NYC Finally Proposes Ban On Puppy And Kitten Mill Sales
Afer years of lobbying by animal welfare organizations, New York City has introduced legislation that will prohibit the sale of pets bred in puppy mills and kitten mills, and also impose strict new requirements on animal care in pet stores. The Epoch Times reports:
The bill explicitly prohibits pet shops to "offer for sale, deliver, barter, auction, give away, transfer, or sell any dog or cat obtained from" a high volume breeder. The bill defines a high volume breeder as anyone who owns breeding animals and sells more than 50 of their offspring in a one-year period, or anyone who owns more than 20 breeding animals.
Prior to last January, New York's state government retained the right to regulate pet stores -- a fact that changed due to pressure from animal rights groups, who pushed for a bill to give municipalities like New York City the authority to regulate their own pet stores. Governor Cuomo signed this bill into law in January.
The new draft bill for New York City will introduce stricter standards than those currently enforced by the state, and also includes tougher requirements for housing, sanitation, feeding and watering, handling, and veterinary care in pet shops. New York isn't alone, either -- this week, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance to ban the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits from for-profit breeders. And, as The Dodo reported, these two cities are just the latest in a growing trend:
Dozens of cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, and Phoenix, have already passed similar measures outlawing the sale of pets from large-scale breeding operations where animals are often kept in squalid, cramped conditions and forced to produce offspring repeatedly through the duration of their lives.