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Recently California passed a law that banned the selling of dogs from puppy mills and now require pet stores to sell rescue animals instead. California is the first state to pass this law, thrilling many pet lovers in the state.
Puppy mills are “large-scale commercial dog breeding facility where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs,” according to the American Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA. They typically have dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions “without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization.”
Female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little to no recovery time between litters. This can harm their bodies, and when they reach the point where they can no longer reproduce, they are often killed.
When the news of banning puppy mills was broadcast, animal lovers rejoiced that more rescue dogs might find homes. According to today.com, “the revised restrictions — set to take effect January 1, 2019 — will require pet store owners to sell dogs, cats and rabbits from animal shelters, rescue groups or adoption centers.”
According to the legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown, on Friday, stores could receive fines of $500 for the sale of an animal that is not a rescue.
Naomi Galeazzi, senior and owner of four dogs, said, “I think that it’s good because not the shelter dogs don’t need to be put down since they would go to the pet stores instead of being sent to the pound.”
I also own a dog, and I feel that this decision will help animals in the streets find homes that will care for them. It will hopefully help reduce the number of dogs being put down.
According to Dosomething.org, about 7.6 million animals go into animal shelters nationwide, and about 2.7 million cats and dogs are put down because shelters are too full.
As stated by the Humane Society, irresponsible breeding leads to about 1.5 million animals being euthanized across the United States each year, and about 99 percent of dogs sold at pet stores are from puppy mills.
