New Englanders! Much ado about New England!

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Many people on CL will not respond if they have already found a home for their animals. Posting a dog on CL is a good way to get bombarded with 50 million e-mails, most posters don't have time to answer them all so they just pick a home and eventually delete the ad (though sometimes they annoyingly leave it up). Lots of people looking, not too many dogs to be had. I got my dog off of CL and he is great. The woman told me she had 9 responses in the first 2 hours after she posted him. She chose us because of several reasons but the biggest one is that I posted what kind of home I had and all of my intentions in that first e-mail as well as asking for a pic since she didn't trust the people that just said they wanted him without finding out more first.

The trick is really to be the best home offered and make it very clear what assets your home and family will offer that will make it the best home for the pet in question

We also got a cat off of CL 2 years ago. I've been lucky in that I haven't had a bad CL experience but you do have to be careful.

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Cub Scout stuff all day today and a church school picnic tomorrow. Errands and household stuff in between. Pretty boring really!

Anyone looking to make a nice fridg-a-bator? Saw a Free non-working fridge on NH CL and thought I'd share for those of you that might be interested.

http://nh.craigslist.org/zip/1220057543.html

Maybe someone on here can make heads or tails of pet sales/give aways in NH. I went looking for something for a friend and discovered that the laws had changed! It used to be that if you were not a breeder, broker, or shelter and you only sold or gave away a small number of household pets (like your own or an accidental litter) then you were exempt from licensing. Now it says "no person" instead of "No breeder, broker, or shelter" (like it used to) and gives no exception for small numbers or free animals like it used to. It apparently changed Aug 17, 2007 since it used to have exceptions for personal pet owners and now it shows nothing of the sort. So the question is, can anyone in this state offer an animal, even for free, to another person??? The letter of the law says no, help me find a loophole!

Here is the most involved law in full:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xl/437/437-mrg.htm

Here is the "exceptions" portion of 437, nothing for pet owners or selling/giving away accidental litters:
437:7 Exception. – The license provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to breeders of dogs licensed under the provisions of RSA 466:6[see below next link]; veterinarians; owners and operators of horse riding stables; and auctioneers, breeders or keepers of farm livestock.

Another somewhat applicable law is:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xlv/466/466-mrg.htm

highlight from 466 showing what a "dog breeder" is in NH when it comes to vaccinations, health certs and keeping records. It seems that if you breed your dog (does it have to be intentional?) and give away the puppies you are a "breeder" by this law (466).
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Section 466:6-a
466:6-a Breeder's Health Certificate. –
I. No dog shall be sold in the state or out of the state by a breeder without first being inoculated against infectious canine diseases using a vaccine approved by the state veterinarian and unless accompanied by an official health certificate issued by a licensed veterinarian within 14 days. Said certificate shall be in triplicate, one copy of which shall be sent to the state veterinarian, one copy of which shall be kept by the breeder of said dog for a period of at least 3 years and one copy of which shall be given to the purchaser.
II. For purposes of this section, an official health certificate means a certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian on a form approved by the state veterinarian, containing the name and address of the breeder, the age, sex, breed and description of the dog, a list of all types of vaccines or medication administered to said dog, and the certification of the veterinarian that the dog is free from visual evidence of communicable diseases such as kennel cough (infectious tracheo bronchitis), canine distemper, and external and internal parasites (including coccidiosis).
III. No breeder shall deliver or cause to be delivered any dog less than 8 weeks of age.
IV. All incorporated or chartered humane societies with operating shelters in the state of New Hampshire are exempt from the requirements of this section relative to selling or transferring dogs except that dogs which have been imported into the state for transfer with or without a fee shall be accompanied by an official health certificate.
V. In this section, ""breeder'' means any person who breeds dogs for sale, gift or transfer in any manner.
V-a. The commissioner of the department of agriculture, markets, and food or designee is hereby authorized on the commissioner's own initiative or pursuant to complaints of other persons to investigate any complaints made pursuant to this section and to enforce the penalties of RSA 466:6-a, VI. The commissioner shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to the procedures for such investigations.
VI. (a) Any person who violates this subdivision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) In addition, any person or owner who violates any of the provisions of this subdivision or rule adopted under it may be subject to an administrative fine levied by the commissioner not to exceed $1,000 for each violation.
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So help me out here if you can. I've looked and looked and I can't find anything that makes it legal to do anything but get a license or surrender your pet to a shelter. Can it be that the ARs managed to slip something in that doesn't even give us the right to give away or sell our own pets here in NH?

In case you are wondering, it all came up in a dispute over craigslist "re-homing fees" and whether they were legal or not. I'm surprised to find, they just might not be.

So if someone sees something I don't, please point me in the right direction!

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Firedove, if you have an accidental litter or an animal you want to re home you can sell it or give it away as long as it is 8 weeks old, has first vaccines, is free from internal and external parasites and has a health certificate. You only need a Licence if your plan on doing it often.

That's just it, I can't find any such exception. There used to be exceptions in this section that accounted for single litters and personal pets. Now it just says that "no person" may sell or give away a pet without a license, no exceptions, no definition as to whom such persons are. It does mention that it "also" applies to commercial kennels/breeders, brokers, and animal shelters. The use of the word "also" as opposed to "only" is the troubling part. The other law defines breeder: ""breeder'' means any person who breeds dogs for sale, gift or transfer in any manner." no exceptions made for accidental litters, or small numbers of litters. There is another law which makes it legal to surrender your pet to a shelter, but nothing that says you can give away or sell a household pet that is your only pet sale/gift to another person.

I am trying to sell one more Saint mix and get flagged almost instantly! I hate CL

Not meaning to bring a sore subject up, but yes the laws have changed in most states. Be careful as ignorence is not a way to get out of the law.
Firedove, contact your state vet, he is the one that can give you that information or guide you to who will know. Also, possibly could your animal control officer have that information for you?

Also, if you buy a animal, turn around and sell it, that is considered a "Livestock dealer" and a liscense is manditory. Its a sad world we reside in now, no freedom for the "Hobby Farmer"- if laws don't get you, the insurance companies will.

(The only hands not in our pockets are ours.)

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Look at RSA 437:7 exceptions. read the last few words of the Law " Any breeders or keepers of Livestock" A horse is considered livestock. You own a horse dont you? Is the horse on your property? If it is you are a keeper of Livestock.

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The argument arose about cats and dogs. I do own a horse and I am selling him, but that was not the issue. Neither of us in the argument is actually trying to place a domestic pet (although I wouldn't mind finding a home for one of my cats).

Regardless, NHSled sent me an e-mail, apparently he spoke to the state vet recently and the legal limit is 6 litters or 50 puppies in a year. Case solved.