Spotlight on MVMA's Small Animal Welfare Committee

The Small Animal Welfare Committee is one of 18 active committees, task forces, and action teams working through MVMA to advance and advocate for the veterinary profession in Minnesota. More than 200 MVMA members currently volunteer their time and expertise serving on committees of the association.

The Small Animal Welfare Committee’s charge is to identify issues that affect small animal welfare in the state of Minnesota and develop and monitor programs and policies to improve small animal welfare. For the purposes of this committee, small animals are defined as animals commonly managed by small animal veterinary practitioners.   

The committee meets 4 to 6 times per year at the MVMA office. Recent topics of discussion have included regulation of foster-based animal rescues, prevention of heartworm disease and canine brucellosis, proposed legislation on the formation of an Office of Animal Protection and, separately, a Companion Animal Board, feral cats and the merits of TNR programs, review of current laws for commercial dog and cat breeders, and developing a policy position on the elective declawing of cats.

The 31-member committee has been chaired by Paul Anderson, DVM, MS, since 2022. Dr. Anderson began his career practicing both small and large animal medicine, then joined the Minnesota Board of Animal Health staff in 1990, retiring in 2017. There, he participated in disease control programs for a variety of species and directed programs for regulation of kennels (shelters) and commercial dog and cat breeders. Fun fact: Dr. Anderson is entering his 50th year as an MVMA member in 2025!

Licensing and Inspection of Shelters, Rescues, and Dealers

The committee’s major undertaking over the past two years has been preparing a recommendation to amend Minnesota Statutes 347.31 to 347.40 to require the licensing and inspection of all shelters, rescues, and dealers by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

The statutes that are currently in place apply to “kennels and dealers” and were written in 1967 and last amended in 1988 — before shelters and foster-based rescues had become a primary source of dogs and cats. A loophole in the statutes effectively exempts an estimated 600 foster-based rescues in Minnesota from licensing and inspection.

Some foster-based rescues are very well run; however, some are notorious for selling animals that are sick, have congenital abnormalities, or are otherwise unsuitable for life within a family. The lack of licensing and inspection requirements for shelter-based rescues has long been understood as an issue by those in the veterinary profession, and in 2022 the Small Animal Welfare Committee decided to take action.

In addition to updating statute language so that foster-based rescues are subject to licensing and inspection, the committee is proposing significant and detailed expansions to sections that outline standards for facilities and enrichment, define standards of care, and specify procedures for inspection and licensing.

It has been a two-year long process, and committee members have put significant time and thought into drafting updated statutes that can be brought to lawmakers with the goal of protecting the health and welfare of Minnesota dogs and cats as well as protecting consumers from organizations misrepresenting the health and suitability of animals.

The recommendation was recently finalized and approved by the MVMA Board of Directors and added to our 2025 legislative priorities by the MVMA Governmental Affairs Committee. MVMA’s lobbyists are expertly guiding the process of getting the recommendation before the Minnesota legislature for consideration. In December, the recommendation was submitted to the revisor’s office, where it is currently being reviewed and reworked into bill form as necessary. The next step will be to line up authors for the bill. We’ll share updates in future newsletter issues as we have them.

We are grateful to members of the Small Animal Welfare Committee for the time and expertise they have lent to this effort!

MVMA members are welcome and encouraged to volunteer their time and talents on committees of interest to them. If reading about the Small Animal Welfare Committee’s recent work has inspired you, please reach out to the MVMA office or committee chair Dr. Paul Anderson to learn about joining. 

Article by Jenn Stromberg, MVMA Marketing and Communications Manager