(1) It is unlawful for any person, company, or corporation to sell, offer for sale, slaughter, or move, either within the state or to a destination outside of Colorado, any calf under weaning age that is not branded with a Colorado recorded brand of the owner of the mother cow. A brand upon any calf shall be past the peeling state at the time that a calf is sold, offered for sale, slaughtered, or moved, except in the following cases:

(a) When the calf is accompanied by its branded ownership-proven mother;

(b) When the calf is accompanied by a current brand certificate issued by a duly authorized Colorado brand inspector after inspection at a time when such calf is with its branded ownership-proven mother;

(c) When the calf is a registered purebred breed or pure dairy breed, but this exception shall not apply to a crossbred calf.

(2) Any person, company, or corporation whose principal operation consists of feeding cattle for slaughter or operating a dairy may apply to the state board of stock inspection commissioners for a permit authorizing such person, company, or corporation to sell or offer for sale a calf under ten days old, which was born at the dairy or in the feed lot, without meeting the requirements of subsection (1) of this section. Such application shall be accompanied by a description of the operation. Upon determining that the applicant is qualified, the board shall issue a numbered permit to the applicant. Any calf under ten days old which is sold or offered for sale shall have affixed an eartag, supplied by the board, which bears the applicant's permit number. A calf sold under the provisions of this subsection (2) shall be accompanied by a duly executed bill of sale containing the owner's permit number and signed by the dairy owner or the feed lot owner.

(3) If a Colorado brand inspector is called to inspect an unbranded or freshly branded calf with its mother, any mileage expense shall be paid by the owner in addition to any brand inspection fee.

(4) Any person, company, or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars and by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ninety days. For a second or subsequent violation, such person, company, or corporation shall be punished by a mandatory fine of not less than five hundred dollars and by imprisonment in the county jail for of not less than ten days.

(5) Unbranded calves subject to this article, when found by brand inspectors at public livestock markets or at shipping points, shall be handled as estrays or questionable ownership livestock according to sections 35-43-118 and 35-53-107.