New York State bans pet store sales of dogs, cats & rabbits

[sandgrubber]

New York bans pet stores from selling cats, dogs and rabbits https://www.npr.org/2022/12/16/1143365678/new-york-bans-pet-stores-cats-dogs-and-rabbits?sc=18&f=1001

[tdierikx]

"It will also ban breeders from selling more than nine animals a year."

 

This bit is scary when we all know that larger breed dogs can have larger litters - At least 2 of the dogs I bred many years ago had litters of 10 and 11... under that law, I wouldn't be able to sell/rehome the whole litter... huh?

 

Also, with the general rule of smaller dogs having smaller litters, it theoretically wouldn't be illegal if the same bitch may have been bred twice in one year, as long as she'd produced less than 9 pups all up...

 

T.

[persephone]

Wow!  That will be interesting ! 

[sandgrubber]

1 hour ago, tdierikx said:

"It will also ban breeders from selling more than nine animals a year."

 

This bit is scary when we all know that larger breed dogs can have larger litters - At least 2 of the dogs I bred many years ago had litters of 10 and 11... under that law, I wouldn't be able to sell/rehome the whole litter... huh?

 

Also, with the general rule of smaller dogs having smaller litters, it theoretically wouldn't be illegal if the same bitch may have been bred twice in one year, as long as she'd produced less than 9 pups all up...

 

T.

Read on.  "The new law will not affect at-home breeders who sell animals born and raised on their property."

[_PL_]

Having been to U.S. pet stores and seen entire walls covered in little perspex boxes full of puppies (so expensive the stores offer a line of credit) I am very pleased to hear this.

Amish puppy farms located in New York State are notorious which is a separate problem in itself, I can see they are trying to reduce reliance on mills but it won't stop them from shipping elsewhere.   

[tdierikx]

8 hours ago, sandgrubber said:

Read on.  "The new law will not affect at-home breeders who sell animals born and raised on their property."

 

So backyard breeding is fine? Just not any commercial breeding - regardless any welfare plans put in place? Seems that the actual problem isn't being addressed, just a kneejerk "plan" to be seen to be "doing something" about "the problem"... **sigh**

 

T.

[sandgrubber]

13 hours ago, tdierikx said:

 

So backyard breeding is fine? Just not any commercial breeding - regardless any welfare plans put in place? Seems that the actual problem isn't being addressed, just a kneejerk "plan" to be seen to be "doing something" about "the problem"... **sigh**

 

T.

How do you define backyard breeding?  Some lovely, kind people want pups from a much loved, and quite healthy family dog.  And then there are oops litters.  Some AKC breeders breed for extreme conformation, many sell pups from high maintenance sire and dam, with health problems that don't get listed, such as food allergies.  Others have long offloaded pups to pet stores.  Pedigree dogs are a minority in the USA.  Sure, there are people who breed indiscriminately with the intent of making money.   But I wouldn't entrust any legal system to separate the wheat from the chaff.

[tdierikx]

Animal welfare issues aren't solely reliant on the number of animals any breeder has. Sure, there are commercial sized operations that definitely need shutting down due to welfare issues, but there are also many at-home breeders who aren't much better when it comes to the welfare of the dogs they are breeding for the pet market - especially those who are not registered with any association, or subject to any codes of practice (the basic definition of "backyard breeder").

 

What seems to be ignored in all of the debates about breeding of animals for the pet market is that demand is what is driving "production". There would be less need for commercial sized operations if there was less demand for cute puppies and kittens (and other pet species), don't you think?

 

Maybe research into exactly why the levels of demand are so high might be in order here? And then maybe legislation could be tailored to address that... with a strong emphasis on educational options to inform the general public about responsible pet ownership? There are no quick fix options unfortunately, but simply banning certain operations without fully researching causation of the problem isn't going to significantly address that problem... but it definitely makes legislators look like they are "doing something" when they enact laws that actually don't "fix" anything.

 

T.