Pet Store Owners In California Are Only Allowed To Sell Rescue Animals Now Thanks To New Bill

HIP, HIP, HOORAY! I’m here today to bring all you animal rights advocates and animal lovers some wonderful, wonderful news. Especially if you happen to live in the grand old state of California.

On January 1st, 2019 a new state law went to effect which bans pets stores from selling not only puppies but also kittens and rabbits from commercial breeders. HALLE-LUH! Pet stores will now only be able to sell rescue animals from local shelters.

This law was signed way back in late 2017, which means that pet store owners have had way over a year to prepare for these changes.

This new policy is designed in order to discourage “animal mills” and for-profit breeders who cruelly forcibly breed animals so they can sell them to pet stores. The villains.

It’s no surprise to hear that there are dozens of horror stories about the truly awful conditions these facilities are often found in, because they are more focused on profits rather than the welfare of those poor animals. It’s not unusual to find that animals are often kept in filthy, cramped conditions before they’re harshly shuttled off to pet stores.

Animals who are bred in these conditions have often received no veterinary care and there have been multiple accounts of pet stores who are selling sick animals, who then shortly die after their purchase. Sick animals can of course, also spread diseases to other pets and even to humans, through no fault of their own.

Breeding facilities also often keep “breeding stock” (which is an AWFUL term) in squalid conditions while their babies are then shipped off to pet stores all over… without having learned any socialization skills whatsoever. Heartbreaking.

Kitty Block, who is currently the acting president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, told The Dodo:

“[This] takes us one big step closer to the day when puppy mills have nowhere left to sell.”

The Dodo also reported that rabbits are included in the law due to the fact that they are often sold by pet stores as “starter pets,” (STARTER pets!?) however they actually require just as much care as other animals do, and can also live up to 10 years or even longer.

By ensuring that the pets the pet store owners sell actually do come shelters, sellers can then provide potential buyers with far more information about the animal they’re being sold and thus they can ensure that buyers are prepared to take on the full responsibility so that fewer animals end up being returned (especially after being neglected because a buyer doesn’t actually know how to properly care for them) or, y’know, even worse… abandoned.

Animal advocates are hoping that the new California legislation is merely the beginning and that other states will soon join the fight against the cruelty of commercial breeding practices.

According to the ASPCA itself:

“California joins more than 230 cities, towns and counties across the U.S. that have passed pet store ordinances to take a stand against allowing cruelly-bred animals to be sold in their communities.”

Before the law became state-wide, it took 36 jurisdictions in California alone to put the much-needed legislation into place. The hope is that eventually, these other cities will have the exact same effect in their own states.

The law will also have a positive economic impact on taxpayers. Dr. Gary Weitzman, who is the president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society, told the ASPCA that “California taxpayers spend over a quarter of a billion dollars every year to house homeless animals.”

And so, the law will ensure that all of the rescue animals will have a better chance of being adopted instead of sadly languishing in shelters while pets stores all over sell the “products” of animal mills instead. So basically it’s a win-win for both animals and the taxpayers… although I think we can all agree that the animals are the most important priorities here!

But, obviously, as per usual the villains… WHOOPS sorry I mean the pet mills, as well as some of the pet stores and their lobbyists, are fighting back.

The Humane Society reports that after an incredibly gruesome undercover investigation into the treatment of dogs at TWO Petland stores, over a hundred Petland customers have since come forward with complaints about the dogs they purchased at the U.S. pet store chain. Hilariously (well, shockingly) that still hasn’t stopped Petland from ridiculously supporting animal mills.

Petland is literally the only national chain who still sells commercially raised puppies, and even despite all the bad press is still attempting to stop towns and cities from passing bans on puppy mill dog sales. INSANE.

In fact, they a currently lobbying to pass bills in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Nebraska (!!!) which would completely strip the localities of their rights to regulate the sale of animal mill pets, all in order to protect the profits of large-scale commercial breeders, which is just absolutely disgusting.

However, if you’re concerned about animal welfare in your town, city or state you can always contact local officials to ask about legislation being proposed and call or write in to express your opinions.

It’s all about those baby steps! Don’t forget to share this with your friends and family in order to share the good news and of course raise awareness! X

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