By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block
The movement to end the cruel puppy mill pipeline has reached a significant milestone now that Delaware has passed a law prohibiting the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops.
We are determined to bring an end to the cruel puppy mill industry and one of the ways we’re fighting for all dogs is by supporting bans on the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet shops. Before puppies arrive in pet shop windows, they are born behind the closed doors of puppy mills. Mother dogs are caged and impregnated over and over, forced to give birth until their bodies are exhausted. As our investigations have proven time and again, the puppies are shipped on crowded vans to pet stores across the country, where they often stay in small cages for weeks without adequate care and attention, and often become sick. Cranking out puppies like products from a factory means they rarely get the early social enrichment or health checks they need to live full, happy lives.
Ten state laws barring the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet shops represent nearly a decade of hard work in statehouses across the U.S. and a bipartisan commitment to protecting dogs from inhumane treatment during their breeding, transport to stores and conditions within retail settings. The fact that 10 states now have these kinds of laws reflects a growing public consensus: companion animals are not commodities. Dogs deserve better than lives of suffering in puppy mills and the retail sales outlets that seek to profit from their misery.
Delaware is now closed to high-volume puppy mill retailers for good. Two small pet shops in the state will be able to continue selling puppies, but only under current ownership and so long as they publicly disclose the source of the puppies they sell.
A tipping point toward the end of puppy mills
Earlier this year, Colorado banned the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet shops. At a moving bill signing event in April Governor Jared Polis said: “We are stopping the harmful overbreeding of dogs and cats in terrible conditions in the puppy mill industry, and encourage Coloradans to adopt, not shop, or purchase from a legitimate breeder.”
Six Colorado puppy stores will have until January 2028 to phase out the sale of puppies. This effort started eight years ago and is a testament to the many dedicated advocates in the state and the persistence of our puppy mill and state affairs teams.
The milestone of 10 states is built on the foundation of hundreds of local ordinances, which our campaign has helped to pass across the nation. California was the first state to enact a humane pet store law, and when it passed in 2017, there were 37 local ordinances on the books, including one in every major California city. Colorado’s new law comes on the heels of 26 city ordinances throughout the state, including in Denver, which we helped to pass last summer.
The 10 states and 530 localities across 31 states that have acted to end the sale of puppies in pet shops span geographies and political positions. These laws have been championed by elected officials across the political spectrum and signed by Republican and Democratic governors and mayors. Regardless of district demographics, lawmakers heard from large numbers of constituents in support of ending the puppy mill pipeline.
Heartening support for our campaign to end puppy mill cruelty
Perhaps the most surprising support for our campaign against puppy mills comes from within the pet store industry. Hundreds of pet supply stores have joined the movement to stop the sale of puppies at retail. In Colorado, 74 pet supply stores endorsed the humane pet store bill. For comparison, only seven Colorado pet stores sold puppies. The fact that ten times more pet businesses supported the bill than were impacted by it disproves the opposition’s argument that the bill was anti-business.
At Humane World for Animals, we acknowledge the enormous progress we’ve made in the movement to stop puppy mill cruelty. We celebrate the wins while never resting in this fight until such cruelty is eradicated. We’re gearing up for some major local ordinance battles in the second half of this year even as we continue to prioritize humane pet shop legislation in Massachusetts.
We also continue to press the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration to support upgrades to the Animal Welfare Act’s commercial breeding laws and regulations so that dogs currently living in puppy mills can have a better quality of life.
Protect dogs and puppies >>
You can fight puppy mills through simple everyday actions, like refusing to buy pets or any pet supplies at stores that sell puppies, signing the above action alert and spreading the word among your family and friends that puppies are not commodities to be mass produced for profit. Encourage your networks to adopt or find a responsible breeder rather than ever supporting a puppy mill with their dollars.
Kitty Block is CEO and president of Humane World for Animals.
