagraph

 

applies regardless of whether the person is operating on a profit

 

or nonprofit basis.

 

     (ii) Has a written contingency plan in place in the event that

 

a significant decrease in operating income occurs.

 

     (iii) Provides insurance coverage for staff, volunteers,

 

visitors, and physical facilities.

 

     (iv) Discloses sources of funding for capital improvements,

 

maintenance, and major repairs or replacements.

 

     (n) Participates in scientific, cooperatively managed breeding

 

programs that identify specific and typically threatened or

 

endangered large carnivore species that are composed of large

 

carnivores of known provenance and pedigree. A breeding program

 

described in this subdivision shall be based on comprehensive

 

pedigree and demographic databases and analyses and shall have

 

long-range population management goals and recommendations to

 

ensure sustainability of the population. A breeding program

 

described in this subdivision shall not allow the breeding of

 

species hybrids or the breeding of a large carnivore for the

 

purpose of selling, bartering, or trading the large carnivore or

 

its parts, and shall ensure that adequate space to house offspring

 

of a large carnivore is in place.

 

     (o) Satisfies all of the following with respect to veterinary

 

care of a large carnivore:

 

     (i) Has a staff or attending veterinarian with knowledge of

 

the species of large carnivore held by the person available 24

 

hours per day.

 

     (ii) Has a veterinary care program that emphasizes disease

 

prevention.

 

     (iii) Performs routine health evaluations to evaluate for

 

infectious and noninfectious diseases common to large carnivores.

 

The health evaluations described in this subparagraph shall

 

include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

 

     (A) Fecal parasite screening.

 

     (B) Complete blood count and serum chemistry.

 

     (C) Weight.

 

     (D) Health examination.

 

     (iv) Regularly vaccinates large carnivores for infectious

 

diseases, as considered necessary by the attending veterinarian,

 

and excludes from enclosures wildlife or feral animals that could

 

transmit an infectious disease to a captive large carnivore.

 

     (v) Considers procedures including, but not limited to,

 

castration and ovariohysterectomy, that would benefit the long-term

 

health and welfare of an individual large carnivore.

 

     (vi) Adopts humane euthanasia practices as set forth in the

 

"American Veterinary Medical Association Euthanasia Guidelines",

 

necropsies a deceased large carnivore to determine the cause of

 

death, and disposes of a large carnivore after a necropsy in

 

accordance with local, state, and federal law.

 

     (vii) Meets all applicable laws or regulations regarding food

 

preparation and storage.

 

     (viii) Provides a nutritious diet and, to the best of the

 

person's ability, minimizes disease, nutritional deficiencies,

 

infections, parasite infestations, and obesity.

 

     (ix) Makes written procedures available to staff for the use

 

of drugs for veterinary purposes, and maintains appropriate

 

security over veterinary drugs.

 

     (p) Has a written conservation action plan and strategy that

 

is part of a collaborative, scientifically managed species

 

conservation program for each species of large carnivore held that

 

includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

 

     (i) Participation in local, regional, national, or

 

international conservation programs, including, but not limited to,

 

staff support or participation in field conservation activities and

 

financial support.

 

     (ii) Education awareness programs for guests, staff,

 

volunteers, supporters, members, vendors, and contractors.

 

     (iii) Evaluation and measurement of the impact of conservation

 

programs and activities.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.