Have you heard the news?! California has passed a piece of legislation, A.B. 485, that will most likely set the path for all states to follow. On Monday, October 16 2017, it was announced that California will require all “pet stores” to exclusively sell rescued dogs from nonprofit groups. This also applies to cats and rabbits. This means that nonprofit rescue groups must be the exclusive supplier for pet store dogs, cats, and rabbits. Pet stores have typically been known to get their supply of pets from breeders. This has become a controversial topic for many reasons. Here’s a few:
- Breeding can lead to unhealthy pets. It’s important for pets, especially dogs, to have a variable gene makeup. A gene variety actually makes for a stronger, healthier dog. For example, with a mixed breed like the Labradoodle, the dog will get all the best gene characteristics from the Labrador and all the best characteristics from the Poodle. A pure bred dog doesn’t allow for variety of traits since the genes are coming from just one source. If a dog and its breed is over bred it can actually become extinct because the health of the dog is compromised. The breed can take on undesirable traits and illnesses.
- If a dog isn’t coming from a rescue shelter or from a private, responsible breeder, then it is most likely coming from a puppy mill. Puppy mills are exactly what they sound like – the sweatshop of the dog world! Dogs are impregnated and kept solely to produce puppies in mass quantities, born into Inhumane conditions. These inhumane conditions can include lack of food and veterinarian care.
- There is an abundance of pets in shelters who need a loving home. In fact, many shelters are overflowing with displaced and abandoned pets that just want to be loved.
If the pet store does not abide by this new rule they will be fined $500. Buyers of course are still able to buy puppies and dogs from private sellers or breeders but all pet stores must source their dogs from rescue groups and shelters. We hope this bill will begin to decrease the number of shelter pets waiting to be adopted into loving homes. Better yet, we hope this bill starts a movement and the rest of the states follow in their footsteps.
Kim is the co-owner of DogLoverStore with her husband, John. She earned her BS in operations management at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She enjoys walking in nature, gardening in the sun, eating sour candy, going on drives, yoga, and reading.