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The hobby breeder?

Please note: This article deals with the situation and laws in Germany, but it might be the same in other countries, too. Just check your laws and regulations.

One can read in many advertisements, online or in cat magazines: Breeding cats is a hobby.
One can hear that also in meetings, on exhibitions or in general assemblies of various organizations: It is only a hobby.

No one wants to be a commercial breeder. Unfortunately, the laws and court verdicts tell a very different story.

An extract from the BAnz = Bundesanzeiger
Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zur Durchführung des Tierschutzgesetzes
vom 9. Februar 2000
(BAnz. Nr. 36a vom 22. Februar 2000)
Artikel 12.2.1.5.1
 

Translation:
General administration rules for the application of the animal protection law.
February the 9th, 2000.
Published February the 22nd, 2000 in the BAnz)

12.2.1.5.1 Die Voraussetzungen für ein gewerbsmäßiges Züchten sind in der Regel erfüllt, wenn eine Haltungseinheit folgenden Umfang oder folgende Absatzmengen erreicht:
- Hunde: 3 oder mehr fortpflanzungsfähige Hündinnen oder 3 oder mehr Würfe pro Jahr,
- Katzen: 5 oder mehr fortpflanzungsfähige Katzen oder 5 oder mehr Würfe pro Jahr,
- Kaninchen, Chinchillas: mehr als 100 Jungtiere als Heimtiere pro Jahr,
- Meerschweinchen: mehr als 100 Jungtiere pro Jahr,
- Mäuse, Hamster, Ratten, Gerbils: mehr als 300 Jungtiere pro Jahr,
- Reptilien: mehr als 100 Jungtiere pro Jahr, bei Schildkröten: mehr als 50 Jungtiere pro Jahr.

Translation:
12.2.1.5.1 The conditions for commercial breeders are met, when the following numbers are reached in the cattery:
- Dogs: 3 or more non-neutered females or 3 or more litters per year,
- Cats: 5 or more non-neutered females or 5 or more litters per year,
- Rabbits, Chinchillas: more than 100 kittens per year for the home environment
- Guinea-pigs: more than 100 kittens per year,
- Mice, hamsters, rats, gerbils: more than 300 kittens per year,
- Reptiles: more than 100 kittens per year, tortoises: more than 50 kittens per year.

You may download these administration rules at the site of the University of Heidelberg:
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/tierschutz/AVV_TierSchG.pdf

If one reads this text sorrowfully, then it is already sufficient only to own 5 non-neutered queens to be called a commercial breeder.
Regardless, if one has a litter from these queens or not.

Think twice when advertising your cattery, check your Internet site and your advertisements, before you call yourself a hobby-breeder.

Remark:
The BAnz is the official journal in Germany, where all laws and regulations are officially published.

Being a hobby-breeder when selling kittens periodically?
Being a hobby-breeder when advertising periodically?

than - may be - you may not call yourself a hobby-breeder any longer.

Compare the following court's judgement
Urteil OLG Hamm v. 3.5.2005 - 19 U 123/04,
wonach ein gewerbsmäßiger Züchter auch ein Unternehmer ist.
Lesen Sie dazu mehr bei
IWW (Institut für Wirtschaftspublizistik):
http://www.iww.de/

Translation:
Higher regional court of Hamm,
According to this judgement a commercial breeder is also an entrepreneur.
You can read more about it
at the Institute of Economical Journalism (shortly referenced as IWW).

Even this judgement deals with breeding horses, it may be applied also to cat breeders, that you might be treated like a commercial breeder.

Compare the following court's judgement
Urteil LG Darmstadt v. 27.10.1999, AZ 2 0 163/99,
wonach ein Züchter auch ein Unternehmer ist, wenn die Zucht dauernd betrieben wird und auf Gewinnerzielung zielt.
Auch wenn tatsächlich kein Gewinn erzielt wird, genügt alleine schon die Absicht.
Nachzulesen bei rassehunde.de:
http://www.rassehunde.de/themen/themen-doc/vdh_VDH/27-10-99.html

Translation:
Regional Court of Darmstadt
According to this judgement a breeder is an entrepreneur, when breeding periodically and having the intention to earn money.
It is irrelevant, if someone actually earns money, it is already sufficient only to have the intention.
You may read about this verdict at

This judgement deals with a dog breeder, who sold 13 kittens in one year. But what is applied to dog breeders may also be applied to cat breeders.
13 kittens are not many in some breeds. Just think about Maine Coons, where litters with 5 or 6 or more kittens are usual.
Two litters may be sufficient to reach that number of 13.

