Colorado § 35-80-102 - Definitions - repeal.

§ 35-80-102. Definitions - repeal.

As used in this article 80, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Animal shelter" means a public or private facility licensed pursuant to this article and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

(1.5) "Bird hobby breeder facility" means any facility engaged in the operation of breeding and raising birds for the purpose of personal enjoyment that does not transfer more than thirty birds per year.

(1.7) (a) "Broker" means a person that, for profit, sells, leases, offers to sell or lease, barters, auctions, or otherwise transfers ownership of, in person or online, a pet animal bred by another person.

(b) "Broker" does not include a person that transfers no more than three single pet animals per each calendar year if the person transfers each single pet animal no more than once.

(2) "Canine hobby breeder facility" means any facility which transfers no more than twenty-four dogs per year or breeds no more than two litters per year, whichever is greater.

(2.5) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 1398, § 4, effective May 30, 2000.)

(3) "Commission" means the state agricultural commission.

(4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture, or the designee of the commissioner.

(5) "Committee" means the pet animal advisory committee created in section 35-80-115.

(6) "Department" means the department of agriculture.

(6.3) "Dispose" or "disposition" means adoption of a pet animal, return of a pet animal to the owner, release of a pet animal to a rescue group licensed pursuant to this article, release of a pet animal to another pet animal facility licensed pursuant to this article or to a rehabilitator licensed by the division of parks and wildlife or the United States fish and wildlife service, or euthanasia.

(6.5) "Dog breeder" means any person that engages in the operation of breeding and raising dogs for the purpose of selling, trading, bartering, giving away, or otherwise transferring the dogs.

(6.6) (a) "Dog breeder, large scale operation" or "large scale operation dog breeder" means a dog breeder that transfers at least one hundred dogs per year.

(b) This subsection (6.6) is repealed, effective January 1, 2028.

(6.7) (a) "Dog breeder, small scale operation" or "small scale operation dog breeder" means a dog breeder that transfers more than the number of dogs permitted for a canine hobby breeder facility but no more than ninety-nine dogs per year.

(b) This subsection (6.7) is repealed, effective January 1, 2028.

(7) "Euthanasia" means to produce a humane death by techniques accepted by the American veterinary medical association.

(8) "Feline hobby breeder facility" means any facility that produces or transfers no more than twenty-four cats per year or breeds no more than three litters per year.

(8.5) "Governmental agency" means a state agency or an office, department, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, or agency of a county, city, or city and county in the state.

(8.7) "Licensed veterinarian" means a person who is licensed to practice veterinary medicine in this state pursuant to article 315 of title 12.

(9) "Livestock" means cattle, horses, mules, burros, sheep, poultry, swine, llama, and goats, regardless of use, and any animal that is used for working purposes on a farm or ranch, and any other animal designated by the commissioner, which animal is raised for food or fiber production.

(9.3) (a) "Offer for sale" means to advertise a potential sale by a pet store.

(b) "Offer for sale" includes:

(I) The display of a live dog or cat for sale; and

(II) A verbal or written offer to sell a dog or cat.

(10) "Pet animal" means dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats, gerbils, ferrets, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates, or any other species of wild or domestic or hybrid animal sold, transferred, or retained for the purpose of being kept as a household pet, except livestock, as defined in subsection (9) of this section. "Pet animal" does not include an animal that is used for working purposes on a farm or ranch.

(11) "Pet animal facility" means any place or premise used in whole or in part, which part is used for the keeping of pet animals for the purpose of adoption, breeding, boarding, grooming, handling, selling, sheltering, trading, or otherwise transferring such animals. "Pet animal facility" also includes any individual animals kept by such a facility as breeding stock, such licensing of individual breeding stock to be inclusive in the pet animal facility license. "Pet animal facility" shall not mean a common carrier engaged in intrastate or interstate commerce. For purposes of this article, two or more animal facilities that have the same or a similar purpose and operate from one place or premises shall be considered a single pet animal facility.

(11.2) "Pet animal rescue" means any person licensed pursuant to this article who accepts pet animals for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals and does not maintain a central facility for keeping animals, but rather uses a system of fostering in private homes or boarding or keeping pets in licensed pet animal facilities.

(11.3) "Pet store" means a retail establishment where pet animals are sold or offered for sale to the general public. "Pet store" does not include an animal shelter, pet animal rescue, cat breeder, or dog breeder.

(11.4) "Prospective owner" means a person who has no prior rights of ownership to the pet animal to be adopted.

(11.6) "Release" means adoption, sale, or other transfer to the permanent custody of an owner by an animal shelter or pet animal rescue.

(11.7) "Sale" or "sell" means the exchange of a pet animal for anything of value, including property or money. "Sale" or "sell" does not include an adoption transaction between an animal shelter or pet animal rescue and a person who adopts a pet animal.

(11.8) "Small animal breeder facility" means any facility that transfers more small mammals than the maximum number established by the commissioner by rule for each particular species.

(12) "Small animal hobby breeder facility" means any facility that transfers a number of small mammals that is less than the maximum number established by the commissioner by rule for each particular species.

(13) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 1398, § 4, effective May 30, 2000.)

(14) "Sterilization" means the act of permanently rendering an animal incapable of reproduction. The term applies to surgical methods, including the procedures commonly referred to as spay and neuter, and nonsurgical methods and technologies approved by the United States food and drug administration, the United States department of agriculture, or other appropriate designated federal authority.

Source: L. 94: Entire article added, p. 1300, § 8, effective July 1. L. 98: (11) and (12) amended and (11.8) added, p. 119, § 1, effective March 24. L. 99: (1) amended and (1.5) and (6.3) added, p. 356, § 1, effective August 4. L. 2000: (2.5) and (13) amended and (6.6) and (6.7) added, p. 1398, § 4, effective May 30. L. 2001: (8) amended, p. 1262, § 1, effective June 5. L. 2008: (8.7), (11.2), (11.4), (11.6), and (14) added, p. 199, § 1, effective January 1, 2009. L. 2009: (10) amended, (SB 09-118), ch. 327, p.1743, § 14, effective July 1. L. 2014: (6.5) and (6.7) amended, (HB 14-1270), ch. 365, p. 1745, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2019: IP and (8.7) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1721, § 226, effective October 1. L. 2021: (9.3), (11.3), and (11.7) added, (HB 21-1102), ch. 82, p. 311, § 1, effective September 7. L. 2022: (6.5) and (6.6) amended, (SB 22-167), ch. 144, p. 942, § 1, effective August 10. L. 2026: (1.7) and (8.5) added, (HB 26-1011), ch. 78, p. 314, § 2, effective April 29; (6.6) and (6.7) amended, (HB 26-1183), ch. 203, p. 1162, § 11, effective August 12.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 26-1011, see section 1 of chapter 78, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.

ANNOTATION

Mice and rats sold as food for other animals, and not as household pets, fall within the definition of "pet animal". Therefore, a facility in which mice and rats are raised for food is a "pet animal facility" that must be licensed under this article. Salazar v. Kubic, 2015 COA 148, 370 P.3d 342.