(1) The commissioner is authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of this article and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(2) The commissioner is authorized to adopt all reasonable rules for the administration and enforcement of this article, including, but not limited to:
(a) Minimum standards of physical facility, sanitation, ventilation, heating, cooling, humidity, spatial and enclosure requirements, nutrition, humane care, medical treatment, sterilization of dogs and cats released to prospective owners from animal shelters and pet animal rescues, and method of operation, including the minimum holding period for and disposition of stray or abandoned pet animals that are, in the opinion of the commissioner, necessary to carry out the provisions of this article; except that each holding period shall comply with section 35-80-106.3 (1);
(a.5) The minimum weight requirement for the transfer of cats;
(b) Maintenance of records concerning health care, euthanasia, and transactions involving pet animals;
(b.5) The content of, and procedures for, any written recommendations and warnings concerning rabies vaccinations that the commissioner may require a licensee to give in connection with the sale, transfer, trade, or adoption of a dog, cat, or ferret;
(b.6) Written disclosures by licensees in connection with the sale, transfer, trade, or adoption of a dog, cat, ferret, or bird and the retention by licensees of written documentation that the disclosures were made;
(c) The establishment of qualifications for any applicant and standards of practice for any of the licenses authorized under this article, including the establishment of classifications and subclassifications for any license authorized under this article;
(d) The issuance and reinstatement of any license authorized under this article and the grounds for any disciplinary actions authorized under this article, including letters of admonition or the denial, restriction, suspension, or revocation of any license authorized under this article; and
(e) (I) The amount of any license fee for a pet animal facility license. Such license fee may be different for different classifications and subclassifications of any license authorized under this article. The commissioner is authorized to determine the amount of any licensing fee authorized under this article based on the actual cost of administering and enforcing this article and any rules adopted pursuant thereto.
(II) Repealed.
(3) The commissioner is authorized to conduct hearings required under sections 35-80-112 and 35-80-113 pursuant to article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., and to use administrative law judges to conduct such hearings when their use would result in a net saving of costs to the department.
(4) The commissioner is authorized to establish the annual date or dates on which licenses and psittacine bird leg bands issued pursuant to this article shall expire.
(5) The commissioner is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with any agency or political subdivision of this state or with any agency of the United States government for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article, receiving grants-in-aid, and securing uniformity of rules.
(6) The powers and duties vested in the commissioner by this article may be delegated to qualified employees of the department.
(7) The commissioner shall appoint an advisory committee pursuant to section 35-80-115.
Source: L. 94: Entire article added, p. 1305, � 8, effective July 1. L. 2001: (2)(a) amended, p. 1263, � 4, effective June 5. L. 2003: (2)(a.5) added, p. 2095, � 7, effective July 1. L. 2008: IP(2) and (2)(a) amended, p. 201, � 3, effective January 1, 2009. L. 2009: (2)(e) and (4) amended, (SB 09-118), ch. 327, pp. 1741, 1743, �� 4, 12, effective July 1. L. 2014: (2)(b.5) and (2)(b.6) added, (HB 14-1270), ch. 365, p. 1746, � 7, effective July 1.
Editor's note: Subsection (2)(e)(II)(C) provided for the repeal of subsection (2)(e)(II), effective July 1, 2011. (See L. 2009, p. 1741.)
35-80-110. Inspections - investigations - access - subpoena - duty to report suspected animal cruelty or animal fighting - immunity. (1) The commissioner, upon the commissioner's own motion or upon the complaint of any person, may make any investigations necessary to ensure compliance with this article 80.
(2) Complaints of record made to the commissioner and the results of the commissioner's investigations may, at the discretion of the commissioner, be closed to public inspection, except to the person in interest, as defined in section 24-72-202 (4), or as provided by court order, during the investigatory period and until dismissed or until notice of hearing and charges are served on a licensee.
(3) At any reasonable time during regular business hours, the commissioner shall have free and unimpeded access upon consent or upon obtaining an administrative search warrant:
(a) To those portions of all buildings, yards, pens, and other areas in which any animals are kept, handled, or transported for the purpose of carrying out any provision of this article or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article; and
(b) To all records required to be kept and may make copies of such records for the purpose of carrying out any provision of this article or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article.
(3.5) After the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license for a pet animal facility, the commissioner shall have free and unimpeded access to the areas and records that are reasonably necessary to verify that operation of such a pet animal facility has ceased. The commissioner shall have such access upon consent or upon obtaining a search warrant to the following areas and records:
(a) To those portions of all buildings, yards, pens, and other areas in which animals are suspected of being kept, handled, or transported without the appropriate license; and
(b) To all records that are equivalent to those required to be kept for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article. The commissioner may make copies of such records for the purpose of carrying out any provision of this article or any rule promulgated pursuant to this article.
(4) The commissioner may administer oaths and take statements; issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses before the commissioner and require the production of all books, memoranda, papers and other documents, articles, or instruments; and compel the disclosure by such witnesses of all facts known to them relative to the matters under investigation. Upon the failure or refusal of a witness to obey a subpoena, the commissioner may petition the district court, and, upon a proper showing, the court may enter an order compelling the witness to appear and testify or produce documentary evidence. Failure to obey such an order of the court is punishable as a contempt of court.
(5) (a) If the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, in the course of an investigation under this article, has reasonable cause to know or suspect that an animal has been subjected to animal cruelty in violation of section 18-9-202, C.R.S., or animal fighting in violation of section 18-9-204, C.R.S., the commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall report or cause a report to be made of the animal cruelty or animal fighting to a local law enforcement agency or the state bureau of animal protection created in section 35-42-105. The commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall not knowingly make a false report.
(b) The mere filing of a complaint does not generate a requirement to report under paragraph (a) of this subsection (5).
(c) A commissioner or a commissioner's designee who willfully violates the provisions of this subsection (5) commits a petty offense, punishable as provided in section 18-1.3-503.
(d) (I) If the commissioner or the commissioner's designee reports in good faith a suspected incident of animal cruelty or animal fighting to the proper authorities in accordance with this subsection (5), the commissioner or the commissioner's designee is immune from liability in any civil or criminal action brought in connection with the report.
(II) In a civil or criminal action brought in connection with the report, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee is presumed to have acted in good faith.
Source: L. 94: Entire article added, p. 1307, � 8, effective July 1. L. 2000: (3.5) added, p. 1399, � 8, effective May 30. L. 2014: (5) added, (HB 14-1270), ch. 365, p. 1746, � 8, effective July 1. L. 2021: (5)(c) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3289, � 668, effective March 1, 2022. L. 2025: (1), (2), (4), and (5)(d)(I) amended, (HB 25-1084), ch. 24, p. 147, � 185, effective August 6.