If Governor Jerry Brown signs Assembly Bill 485, California will become the first state to ban all sales of “puppy mill” dogs, cats and rabbits at pet stores. The Pet Rescue and Adoption Act—Assembly Bill 485—was approved by the state senate on September 15 and is on its way to the Governor’s desk.
The bill, authored by Assembly member Patrick O’Donnell (D–Long Beach), requires all dogs, cats and rabbits offered for retail sale in California to be obtained from animal shelters or non-profit rescue organizations. According to the California legislative analysis, there are as many as 10,000 commercial breeding facilities in the U.S. Fewer than 2,000 of those are licensed by the USDA.
Commercial breeders have developed a reputation for crowded, unsanitary and cruel conditions, and for irresponsible breeding practices that can result in transmitting congenital defects and health issues.
Critics of commercial breeding charge that the practice of breeding animals on spec has resulted in high numbers of unwanted animals ending up euthanized.
“My family has two rescue dogs; this issue is very personal to me,” said O’Donnell in a press release. “In addition to saving animal life, AB 485 is also good for taxpayers. Californians spend more than $250 million a year to house and euthanize animals in our shelters. Protecting the pets that make our house a home is an effort that makes us all proud.”
The bill requires each pet store to “maintain records sufficient to document the source of each dog, cat, or rabbit the pet store sells or provides space for,” and to post “in a conspicuous location on the cage or enclosure of each animal, a sign listing the name of the entity from which each dog, cat, or rabbit was obtained,” according to the text of the bill.
The bill would also authorize public animal control agencies or shelters to require pet stores to provide periodic access to those records. Violators would be subject to a civil penalty of $500. Proponents stress that the goal is to further dissuade consumers from buying commercially produced animals, not to put pet shops out of business.
Existing legislation already requires pet store operators to comply with animal care requirements. Earlier legislation authorized public or private shelters to enter into cooperative agreements with animal rescue and adoption organizations. A pet store operator who violates those provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor under certain conditions. Existing law also regulates the retail sale of dogs and cats.
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) President Wayne Pacelle said the bill will encourage consumers who do not want to adopt to seek out smaller breeders who prioritize the welfare of their animals.
Pacelle points out that, while many California regional governments have passed laws prohibiting or restricting the sale of commercially farmed companion animals, the state, with its 38 million residents, remains “an enormous market.”
“Californians are animal friendly and generally don’t want to contribute to the cruelty of mills, or have sick dogs being sold through in-state channels,” Pacelle wrote in response to the bill. “The HSUS has investigated pet stores in Los Angeles, for example, and found stores denying that the dogs came from mills even when our investigations proved that the dogs came from some horrible confinement operations,” ” Pacelle said.
“What sense does it make for local governments to spend millions of dollars on animal care, fight every day to reduce the inflow of homeless animals and promote adopting them to loving homes when the state doesn’t have a policy to prevent puppies from mills being sold through retail pet stores?”
The governor has until Oct. 15 to sign or veto the bill.
More information on AB 485 can be found at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB485.