"But we do not earn any money with our breeding!"
According to this verdict it is irrelevant, if one actually earns money or not.
According to this verdict, the "intention to earn money" means selling kittens and to advertise them.

BGB - Entrepreneur? - Selling consumer goods?

BGB ... General Civil Law

According to BGB §14 you may be treated as entrepreneur, even you are not a tradesman nor have any trading company.
And this may impact several consequences for you, concerning the guarantee according to BGB §§ 437, 438 and 475.

Remarks:
Every country has a General Civil Law, which rules, what is commercial, what is a sales contract, what is a consumer, what is an entrepreneur.
According to the new EC-rules one has to give now a 2-years-guarantee on every product he sells. Still animals are treated like goods in many countries, even they are not.

Are you a consumer?
Are you an entrepreneur?

Some technical terms:

Explanation:
The first item in the law defines, what buying consumer goods means, it means that a consumer buys goods from an entrepreneur. It also says, that animals are not objects, but that the law for consumer goods has to be applied accordingly. It is also referred explicitly to the paragraphs about the guarantee.
The next item defines, what a consumer is, simply every natural person which signs a sales contract (verbally or written) to buy something.
The last item defines, what an entrepreneur is, simply every natural or juridical person or group of persons which sells something and thus is working herewith like a salesman.

The BGB can be found online at
Ministery of Justice:
http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bgb/

What is a commerce?
What is commercial?

Nach § 15(2) EStG ist ein Gewerbe:

"(2) Eine selbständige nachhaltige Betätigung, die mit der Absicht, Gewinn zu erzielen, unternommen wird und sich als Beteiligung am allgemeinen wirtschaftlichen Verkehr darstellt, ist Gewerbebetrieb, wenn die Betätigung weder als Ausübung von Land- und Forstwirtschaft noch als Ausübung eines freien Berufs noch als eine andere selbständige Arbeit anzusehen ist. (...) Ein Gewerbebetrieb liegt, wenn seine Voraussetzungen im Übrigen gegeben sind, auch dann vor, wenn die Gewinnerzielungsabsicht nur ein Nebenzweck ist."

Explanation:
This is a paragraph from the financial law which defines what commerce means:
every longer lasting task with the intention to earn money, which is planned and organized and participates in the general field of economics. It is also stated here extra, that a business is also called commercial, even when the intention to earn money is not the main goal.

EStG ... Einkommenssteuergesetz (financial law dealing with taxes)
This law can be found at
Ministery of Finances:
http://bundesrecht.juris.de/estg/index.html

Commerce – commercial is - according to this financial law:

Mercantile - business-like:
You sell kittens, you buy food, litter, accessories, etc., you buy breeding queens, and you work after a certain plan.

Self-reliant:
You breed by your own and do not breed for someone else. This applies also to  breeders which have made a joint-venture to breed together.

Planned:
You breed after a certain breeding program with a certain goal. Even this breeding program does not exist in writing, you plan your breeding.

Lasting for a longer time:
You have litters periodically and during a longer period.
It is irrelevant, even if you have only a litter every 2nd year, this is also periodically - you must see here a longer time period.

Earning money:
You sell your kittens.
Despite you might give away some kittens as a gift from time to time, that does not change your commercial business; that means it does not change your principal commercial task as an entrepreneur.
If you earn money in fact or not, is irrelevant according to the latest judgement of the Supreme Court BGH VIII ZR 173/05 from 29.3.2006.

Participation in the general field of economics:
You do not breed only for yourself to increase the number of your cats, you sell your kittens in principal to everyone. Even you check the new buyer sorrowfully and exclude some persons, in principal (= theoretical) your cats are sold to everybody.
And thus you present yourself as breeder as a bidder in the market, in the "cat market", and therefore you participate in the economics and trading.
You also advertise your kittens, online or in magazines or on your own homepage.

Freelancer:
Breeding cats - in Germany at least - does not belong to the so called freelancing jobs, like lawyers, doctors, journalists, artist, etc., it also does not belong to the job of a farmer or someone working in forests.

According to the judgement of the Supreme Court BGH VIII ZR 173/05 from 29.3.2006:
"Beim Verbrauchsgüterkauf (§ 474 BGB) setzt das Vorliegen eines Gewerbes und damit die Unternehmerstellung des Verkäufers nicht voraus, dass dieser mit seiner Geschäftstätigkeit die Absicht verfolgt, Gewinn zu erzielen."
You can read that at
IWW:
http://www.iww.de/

Explanation:
This latest judgement of the highest court ruled out, that selling something, i.e. having a commerce,  means only to have the intention to earn money.

Possible consequences