Penalties
What happens if you sell dog treats without a license?
Verified September 7, 2026. Figures quoted from the statute, rule, fee page or form.
State feed laws carry real penalty sections, and they reach a home baker selling at a market as much as a mill. The usual pattern is a misdemeanor for any violation of the chapter, an administrative fine per violation in some states, stop-sale or embargo powers over the product, and late fees on the money side. This page prints each verified state's penalty provision in its own words, so the consequence is read from the statute rather than from a forum.
The three layers of consequence
First, the product: a feed control official can issue a stop-sale, hold or withdrawal-from-distribution order on feed that is unlicensed, unregistered, misbranded or adulterated, and can seek condemnation in court. Second, the money: administrative penalties per violation where the state has them, plus late fees and penalty bands on the license and registration fees. Third, the person: a misdemeanor classification, with the fine and jail range usually sitting in the state's general sentencing sections rather than in the feed law itself.
The verified states differ mainly in the second layer. Some print a capped administrative fine per violation. Some rely on the misdemeanor alone and print nothing about amounts. One state grades its offense up on a second conviction. Where the amount sits in a general sentencing statute that we did not read, the state page says so instead of quoting a number from memory.
Where the risk actually comes from
Enforcement in this area is mostly complaint-driven and label-driven. A bag on a shelf or a marketplace listing with no guarantor name, no guaranteed analysis or a claim the state does not permit is what draws an inspector, and the license question follows. One verified state says in its own guidance that it does not inspect a home kitchen under normal circumstances, only on a customer complaint. The cheapest protection is a label that follows the state list and an instrument on file before the first sale.
The penalty provision, state by state
| State | What the state says | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | YesA violation is a Class C misdemeanor and a Class B misdemeanor after a previous conviction (Tex. Agric. Code 141.141); the fine ranges for those classes sit in the Texas Penal Code, which is not in this snapshot, so the monetary consequences that can be evidenced here are the late tonnage penalty of 15 percent of the inspection fee due or $50, whichever is greater, and cancellation of the license if the penalty and delinquent fee are not paid before the 61st day (141.073) | Tex. Agric. Code §141.141(a)-(b) (General Penalty), OTSC reprint |
| Florida | YesAn administrative fine in the Class I category for each occurrence, capped by rule at $1,000 per violation, plus warning letter, suspension or revocation of the master registration and probation up to 6 months (580.121(1)); a separate penalty of $100 per violation for distributing feed without the required label (580.051(5), 5E-3.018(1)); a violation of the chapter is also a misdemeanor of the second degree (580.121(3)(a)) | Fla. Stat. 580.121(1)(a)-(d) |
| Ohio | YesA violation is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and of the third degree on each subsequent offense (ORC 923.99); the fine and jail ranges for those degrees sit in the general sentencing sections of the Revised Code, which are not in this snapshot, so the monetary consequence that can be evidenced here is the tonnage penalty of ten per cent of the amount due or fifty dollars, whichever is greater, for a late statement or late fee (ORC 923.44(B)), alongside withdrawal from distribution, seizure and revocation or suspension of the registration | Ohio Rev. Code § 923.99 |
| Illinois | YesA person convicted of violating the Act is adjudged guilty of a business offense (505 ILCS 30/12(a)); no fine range for a business offense appears in the Act and the general sentencing provision is not in the snapshot, so the monetary consequence that can be evidenced here is the collection fee of 10 percent of the inspection fee due or $50, whichever is greater, when a tonnage report or payment is more than fifteen days late (505 ILCS 30/6(c)(1)), alongside suspension or revocation of the registration or firm license (505 ILCS 30/14.2) | 505 ILCS 30/12(a) (Penalties) |
| Michigan | YesAn administrative fine of not more than $1,000.00 for each violation or attempted violation after notice and an opportunity for a hearing (MCL 287.536(2)), and a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 90 days or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both, for each violation, in addition to any administrative fine (MCL 287.536(5)) | MCL 287.536(2) (Violation of act or rules; administrative fine) |
| Iowa | YesA violation is a simple misdemeanor (Iowa Code 198.13(1)); an inspection fee not remitted within fifteen days following the due date carries a delinquency fee of ten percent of the amount due or fifty dollars, whichever is greater (198.9(2)(a)(1)); IDALS applies the same ten percent or $50 to a small-package product registration renewed and postmarked on or after February 16, which is agency guidance rather than statute; the fine range behind the simple misdemeanor is in the general Iowa sentencing sections, which are not in this snapshot | Iowa Code Sec. 198.13(1) (Penalties) |
| Missouri | YesAn administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each serious violation (2 CSR 70-30.110(1), Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.212.2); a knowing or reckless violation is also a misdemeanor (266.210.1), whose fine range sits in the general Missouri sentencing sections, which are not in this snapshot; a late tonnage report carries 20 percent of the amount due or $5, whichever is greater | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.210.1 (Penalties) |
