Coverage for the pets in your care.

Boarding and grooming: duty of care and no-show owners

Civil Code 1834 says a depositary of living animals, meaning someone keeping another person's animal, must provide necessary and prompt veterinary care, nutrition and shelter, and treat the animals kindly. A depositary that fails those duties may be liable for civil damages as provided by law. Set up a vet relationship before a boarded dog gets sick.

Civil Code 1834.5 covers the owner who never comes back. It applies to an animal left with a veterinarian, dog kennel, cat kennel, pet-grooming parlor, animal hospital or any other animal care facility under a written or oral agreement. Here's what it sets out:

1. A posted notice. The section requires a notice, posted in a conspicuous place or printed in conspicuous type on the written receipt given to the person leaving the animal, warning them of its provisions.
2. 14 calendar days. An animal not picked up within 14 calendar days after the day it was initially due to be picked up is deemed abandoned.
3. At least 10 days of rehoming. The facility must first try, for at least 10 days, to find a new owner, or transfer the animal to a public animal control agency, shelter, humane society shelter, SPCA or nonprofit rescue group that has been contacted and agreed to take it. Euthanasia is allowed only if that fails, and the section says nothing requires it.
4. No experimentation. An abandoned animal may not be used for scientific or any other type of experimentation.

Keep a dated log of every call, text and rescue contact. An animal held past its pickup date is still on your premises, so ask how your animal bailee coverage treats that period.

Selling or showing animals: store and federal rules

If your business sells animals or charges to show them, two more sets of rules apply.

California pet stores

Health and Safety Code 122354.5 bars a pet store from adopting out, selling or offering for sale a dog, cat or rabbit. A store may give display space to a public animal control agency or shelter, or to an animal rescue group: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does not breed animals or obtain them for payment from breeders or brokers. Each displayed animal must be sterilized and adoptable for total fees of no more than $500, the store may not receive any fee for the display, and adoption fees must be posted near the enclosures. If a violation isn't corrected after written notice, civil penalties are $1,000 for a first violation, $2,500 for a second and $5,000 for each after that. Each animal is a separate violation, and local governments may adopt stricter rules.

The federal Animal Welfare Act license

Under 9 CFR 2.1, a dealer, exhibitor or auction sale operator needs a USDA license unless an exemption applies. The exemptions include:

• Retail pet stores, where seller, buyer and animal are physically present so every buyer may observe the animal before buying. A business that exhibits pet animals in a separate or adjacent room, an outside area or off its premises falls outside that definition.
• People who keep four or fewer breeding females and sell only offspring born and raised on their premises, for pets or exhibition.
• People who transport animals solely for breeding, purebred shows, boarding (not in association with commercial transportation), grooming or medical treatment, and don't otherwise need a license.

Under 9 CFR 1.1, an exhibitor is anyone exhibiting animals to the public for compensation, and the term includes carnivals, circuses and animal acts; purebred dog and cat shows are excluded. If you book paid appearances or sell animals the buyer never sees in person, check your USDA status before you apply for coverage. Underwriters ask about it.