TITLE 4 ANIMALS

Section 11. Animal Protection, 4-11-1 through 4-11-35.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

4-11-2. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Adequate food and water" means food and water which is sufficient in an amount and appropriate for the particular type of animal to prevent starvation, dehydration, or a significant risk to the animal's health from a lack of food or water.

   (1.1) "Animal control officer" means an individual authorized by local law or by the governing authority of a county or municipality to carry out the duties imposed by this article or imposed by local ordinance.

2. "Animal shelter" means any facility operated by or under contract for the state, a county, a municipal corporation, or any other political subdivision of the state for the purpose of impounding or harboring seized, stray, homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs, cats, and other animals; any veterinary hospital or clinic operated by a veterinarian or veterinarians which operates for such purpose in addition to its customary purposes; and any facility operated, owned, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, or other nonprofit organization for the purpose of providing for and promoting the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals.
3. "Equine" means any member of the Equidae species, including horses, mules, and asses.
4. "Humane care" of animals means, but is not limited to, the provision of adequate heat, ventilation, sanitary shelter, and wholesome and adequate food and water, consistent with the normal requirements and feeding habits of the animal's size, species, and breed.
5. "Kennel" means any establishment, other than an animal shelter, where dogs or cats are maintained for boarding, holding, training, or similar purposes for a fee or compensation.

   (5.1) "Owner" means a person who intentionally exercises custody, control, possession, or ownership of an animal.

6. "Person" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity, any public or private institution, the State of Georgia, or any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision of the state.
7. "Pet dealer" or "pet dealership" means any person who sells, offers to sell, exchanges, or offers for adoption dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, or other animals customarily obtained as pets in this state. However, a person who sells only animals that he or she has produced and raised, not to exceed 30 animals a year, shall not be considered a pet dealer under this article unless such person is licensed for a business by a local government or has a Georgia sales tax number. The Commissioner may with respect to any breed of animals decrease the 30 animal per year exception in the foregoing sentence to a lesser number of any animals for any species that is commonly bred and sold for commercial purposes in lesser quantities. Operation of a veterinary hospital or clinic by a licensed veterinarian shall not constitute the veterinarian as a pet dealer, kennel, or stable under this article.
8. "Secretary of agriculture" means the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture.
9. "Stable" means any building, structure, pasture, or other enclosure where equines are maintained for boarding, holding, training, breeding, riding, pulling vehicles, or other similar purposes and a fee is charged for maintaining such equines or for the use of such equines.

(Code 1981, §4-11-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1986, p. 628, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 328, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1650, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 754, § 4; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 4/HB 79; Ga. L. 2016, p. 178, § 1/SB 356.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised language in paragraph (8).

The 2016 amendment, effective April 26, 2016, added paragraph (5.1).