What Ontario animal-welfare rules apply when you buy or sell a pet store?

Section 13(1) of Ontario’s Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019 says every person who owns or has custody or care of an animal must comply with the standards of care and the administrative requirements for every animal in their ownership, custody or care. Section 13 carves out exceptions, including for agricultural activity and for veterinarians. Because the duty follows ownership, custody or care, a buyer and seller should be clear about when each of those passes for the animals in the store.

The standards a store has to meet

Ontario Regulation 444/19 sets the standards of care. Its basic standards say every animal must be provided with adequate and appropriate food and water, with adequate and appropriate medical attention, with the care necessary for its general welfare, and with an adequate and appropriate resting and sleeping area. The regulation also sets requirements on sanitary conditions. When you are buying, look at how the current owner meets each of these for the animals and enclosures on site, and ask what records support it.

Distress and inspector orders

Section 15 of the Act says no person shall cause an animal to be in distress, and no owner or custodian shall permit it, subject to the exceptions in section 15(4). Under section 30(1), an animal welfare inspector who has reasonable grounds to believe an animal is in distress, and who can promptly find the owner or custodian, may order that person to take the action the inspector considers necessary to relieve the distress. Ask a seller whether any order has been issued and whether it has been complied with.

When an animal under an order changes hands

Section 30(6) says that if an animal that is the subject of such an order is transferred to a different owner, the former owner must collect prescribed contact information from the new owner and immediately give written notice of the transfer, with that information, to an animal welfare inspector. Section 30(7) sets a matching duty for a former custodian when ongoing custody of such an animal is transferred. A seller handing over animals should confirm with a lawyer whether any of them is covered. Licensing is a separate layer: the City of Mississauga, for one, lists “Pet shop” among its business licences, so check with the municipality where the store sits. For the wider sale process, see selling a pet supply store.