California purging thousands of puppy import records

California requires that dogs be examined by a veterinarian before they can enter the state for sale, a law meant to protect consumers from buying sick puppies and track disease outbreaks. “At the very least, they have to start with not destroying evidence.” Under California’s convoluted law, individuals who bring in dogs are obligated to send the records to county public health departments, but few actually do. In a statement, the state’s agriculture department stood by its decision to destroy the records: “The sale and movement of household pets are outside of CDFA’s jurisdiction.. We have messaging on our website that provides the correct destination for certificates of veterinary inspection.” That messaging is a general statement that the forms should go to local public health departments where the dog will live or be sold. The agency said that senders get an auto-reply indicating that it doesn’t regulate dogs coming into the state and that importers should send the travel certificates to counties. Indiana, which keeps the records sealed from the public but shares them with other state governments, said it sent more than 14,000 travel documents to the CDFA of dogs being brought into California since 2018.