Sec. 22c.

(1) A person who holds a breeding license granted under section 22b shall do all of the following:

(a) Ensure that a facility in which a large carnivore is housed is adequately lit and free of clutter. Service doors must be clearly marked and in good working condition, and sufficient barriers must be in place to prevent unauthorized access to areas not intended for public access.

(b) Provide immediate access to staff working with or around large carnivores to designated emergency response personnel through a walkie-talkie, cellular telephone, alarm, or other electronic device.

(c) Create written emergency protocols for large carnivore escapes and injuries to humans by large carnivores and conduct annual emergency drills to practice responses for large carnivore escapes and injuries to humans by large carnivores. The emergency protocols must include communication systems to notify local law enforcement and emergency services.

(d) If law enforcement is not within a reasonable distance from the facility, create a trained firearms team. A trained firearms team shall have professional training and practice emergency responses at least 2 times each year.

(e) Provide and ensure the functionality of security and fire protection systems and methods that provide a reasonable level of safety for the collection of animals on a 24-hour basis, including, but not limited to, compliance with local building codes and an appropriate combination of night security, patrols, fire and smoke detection systems and alarms, monitors, and building design features.

(f) House a large carnivore that is not native to a temperate environment in an environment that has climate control and is comfortable for that species of large carnivore. An environment that relies on climate control must have an emergency backup system available, and all mechanical equipment must be included in a documented preventative maintenance program.

(g) Ensure that the conditions in which the large carnivore is kept take into account all of the following:

(i) Need for space.

(ii) Need for complexity in the large carnivore's environment in order to provide for the large carnivore's physical, social, and psychological well-being. The space in which the large carnivore is kept must include provisions for the behavioral enrichment of the large carnivore.

(iii) Choice and control over the use of space and social interactions with other large carnivores in the same space. The person must be capable of separating a large carnivore from other animals if the large carnivore exhibits a desire for separation.

(iv) Protection from injury and disease.

(h) Train staff to recognize abnormal behavior and clinical signs of illness and have knowledge regarding the diets, husbandry, natural history, and care required for large carnivores under their care to ensure the well-being of the large carnivores.

(i) Maintain a written policy for the acquisition, transfer, and disposition of large carnivores. The written policy described in this subdivision must satisfy all of the following:

(i) The policy must comply with all applicable local, state, federal, and international laws and regulations.

(ii) The policy must require documentation of ownership of large carnivores and any applicable chain of custody.

(iii) The policy must establish a system for the documentation of acquisition, transfer, and disposition of large carnivores using a comprehensive institutional record-keeping system. Individual large carnivores must be permanently identified as provided in section 5.

(iv) The policy must require the acquisition of a free-ranging animal to be done in accordance with applicable local, state, federal, and international laws and regulations and prohibit the acquisition if it is detrimental to the long-term viability of the large carnivore species in the wild.

(j) Meet all applicable local, state, federal, and international laws and regulations when designating a large carnivore for reintroduction and release into the wild.

(k) Satisfy all of the following requirements:

(i) Sign and provide to the department a succession plan for the large carnivores held by the person. The person shall also sign and provide to the department an affidavit stating that the person has the financial ability to care for the collection of large carnivores.

(ii) Has a written contingency plan in place in the event that a significant decrease in operating income occurs.

(iii) Provide insurance coverage for staff, volunteers, visitors, and physical facilities.

(l) Participate in scientific, sustainable, and cooperatively managed breeding programs that identify specific and typically threatened or endangered large carnivore species that are composed of large carnivores of known provenance and pedigree. A breeding program described in this subdivision must be based on comprehensive pedigree and demographic databases and analyses and must have long-range population management goals and recommendations to ensure sustainability of the population. A breeding program described in this subdivision must not allow the breeding of species hybrids or the breeding of a large carnivore for the purpose of selling, bartering, or trading the large carnivore's parts, and must ensure that adequate space to house offspring of a large carnivore is in place.

(m) Satisfy all of the following with respect to veterinary care of a large carnivore:

(i) Has a staff or attending veterinarian with knowledge of the species of large carnivore held by the person available 24 hours per day.

(ii) Has a veterinary care program that emphasizes disease prevention.

(iii) Perform routine health evaluations to evaluate for infectious and noninfectious diseases common to large carnivores. The health evaluations described in this subparagraph must include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(A) Fecal parasite screening.

(B) Complete blood count and serum chemistry.

(C) Weight.

(D) Health examinations described in section 6(5)(k).

(iv) Regularly vaccinate large carnivores for infectious diseases, as considered necessary by the attending veterinarian, and excludes from enclosures wildlife or feral animals that could transmit an infectious disease to a captive large carnivore.

(v) Consider procedures including, but not limited to, castration and ovariohysterectomy, that would benefit the long-term health and welfare of an individual large carnivore.

(vi) Adopt humane euthanasia practices as set forth in the "American Veterinary Medical Association Euthanasia Guidelines", performs necropsies on the deceased large carnivores to determine the cause of death, and disposes of a large carnivore after a necropsy in accordance with local, state, and federal law.

(vii) Meet all applicable laws or regulations regarding food preparation and storage.

(viii) Provide a nutritious diet and, to the best of the person's ability, minimizes disease, nutritional deficiencies, infections, parasite infestations, and obesity.

(ix) Make written procedures available to staff for the use of drugs for veterinary purposes, and maintains appropriate security over veterinary drugs.

(n) Maintain a written conservation action plan and strategy that is part of a collaborative, scientifically managed species conservation program for each species of large carnivore held that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(i) Participation in local, regional, national, or international conservation programs, including, but not limited to, staff support or participation in field conservation activities and financial support.

(ii) Education awareness programs for guests, staff, volunteers, supporters, members, vendors, and contractors.

(iii) Evaluation and measurement of the impact of conservation programs and activities.

(2) A person who holds a breeding license granted under section 22b shall not do any of the following:

(a) Transfer a large carnivore to a person that is not qualified or capable of safely maintaining the large carnivore or ensuring its well-being.

(b) Transfer a large carnivore to an animal auction or to a person that may display or sell the large carnivore at an animal auction.

(c) Transfer a large carnivore to a person that allows the hunting of large carnivores.

(d) Raise a large carnivore for the purpose of providing food, fur, pelts, body parts, organs, or bodily fluids, or transfer a large carnivore to a person that will use the large carnivore for any of these purposes.

(e) Perform disfiguring procedures, including, but not limited to, declawing and canine tooth removal, unless considered medically necessary by the attending veterinarian.

(f) Remove socially or nutritionally dependent young large carnivores from their mothers for hand-rearing unless deemed medically necessary by the attending veterinarian.

History: Add. 2018, Act 610, Eff. Mar. 28, 2019