Puppy Mill Law but One, Small Step for Hochul, Legislators
Cracking down on hellhole puppy factories is a no-brainer. Now it's time to pass SARA and other stalled legislation.
The Scoop New York is a newsletter dedicated to companion animals and the New Yorkers who care for them, from Buffalo to Brooklyn. NYC ACC KILLS, published by TSNY, enumerates and memorializes adoptable cats and dogs who were nonetheless exterminated by Animal Care Centers of New York City.
Headlines from Buffalo to Brooklyn
It’s December 6, 2024. This is The Weekly Poop.
This week saw much eleventh-hour hand-wringing over a new state law that prohibits pet stores from selling cats, dogs and rabbits.
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the “puppy mill pipeline” bill into law in December 2022. It will take effect on December 15, one week from Sunday.
“New York State will no longer allow brutally inhumane puppy mills around the country to supply our pet stores and earn a profit off animal cruelty and unsuspecting consumers,” said Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, of Manhattan, in 2022. “By ending the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores, shelters and rescues will be able to partner with these stores to showcase adoptable animals and place them into forever homes.”
Stores found in violation of the law may be fined $1,000 per incident.
The two year gap between adoption and enforcement of the law was meant to give pet stores that depend on animal sale revenue time to comply. To that end, the law also allows for pet stores to partner with shelters and rescues, which may rent floor space in stores to offer rescued animals for adoption.
Sounds like a win-win, but like zillions of milled animals who died neglected and alone, some of the pet stores won’t make it.
Incentivizing beneficial behavior and disincentivizing harmful behavior is a feature of civilization, not a bug. Regardless of how they or their forebears are treated, a dog bought from a breeder is a dog not adopted from a kill pound. When millions of adoptable cats and dogs are put to death every year, purposely adding to those populations — for personal gain, no less — is, to put it politely, unethical. Remove squishy ethics from the equation and the dynamics don’t change all that much.
Regardless of how they or their forebears are treated, a dog bought from a breeder is a dog not adopted from a kill pound.
Many if not most shelters and rescues can barely keep the lights on, much less afford to rent space inside a retail store. This is not a flaw of puppy mill legislation, but a symptom of the issue the law is intended to address.
Another story that surfaced this week is conveniently illustrative. Max, a 5-year-old miniature pinscher, was recently rescued from the Hudson River in Bergen County, New Jersey, after getting away from adopters who four days earlier had taken him home from a New York City rescue.
“He was extremely timid and fearful of humans and likely did not come from an ideal living situation,” said Arpana (no last name given), who adopted Max along with her husband, Sagar. “As far as we know, he was either approached or just saw humans and got scared and ran into the river. The Edgewater Fire Department and Bergen County Animal Control was called. He kept running into the river, but they placed some barriers down to stop him from running further, so he was still in shallow water."
Arpana told NorthJersey.com that Max was “surrendered to the rescue by a breeder who likely gave him up because he was past his prime age.”
So, yes, a breeder used Max up and threw him away. But even if you could not care less about Max (or an untold number of other domesticated animals in similar circumstances), consider the spot he occupied at the rescue, which could have gone to a dog who wasn’t bred for profit. Consider the labor undertaken by that rescue to take care of Max, and the donations from private citizens to keep him and other animals at this one rescue alive. The expenses borne by his adopters to acclimate him to a caring home. The tax dollars that support the fire department that ultimately saved him from drowning in the Hudson.
Now multiply those costs by x number of discarded bred-for-profit animals over y number of years. You may never have so much as considered buying a dog or a cat or a rabbit, but if you’re a functioning adult in this country, you likely pay for profit-bred animals nonetheless.
If this sounds like hokum, you probably didn’t spend 10 years reading and writing about how everyone pays for roads and bridges and “free” parking and traffic deaths whether or not they own a car. They’re called externalities, and in this case — as with cars — we’re all on the hook for them.
“We receive quite a few animals that you know were bred just for profit,” Maureen Davison, executive director of HumaneCNY, in Syracuse, told Spectrum News. “And to us these are pets, these are family members not dollar signs.”
Hats off, then, to Hochul and state legislators for supporting this commonsense legislation two sessions ago. Now do SARA.
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Here’s the latest New York companion animal news:
A small plane transporting three rescue dogs crashed in the Catskills, killing the pilot and one of the dogs. Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley, where the dogs were headed, is raising funds for the surviving dogs’ medical care.
Related: Drops and buckets something something.
Related: Eric Adams: Also terrible, just more brazenly corrupt.
A passerby and Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition saved four kittens from a sidewalk trash can in Brooklyn Heights.
Despite concerns over a provider shortage, the AVMA is bullish on the state of veterinary care.
People inadvertently making their dogs sick over the holidays is apparently a thing. Here’s one vet’s advice on how to not do that.
Godspeed, coyotes of New York City.
Adoptables
NYC ACC will hold just one mobile adoption event this weekend, in Manhattan.
Leslie (pictured) and friends are now available in Smithtown.
Find a New York adoptable near you on Petfinder.
Related: Waldo’s Rescue Pen, the Manhattan rescue that rescued Max, is holding its third annual holiday benefit tomorrow. Tickets were still available as of this writing.
Food recalls
The FDA has issued three recent pet food recalls:
Blue Ridge Beef Puppy Mix (salmonella)
Hollywood Feed Carolina Made Chicken Chips Dog Treats (salmonella)
Gaines Family Farmstead Chicken Chips Dog Treats (salmonella)
Check the FDA recalls page for details.