Best Friends Animal Society Announces Humane Pet Sales Laws Now Passed in Over 400 Jurisdictions
After years of work, Best Friends and partner groups have helped secure 400 retail restrictions of commercial pet sales, a critical step toward ending puppy mills
Kanab, Utah - Best Friends Animal Society today announced that over 400 humane pet sales laws have been enacted across North America. Pets purchased from pet stores often come from inhumane commercial operations known as puppy mills. The more than 400 cities, counties and states in the U.S. and Canada that have passed legislation to ban retail puppy mill sales put us one step closer to ending puppy mills.
"Puppy mills are inhumane and cruel, and shrinking the market for milled puppies to be sold is critical in the fight against them," said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends. "This milestone signifies the hard work that Best Friends and so many others have done over the past decade to bring an end to puppy mills through humane pet sales legislation. There is still much to be done, but this is a huge step in the right direction to ending puppy mills once and for all."
Puppy mills are commercial dog breeding facilities that supply nearly all U.S. pet stores that sell puppies, as well as many classified ads and many online sales. The minimum federal standards currently do not require humane standards for dogs. These types of kennels can often have hundreds of dogs in each. Dogs live in inhumane conditions, with the minimum legal cage size allowed being only six inches larger than the dog on all sides. In addition, female dogs are bred constantly to produce as many puppies as possible for the retail pet trade. Many Americans are still unaware of the connection between pet stores and puppy mills.
To view the full list of humane pet sales laws and to learn more, click here.
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About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters by 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to around 625,000. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs all across the country, as well as the nation's largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 3,200 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.