| Indiana | YesA Class A infraction for the prohibited acts, including failure to obtain a commercial feed license and failure to pay inspection fees or file reports (IC 15-19-7-40(5)-(6)), and separately for distributing any animal feed stated, promoted or advertised as suitable for human food unless it meets all federal, state and local health and labeling requirements for human consumption (15-19-7-40(8)); the money judgment for a Class A infraction sits in the general Indiana infraction sections, which are not in this snapshot, so the monetary consequences that can be evidenced here are the $50 late license filing fees (15-19-7-24(c)(2)-(3)), the $10 per product late listing fee (15-19-7-31(c)(2)) and the ten percent or $50 late tonnage penalty (15-19-7-31(a)) | IC 15-19-7-40(1)-(6) (Prohibited acts) |
| California | YesImprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both; and imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both, where the violation is committed after a conviction has become final or with intent to defraud or mislead | Cal. Health & Safety Code § 113080(a) (Art. 3, Prohibited Acts and Penalties) |
| Georgia | YesAny violation of the chapter is a misdemeanor (O.C.G.A. 2-13-23); the fine range for a misdemeanor sits in the general Georgia sentencing sections, which are not in this snapshot, so the monetary consequences that can be evidenced here are the license-fee penalty bands, which take the lowest band from $75 to $90, $105 and $150 as the payment date slips past January 31, and the registration penalty bands, which take $40 to $55, $70 and $80 | O.C.G.A. § 2-13-23 |
Whether size or home production is a defense
| State | What the state says | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | NoNo size, revenue, premises or home-kitchen exemption; the only carve-outs are the commodity exclusions of Tex. Agric. Code 141.002(c), including a feed product produced and sold by a farmer | 4 TAC §61.1(11) (Definitions) |
| Florida | NoNo size, revenue, premises or home-kitchen exemption; the only carve-outs are the three commodity exceptions in Fla. Stat. 580.031(2)(a)-(c) | Fla. Stat. 580.031(2)(c) |
| Ohio | NoNo home-producer, cottage, kitchen, hobby, gross-receipts or volume exemption; the only exemption power reaches unmixed agricultural commodities and unmixed individual chemical compounds | Ohio Rev. Code § 923.411(A) |
| Illinois | NoNo size, revenue, premises or home-kitchen exemption; the only carve-outs are the three commodity exceptions in 505 ILCS 30/3(d)(1)-(3), customer-formula feed from registration in 30/4(a) and the tonnage exceptions in 30/6(a)(1)-(3) | IDOA, Pet Food as a Business — A Regulatory Guide for the Cottage Industry (intro paragraph) |
| Michigan | NoThe four license exemptions turn on retail resale, on-farm mixing, integrated operations and diversion to a licensee, and none of them turns on volume, revenue or home production | MCL 287.524(2)(a)-(d) (persons not required to obtain a license) |
| Iowa | NoIowa Code ch. 198 contains no volume, revenue or home-producer exemption, and IDALS states there are no exceptions in Iowa law in the fees or with label compliance | IDALS 'Pet Food Registration in Iowa', item 1.C |
| Missouri | NoNo volume, revenue or home-scale exemption from the license; MDA states that the license requirement applies to anyone producing pet food or treats in their own home as much as in a commercial facility | MDA 'Guide to Making and Selling Pet Food & Pet Treats', page 1 scope statement |
| Indiana | NoInd. Code ch. 15-19-7 contains no size, revenue, premises or home-kitchen exemption from the license duty at IC 15-19-7-24(a), and OISC states that everyone must be licensed regardless of company size or amount distributed | IC 15-19-7-24(a) (Distributors; commercial feed licenses) |
| California | NoNo volume, revenue or home-scale exemption anywhere in Cal. Health & Safety Code ch. 10, and CDPH bars production in a residence; failure to obtain a license is itself a prohibited act under Sec. 113075(h) | CDPH, Frequently Asked Questions for Pet Food Processor Registration, Q5 |
| Georgia | NoNo size, revenue, premises or home-kitchen exemption; the only exemption is feed manufactured or produced for the maker own domestic animals, livestock or poultry | O.C.G.A. § 2-13-22(a) |
Verified states on this site
This guide prints only what the verified state records support. More states are added a block at a time as they clear verification.
Questions people actually type
Is selling dog treats without a license a crime?
In the verified states a violation of the feed chapter is classified as a misdemeanor or, in one state, an infraction, and failing to obtain the license is listed among the prohibited acts. What that classification means in fines or jail time sits in each state's general sentencing law. The state page quotes the classification and says plainly when the amount is not in the text we read.
Will the state fine me for a first mistake?
The statutes allow it; the practice we could read suggests the first step is usually a notice, a stop-sale or a request to fix the label and file. Administrative fines in the verified states require notice and an opportunity for a hearing first. None of that is a promise, and the penalty section on each state page is the text to plan around.
What is a stop-sale order?
A written order from the feed control official that the named lot of feed may not be sold or moved until the violation is corrected or the product is released. It attaches to the product, not the person, and it is the most common first enforcement step in the model bill that the verified states follow.
Keep reading
DogTreatLicense is an informational reference about state commercial feed laws as they apply to people who make and sell pet treats in the United States. It reprints instrument names, fees, thresholds, label items and citations from state statutes, rules, fee schedules and agency forms, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and fees and rules change. Confirm with the state feed control office before you register or sell.
Questions about this page go to the state feed control office first. Our terms explain what this site is and is not. See also privacy.