Puppy mills are horrifically cruel commercial dog breeding facilities which frequently supply retail pet stores with puppies. Consumers often spend thousands of dollars buying sick puppies from pet stores only to suffer the heartbreak of their new pet dying. Meanwhile shelters and rescues are burdened with finding families for homeless pets, while hundreds of thousands animals are being euthanized because nobody wants them.

New York recently introduced a bill in its legislature that would ban puppy mills in the state. The bill would require pet stores to get dogs, cats, and rabbits only from shelters and rescues. This bill would also require breeders to post their license number on all advertisements, which would allow consumers to verify they are legitimate and enforcement officials to identify unlicensed breeders. Additionally, it would close a loophole in the state’s current law that allows people to sell animals in public places.

This is a very big deal because New York is home to many problem breeders and puppy mills, some of which have been featured on the Humane Society of the United States’ Horrible Hundred list of the worst puppy mills in the U.S. If New York passes this legislation, it would be the third state in the country to do so. Maryland and California are the only states so far which have taken a stand against puppy mills, by banning pet store sales of dogs from commercial breeders.

Unfortunately this new legislation is getting a lot of opposition, mainly from the ruthless puppy mill industry. Please join me in urging the New York state legislature to ban puppy mills in the state, and asking governor Andrew Cuomo to sign the bill into law! No more cruel puppy mills in New York!