Put Your Paws Up for AB 485
Californians no longer have to think twice about where their new pets come from, now that a new law requires pet stores to sell animals acquired only from shelters and rescue organizations.
Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 485 this month. The bill was written by California State Assembly members Patrick O’Donnell (D – Long Beach) and Matt Dababneh (D – Woodland Hills), and it makes California the first state in the nation to regulate the breeding of pets and their sale to this extent.
“Basically what it will do is create a statewide ban on the sale of puppies, dogs, kittens, cats and rabbits in for-profit pet stores when they’ve been gotten from puppy mills,” Dababneh said. “We’re not going to let animals be sold in our state as pets when they come from inhumane breeding facilities that treat these animals as commodities, and don’t have any regard for the animal’s health or wellbeing.”
This new bill rules out the selling of animals that come from puppy mills or kitten factories, but independent breeders will still be able to sell their animals to pet stores. It primarily applies to the selling of dogs, cats and rabbits.
“This bill is extremely important,” said Charlotte Laws, an animal rights activist. “It will hopefully end the killing in the shelters. Right now, in Los Angeles, I believe we adopt out something like 84 percent of the animals that come into the shelters.”
“I think what the bill will do is promote more responsible pet ownership,” Bunnyluv Rabbit Resource Center representative Jody Springborn said. Springborn said that rabbits are the highest killed animals in shelters because they face a multitude of challenging health issues commonly affecting their teeth and eyes.
The bill’s supporters said that since rescue organizations are ‘no kill’ and require thorough adoption screenings, the placement of rescue animals into pet stores will help prevent the killing of many animals unnecessarily. Many shelters are recognized as being ‘no kill’, but others do have to euthanize animals with in critical health conditions or who have not been adopted within a certain time period.
The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2019.
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