Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 3.2 > Subtitle V > Chapter 65 > Article 10 - Mandatory Sterilization of Dogs and Cats Adopted from Releasing Agencies.

• Abducted child: means a child (i) whose whereabouts are unknown, (ii) who is believed to have been abducted, (iii) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age, and (iv) whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Adoption: means the transfer of ownership of a dog or a cat, or any other companion animal, from a releasing agency to an individual. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amber Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared abducted, and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Amber Alert: means the notice of child abduction provided to the public by the media or other methods under an Amber Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Animal: means any nonhuman vertebrate species except fish. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Animal control officer: means a person appointed as an animal control officer or deputy animal control officer as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Baccalaureate: means that bachelor's degrees or more advanced degrees, or both, are granted. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Baccalaureate public institution of higher education: includes Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Longwood University, the University of Mary Washington, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, the University of Virginia, the University of Virginia's College at Wise as a division of the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State University, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Codi Agreement: means the voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a child will be declared missing or endangered and the public will be notified, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Comprehensive community college: means an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education governed by the State Board that offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:

  1. See Virginia Code 23.1-100

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Council: means the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Dealer: means any person who in the regular course of business for compensation or profit buys, sells, transfers, exchanges, or barters companion animals. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Division superintendent: means the division superintendent of schools of a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• Domicile: means the present, fixed home of an individual to which he returns following temporary absences and at which he intends to stay indefinitely. See Virginia Code 23.1-500
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Dual enrollment: means the enrollment of a qualified high school student in a postsecondary course that is creditable toward high school completion and a career certificate or an associate or baccalaureate degree at a public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Governing board: includes the State Board and the board of visitors of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Humane: means any action taken in consideration of and with the intent to provide for the animal's health and well-being. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Missing child: means any person who is under the age of 21 years, whose temporary or permanent residence is in Virginia, or is believed to be in Virginia, whose whereabouts are unknown to any parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis of the child, and who has been reported as missing to a law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing child report: means a report prepared in a format prescribed by the Superintendent for use by law-enforcement agencies to report missing child information to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse. See Virginia Code 52-32
• Missing or endangered child: means a child (i) who is 17 years of age or younger or is currently enrolled in a secondary school in the Commonwealth, regardless of age; (ii) whose whereabouts are unknown; and (iii) whose disappearance is under suspicious circumstances or poses a credible threat as determined by law enforcement to the safety and health of the child and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police. See Virginia Code 52-34.3:1
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• New owner: means an individual who is legally competent to enter into a binding agreement pursuant to subdivision B 2 of § Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Ordinance: means any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of any locality. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Owner: means any person who: (i) has a right of property in an animal; (ii) keeps or harbors an animal; (iii) has an animal in his care; or (iv) acts as a custodian of an animal. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Private institution of higher education: includes each nonprofit private institution of higher education and proprietary private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Program: means the procedures and Amber Agreements to aid in the identification and location of abducted children. See Virginia Code 52-34.1
• Public institution of higher education: includes the System as a whole and each associate-degree-granting and baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Releasing agency: means (i) a public animal shelter or (ii) a private animal shelter, humane society, animal welfare organization, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other similar entity or home-based rescue that releases companion animals for adoption. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• School board: means the school board that governs a school division. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
• State Board: means the State Board for Community Colleges. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• State Veterinarian: means the veterinarian employed by the Commissioner as provided in § Virginia Code 3.2-5900
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• sterilization: means a surgical or chemical procedure performed by a licensed veterinarian that renders a dog or cat permanently incapable of reproducing. See Virginia Code 3.2-6500
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction. See Virginia Code 22.1-1
• sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
• System: means the Virginia Community College System. See Virginia Code 23.1-100
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• Virginia student: means any student who has established domicile in the Commonwealth pursuant to § Virginia Code 23.1-100