AB 1953 Summary

• Expands the definition of veterinary medicine practice to include collection of blood from animals for transfusion or sale to licensed veterinarians, with exceptions for registered veterinary technicians and assistants working under supervision.

• Establishes "community blood banks for animals" that collect blood solely from voluntarily consenting community-sourced pet owners, requiring informed written consent and prohibiting payment to donors beyond veterinary health services.

• Requires community blood banks and veterinarians producing blood products to comply with current veterinary transfusion medicine standards, including bloodborne pathogen testing for dogs and cats and quarterly reporting to the Department of Food and Agriculture.

• Increases licensing fees for closed-colony blood banks from $250 to $1,000 annually and mandates discontinuation of canine closed-colony blood bank licensing within 12 months if community blood banks collect equal or greater volume of canine blood.

• Protects privacy of community animal donors by keeping their personal identifying information confidential under the California Public Records Act while allowing disclosure of non-identifiable data.