New York will BAN pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits from 2024

New York will ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits beginning in 2024 under a new bill designed to crack down on corporate breeders.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, pictured, signed into law a bill banning pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits beginning in December 2024

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Puppy Mill Pipeline bill into law on 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 veterinary bills.

Pet store owners, however, have spent the past few months railing against the measure, 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 pet market.

But ultimately Hochul decided to side with the animal rights activists, while creating provisions to help the state's 80 pet stores in the year before the legislation takes 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 the pet stores are abused or ill before they are sold to customers, saddling them with the high veterinary costs

With its passage, 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.

In signing the bill on Thursday, Hochul said: 'Dogs, cats and rabbits across New York deserve loving homes and human treatment.

'I'm proud to sign this legislation, which will make meaningful steps to cut down on harsh treatment and protect the welfare of animals across the state,' she said in a statement.

New York has one of the country's highest concentrations of pet stores that sell puppies, half of which are from Missouri, which is considered to be the leading puppy mill state in the US. 

Legislators now hope the new law will stop the pipeline of animals from these commercial breeders, which animal rights activists say are often abused or ill before they are sold to consumers.

Many of these large-scale breeders, they say, pack the animals into cages and force them to reproduce  

'Ending the puppy mill pipeline in New York State signifies the triumph of compassion over the evils inherent in a cruel industry that pursues profits by subjecting innocent animals to barbarous 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 which were abandoned by people who sought the companionship during the pandemic. 

As State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who sponsored the bill in the upper chamber, explained: 'These animals are living, loving beings who should be treated with respect and not like a can of soup to be plucked off a shelf.

'This law will save countless animals from abuse at the hands of horrid puppy mills, and I'm thrilled it is now enacted.'

But it took months for Hochul to sign the bill, as pet store owners tried to get her to veto it.

A coalition of pet store owners, who called themselves People United to Protect Pet Integrity, though, have argued that the ban would unfairly hurt responsible pet stores and would do little to shut down the commercial breeding facilities out of state. Ed Frerotte, of the Petqua pet store in New York City is pictured her with the store cat Frankie

A coalition of pet store owners, who called themselves People United to Protect Pet Integrity — or PUPPI, have argued that the ban would unfairly hurt responsible pet stores and would do little to shut down the commercial breeding facilities out of state.

They said that most commercial breeders raise pets humanely, but animal rights groups singled out some bad actors, many of which have been the target of lawsuits and investigations, to demonize the entire industry.

'By ending licensed and regulated local pet stores, you will remove the people who vet breeders, insure the health of newly-homed pets with established veterinarians and guarantee the success of a new pet family,' Jessica Selmer, the president of PUPPI said in a statement on 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 purchase a pet in store, prospective buyers will turn to more online adoption sites where they could be subject to scams.

He added that his stores frequently sell to customers who were rejected from adopting a pet from local rescues for a variety of reasons, from not having a fenced yard to 'not living in the right area.'

'It's shameful to think that people will be refused the joys of pet ownership because someone thinks they are undeserving o haven't the means, but we see it happening,' Bell said. 

Animal rights activists have argued that large-scale breeders that sell to these pet stores pack the animals into cages and force them to reproduce

These rescues and shelters have said they have been overrun with dogs, many of which were abandoned by people who sought the companionship during the pandemic

In the end, the Times reports, Hochul decided to support the bill with addendums meant to soften the blow to pet stores.

She delayed the 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 host adoption vents for rescued animals.

Still, pet store owners are now fretting 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 the governor would se through the charade and recognize that this bill is careless, dangerous and counterproductive to its purposes — but apparently those hopes were too high.'