Virginia Senate Bill 604 would clarify that dogs and cats in the possession of a person or an entity that breeds dogs or cats for animal testing facilities are considered companion animals for the purposes of animal cruelty statutes. The bill also provides that breeding dogs or cats for sale or transfer to a research facility, or breeding dogs or cats within a research facility, does not constitute bona fide scientific or medical experimentation for purposes of exemption from animal cruelty statutes. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources.