A new pet store law prohibiting sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in stores was signed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul last week. Fueled by criticism of the inhumane commercial puppy mill industry that supplies thousands of pets to stores across the Empire State, the mandate bans the sales of the animals in 2024.

As part of the new ‘Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill,’ the state allows pet stores, for the first time, to work with state shelters to offer their services to put their abandoned animals up for adoption. The new law, as a way for pet stores to regain some of their lost revenue, allows New York pet stores to charge shelters rent for the usage of their space for adoption services.

"Dogs, cats and rabbits across New York deserve loving homes and humane treatment," said Governor Hochul in a statement. "I'm proud to sign this legislation, which will make meaningful steps to cut down on harsh treatment and protect the welfare of animals across the state."

New York is but one of the latest states to ban the sales of these pets via laws that target commercial puppy mills. In 2017, California was the first state to enact a law banning similar pet sales. Following soon afterward with similar laws were states such as Maryland and Illinois.

However, although the California law requires California pet stores to also work with animal shelters, it does not regulate the sales of pets by private breeders, as the New York law does.

New Yorkers have demanded the state shut down or ban pet stores selling dogs, cats and rabbits for decades. Advocacy organizations have fought to change the state laws for the sale of specific pets due to a pattern of inhumane treatment of the animals before they are sold.

Celebrities such as Martha Stewart, Edie Falco, Andy Cohen, Justin Theroux, Brooke Shields, Lake Bell, and others signed a letter and sent it to the governor.

In part, the letter read, “The puppies currently for sale in New York pet stores arrived in our state through a pipeline of out-of-state breeders and middlemen who ship animals from puppy mills. It’s a cruel and broken system made possible because in New York State, it’s still legal to sell dogs in pet stores. You have the opportunity to break this cycle of cruelty by shutting down the puppy mill pipeline to make it harder for commercial breeders to profit from cruelty, and public support is clear: 8 out of 10 New York residents support the end of pet store dog sales.”

But pet stores and supporters are angry the new law will be enacted. People United to Protect Pet Integrity (PUPPI), a coalition serving as advocates for pet stores in New York, predict the new law will put many pet stores out of business.

In a public statement, Jessica Selmer, president of PUPPI, called the law "counterproductive" and requests New York Governor Hochul to "consider legislative remedies to some of the pitfalls of the bill.’

In an Associated Press release, the manager at a New York City pet shop called ‘Citipups,’ Emilio Ortiz, said he is not sure their store will stay in business due to the new law.

“Ninety percent of our business is selling dogs,” said Ortiz. “We’re not going to survive this. They’re closing the good actors along with the bad actors.”

The law allows pet store owners one year to make the changes to their shops. Any pet breeders who raise the animals on their own property in New York will not be impacted by the new law, since they are inspected by the state.

As of today, there are about 2,000 puppies for sale in New York State pet stores. A majority of the puppies for sale have been taken from out-of-state puppy commercial breeding operations to New York.

In 2021 alone, it was reported by the ASPCA that there were about 25,000 puppies sent to New York pet stores from puppy mills, usually from the Midwest states.

Bill Ketzer, ASPCA's Senior Director of State Legislation, Eastern Division, said that the new puppy mill law is necessary to protect animal welfare.

"We know that New York State currently has no ability to control the types of cruelty that we've seen within these facilities,” noted Ketzer.

The Humane Society reports that there are about 10,000 puppy mills in the US, but that under 3,000 of these animal mills are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

On their website, the organization states, “In most states, a breeding kennel can legally keep dozens, even hundreds, of dogs in cages for their entire lives, as long as the dogs are given the basics of food, water and shelter.”

Currently, New York has no jurisdiction to inspect for any inhumane conditions in out-of-state commercial breeding but can control in-state breeding with inspections.

In the US today, there are approximately 6.3 million animals entering shelters every year, waiting to be adopted. About half do get adopted, and about a quarter are put down due to the lack of the shelters’ ability to care for them all.