# Breeding laws in Virginia



## WildWolves (Nov 15, 2021)

Can anyone help me figure out the breeding laws in Virginia? How many dogs are allowed with and without a license, do you need a license to sell the pups, anything like that? I have such a hard time making sense of laws, it’s like reading a different language to me. If it helps (I’m not sure if it’s different per county) I mean Hanover county specifically 
P.S. I do not plan on breeding for AT LEAST 2 years from now. I just want to make sure I have everything straight


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

You could ask your Animal Control agency.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Why do you want to breed?


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## Buckelke (Sep 4, 2019)

It looks like individuals are not regulated in VA, only commercial breeders, other than normal consumer laws. (DO NOT take my word for it, you should contact an attorney to find out for sure before committing yourself to what could turn out to be a legal mess). I would contact your local animal control which would be familiar with local regulations and make a vet appointment to discuss what a responsible breeder would have to do. All together breeding your dog is an expensive event even without government regulation. Shelters are full of unwanted puppies that someone thought would be a good idea.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Ohio has the Ohio Revised Code, which contains the laws concerning pet ownership and breeding. It may have all the laws specific to Ohio. I know it does not cover any local laws. For instance, the Ohio Revised Code has a leash law of sorts -- dogs must be under control of a responsible person -- it does not specifically require the dog be leashed, but Cleveland has a leash law that is different. So if you are in Cleveland, or some municipality that may have their own laws as to how many animals you are allowed to own, etc, it is good to find that information out. Sometimes the place where you purchase your dog-license has that information. For us, it is the county auditor's office, though they sell them at a variety of businesses. I go to the court house/auditor's office, and they generally have a brochure with pertinent dog-laws. 

In Ohio, we do not have a certain number allowed. But for dogs kept for breeding or hunting, you can buy a kennel license. The kennel license costs 5x what a dog license costs and provides 5 tags additional tags cost $1. This works to my advantage as I have 11 dogs, and at $12/license that would $132. My cost is $66 -- $60+6 for the extra tags. I also have to have a Vendor's license which is a 1-time $25 fee, and the requirement of filing sales tax twice a year. If I sell no puppies in a half-year, it is a zero return. We have no specific requirements for breeding until you are breeding enough dogs to fall under the USDA, and some recent legislation makes you fall under them if you sell any dogs over the internet or ship dogs sight unseen to puppy buyers. I don't know what other breeders are doing, but I have so few puppies that I won't sell over the internet and demand that folks pick up puppies in person -- I want to meet the people that have my dogs. 

The USDA is a federal thing, and some breeders say they are USDA. That is not a positive thing at all. They are regulated by an agricultural agency and have to be inspected, but their requirements are a minimum of standards. Like for shepherds, the requirement may be a 4'x16' run. A 10'x15' run may have more than double the area but may not pass inspection because it is not 16' long. Oh and puppies may not be born in an area that has any pourous flooring, etc, which would preclude having puppies in the home -- this is the biggest issue for shepherd breeders. Our dogs are going to be family dogs, and they should be raised in the home. 

Without being USDA, for years you may not have anyone checking up on you about breeding your dogs, until your new neighbors who bought the home knowing that you had dogs over there, become itchy about your dogs and decide to call the dog Warden. Or when a potential buyer becomes offended because you refused to sell them a pup. Then, in Ohio, if you have a good dog Warden, before she ever arrives at your place, she goes to the courthouse and checks out your licenses, and goes to your vet and asks about your vetting -- and at that point it is really good to have all your ducks in a row. In Ohio, the Game Warden and the Dog Warden have more actual power than any other police organization because the Game Warden without a warrant can come and ask to see the contents of your freezer, the Dog Warden can also demand to see your dogs. I don't know if she can demand to come inside the home or not. When she was at my house she peered in the windows but did not ask to come in. All my dogs were outside -- those in the in/outs came out to see what was up. Seeing the condition of the dogs and the outside area was probably enough to decide whether or not she felt it necessary to go inside. 

Once you start breeding, you are going to have more than 2 dogs. As a breeder, you take pups back if they don't work out, you keep breeding stock, you keep pups that you are letting grow out before you make a decision as to whether they will be added to your breeding program, you may keep retired breeding stock though some folks keep their bitches until age 6 and then find them a good home. Maybe you keep a dog with an issue that you do not want to saddle a new owner with. The point is that you tend to start acquiring numbers of dogs. And with a number of dogs, unless you debark them (cruel and possibly illegal to own the debarked dog) your neighbors will hear them, and even in the sticks, people may complain. So unless you have an enormous property, where the dogs are in the most central acre, surrounded by woods that prevent them from seeing anything that might make them bark, or enough land that the barks cannot be heard from beyond its borders, or the dogs are holed up inside a barn at all times, it is best to know the laws pertaining to dog ownership and breeding and have all your ducks in a row.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

When you check with animal control you not only have to check the state laws but also the county laws. The Animal Control Board is usually a county dept and May have a few differences.


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## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

You should also check city ordinances, in the city where we used to live you had to have a breeders license if you had more than three dogs, even if you weren't breeding.


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