Is it true that a new California law coming into effect in 2026 requires that all dogs be at least one year old before they can be sold to someone else?
Executive summary
No — nothing in the reporting shows a new California law that outright requires all dogs to be at least one year old before they may be sold; the 2026 package tightens transparency, bans third‑party pet brokers, requires import health certificates, and includes consumer‑protection provisions that affect contracts for animals under one year, but it does not establish a blanket one‑year minimum sale age [1] [2] [3].
1. What the new 2026 California laws actually do
The legislative package signed in October 2025 and taking effect Jan. 1, 2026, includes a pet‑broker ban (AB 519) that prevents third‑party sellers who profit from reselling animals bred by others from doing business in the state, transparency rules that void certain deposit contracts for dogs under one year (AB 506), and a documentation requirement for dog importers to submit health certificates to the state within 10 days (SB 312) — all aimed at disrupting the “puppy mill pipeline” into California [1] [2] [3].
2. Where the “one year” claim appears in reporting — and what it means
Several sources reference the phrase “under one year” in the context of contract terms and deposits rather than a prohibition on sales: Animal Legal Defense Fund and spcaLA summaries note that AB 506 voids contracts requiring non‑refundable deposits on dogs (and other animals) under one year and requires seller disclosure of an animal’s origin and health history — that is a consumer‑protection measure, not a universal minimum age ban on transfers or purchases [1] [4].
3. Existing and related age limits remain separate and younger
California already has statutes that limit the sale or transfer of very young puppies — for example, a longstanding law makes it a crime to sell dogs under eight weeks of age without a prior veterinarian approval for physical transfer — and other consumer‑disclosure and shelter/adoption rules remain in effect; those existing provisions are distinct from the 2026 reforms and continue to govern very young puppies [5] [6].
4. How enforcement and exemptions shape reality on the ground
The new laws carve out explicit exemptions for shelters, rescues, service animals and government or educational entities, and the enforcement model relies on transparency, public health certificates and reports rather than wholesale criminalization of sellers of younger dogs; observers have noted enforcement may fall partly to nonprofits and local agencies to flag breaches of the broker ban or improper imports [2] [7].
5. Why the misreading spreads — agendas and framing
Reporting from advocacy groups, breed organizations and media coverage emphasizing a “one‑year” phrase in the bill summaries can create the impression of a blanket age cutoff; breeder groups and the American Kennel Club pushed for explicit exemptions for service and police dogs and noted that the laws do not prohibit transfers of dogs over the age of one year, which further clarifies the bills were not meant to impose a blanket one‑year sale restriction [8] [2].
6. Bottom line and limitations of available reporting
Based on the published summaries and bill descriptions, California’s 2026 laws do not require all dogs to be at least one year old before sale; rather, they impose broker bans, require import health certificate filings, strengthen disclosure requirements and void certain deposit contracts involving animals under one year — the effect is consumer protection and supply‑chain transparency, not a universal one‑year minimum sale age [1] [3] [2]. This assessment is limited to the sources provided; full statutory text and administrative guidance from the California Department of Food and Agriculture would be the definitive references for fine‑grained enforcement questions, and those were not supplied here.