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New York will ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits starting in 2024 under a new bill designed to crack down on corporate breeders.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, pictured, signed into law a law banning pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits as of December 2024
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Puppy Mill Pipeline bill into law Thursday, months after it passed the state Legislature, after facing mounting pressure from animal rights activists who argue that breeding facilities subject pets to inhumane conditions and saddle unassuming customers with high vet bills.
However, pet store owners have spent the past few months criticizing the move, saying it would put them out of business and have unintended consequences that would make it harder for New Yorkers to get a pet, potentially even leading to an underground market. Of pets. .
But eventually, Hochul decided to side with animal rights activists, while creating provisions to help the state’s 80 pet stores in the year before the legislation went into effect, the New York Times reports,
One of the goals of the bill is to encourage customers to adopt pets from local rescue organizations and shelters.
They have also said that many of the pets that come to pet stores are abused or sick before being sold to customers, saddling them with high veterinary costs.
With its approval, New York State has now become the sixth state in the union to ban so-called puppy and kitten mills, following in the footsteps of California, Maryland, Maine, Illinois and Washington.
Signing the bill Thursday, Hochul said: ‘New York’s dogs, cats and rabbits deserve loving homes and humane treatment.
“I am proud to sign this legislation, which will take significant steps to reduce harsh treatment and protect the welfare of animals across the state,” she said in a statement. statement.
New York has one of the highest concentrations in the country of pet stores selling puppies, half of which are from Missouri, which is considered the leading puppy-producing state in the US.
Lawmakers now hope the new law will stop the production of animals from these commercial breeders, which animal rights activists say are often abused or diseased before being sold to consumers.
Many of these large-scale breeders, they say, put animals in cages and force them to breed.
“Ending the puppy farm in New York State means the triumph of compassion over the inherent evils of a cruel industry that seeks profit by subjecting innocent animals to barbaric treatment,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat who sponsored the bill.
It is also intended to encourage prospective pet owners to adopt pets from shelters and rescue organizations, which have said they are overflowing with dogs, many of whom were abandoned by people seeking companionship during the pandemic.
As State Senator Michael Gianaris, who sponsored the bill in the upper house, explained: ‘These animals are living, loving beings who should be treated with respect and not like a can of soup to be yanked off a shelf.
“This law will save countless animals from abuse at the hands of hideous puppy mills, and I am delighted that it is now enacted.”
But it took Hochul months to sign the bill into law, as pet store owners tried to get her to veto it.
However, a coalition of pet store owners, calling themselves the People United to Protect the Integrity of Pets, has argued that the ban would unfairly hurt responsible pet stores and do little to shut down commercial breeding facilities outside of the United States. condition. Ed Frerotte of the Petqua pet store in New York City is pictured with the store cat Frankie.
A coalition of pet store owners, calling themselves the People United to Protect the Integrity of Pets, or PUPPI, have argued that the ban would unfairly hurt responsible pet stores and do little to shut down commercial breeding facilities outside the condition.
They said most commercial breeders raise pets humanely, but animal rights groups singled out a few bad guys, many of whom have been the subject of lawsuits and investigations, to demonize the entire industry.
“By ending licensed and regulated local pet stores, you’ll eliminate people vetting breeders, ensure the health of newly boarded pets with established veterinarians, and ensure the success of a new family of pets,” said Jessica Selmer, PUPPI president in a statement Thursday after failing to get Hochul to veto the bill.
Ted Bell, the owner of our Pet Zone stores across the state, also told the Albany Times Union that without the option to buy a pet in-store, prospective buyers will turn to more online adoption sites where they could be targeted for scams.
He added that his stores frequently sell to customers who were turned down from adopting a pet from local rescues for a variety of reasons, from not having a fenced-in yard to “not living in the right area.”
“It’s embarrassing to think that people will be denied the pleasure of having a pet because someone thinks they don’t deserve it or don’t have the means, but we see it happen,” Bell said.
Animal rights activists have argued that the large-scale breeders who sell to these pet stores pack the animals into cages and force them to breed.
These rescues and shelters have said they have been overrun by dogs, many of whom were abandoned by people seeking companionship during the pandemic.
In the end, the Times reports, Hochul decided to support the bill with additions intended to soften the blow to pet stores.
He delayed implementation of the bill until December 2024 and revised the bill to allow pet store owners to charge rent to animal shelters that use their stores as a space to house adoption vents for rescued animals.
Still, pet store owners are now worried about the future of pet ownership in the state, with PUPPI President Selmer saying in a statement, “Disappointed just doesn’t cover it.”
“We had hoped that the governor would see through the charade and acknowledge that this bill is careless, dangerous and counterproductive to his purposes, but apparently those hopes were too high.”