Pet stores required to offer shelter dogs, cats under new state law

Animal shelters will now have an easier time finding forever homes for pets in their care. A new state law taking effect next year, will now require pet stores to sell certain shelter animals.

“I’m surprised it took so long to get here, so yeah I’m all for it.”

Nancy Leppert is the owner of two rescue dogs. She’s supports a new state law requiring pet stores to only offer shelter animals. Leppert believes it will help fight against puppy mills, and feels the mills add to the issue of pet overpopulation.

“They’re really not well taken care of. The crowding situation and that sort of thing and they’ll eventually probably become a homeless dog and back into a regular shelter,” she said.

At Animal Samaritans, the new law is welcome news as they continue their shelter adoption efforts.

“According to the ASPCA, about 6.5 million animals enter the shelter system every year and out of that 1.5 million get euthanized,” Michelle Bergeron, the rescue supervisor for the non-profit said.

She says the new law enables them to increase the chance to find forever homes for shelter animals.

“We kind of glad to see that California is leading the way in tryign to take a stand and hopefully other states will follow our lead,” she said.

Under AB 485, pet stores will be prohibited from selling live animals like dogs, cats or rabbits that come from breeders. The animals must be obtained from an animal shelter and the store must post the name of the agency where it got the animal.

The law has seen opposition from pet stores and the American Kennel Club saying quote: “It will dramatically reduce every Californian’s access and ability to choose a pet with the predictable type, mandated care, and substantiated health backgrounds that come with purebred pets from regulated sources.”

Pet owners like Angela Moore of Rendondo Beach said, encouraging the adoption of shelter animals is the ultimate goal.

“I would always go to a shelter first and I think you can walk through there and they find you. You can connect with one or two of them in there,” she said.

“Rescue animals are like the catchword. It’s really what people go for now because it’s really the right thing to do,” Leppert said.

36 cities in California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco already have similar bans in place, but no statewide bans existed before.