Is a pet ban coming to your state?
States are considering legislation that will make it more difficult to get a pet. Read more about the issue below, and select your state to support pets.
What Are Pet Bans?
Pet bans don’t ban pets outright, but they make it harder to get one. Typically, these laws ban stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. Increasingly, these laws ban guinea pigs and other pets, too. A new law in D.C. bans the sale of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds.
Advocates claim these laws help pets, but it’s the opposite: They actually hurt pets. Here’s how:
Foreign Puppy Mills
The Centers for Disease Control reports that puppies are being trafficked into the U.S. from abroad. Puppies are bred in foreign “puppy mills” before being imported as “rescue” dogs.
Dead Puppies
Animals can die during long transports from abroad. In 2020, a plane landing in Toronto with 500 French bulldog puppies had dozens of dead puppies die during transit.
Animal Disease
Animals imported from other countries can also bring deadly diseases with them. Asian dog flu, which has sickened thousands of pets across the country, was brought to the U.S. from an importation of dogs.
Scams
After California passed a statewide ban on stores selling pets, reports of pet scams went up 350%. According to a Veterinarians.org analysis, “California is the state with the most reported puppy scams.”
Better Solutions
People are rightly seeking to ensure the welfare of animals sold through stores. The way to do this is to address animal welfare directly. Banning stores from selling animals only creates a black market where there is less protection for animals. After all, Prohibition didn’t stop moonshiners–it helped them.
Effective solutions include:
Third-party certification
Canine Care Certified, a program run by Purdue University that ensures the welfare of dogs at breeders, is one example.
Transparency
Some states require pet stores to provide information about which breeders animals come from. This transparency helps ensure that dogs come from breeders in good standing.
Good regulation
Breeders that sell across state lines must be inspected and regulated by the USDA. Almost all states that are major breeding states have additional regulations of dog breeding. But federal import regulations are lax, which makes it easy for pet traffickers. The USDA estimates more than 1 million dogs are brought into the country every year–and less than 1 percent fall under Animal Welfare Act regulations. The CDC reports that pet traffickers have found loopholes to federal regulation. The Healthy Dog Importation Act would close loopholes used by traffickers.
Meanwhile, Indiana has passed statewide preemption and breeder standards. What this means is that local bans against selling pets are reversed, and new regulations require that all pets sold come from sources that meet high standards.
Take Action to Protect Pets
Select your state to tell lawmakers to support animal welfare, not needlessly make it harder to get a pet.