"How much is that doggie in the window?"
This week California became the first state in the entire U.S. to pass a law that penalizes pet stores from selling cats and dogs unless they're from local animal shelters and/or rescue groups.
This law was signed by, Gov. Jerry Brown in October of 2017, and went in effect on January 1st, 2019. The nearly two year gap was intended to give pet stores time to prepare their stores for this new law.
This new law is aimed to reduce the breeding of animals at puppy mills and kitten factories. These questionable breeding facilities usually mass-produce animals and keep the them in horrible unsanitary conditions, without sufficient amount of food, water, medical care, and socialization.
Pet store owners could face a fine of $500 per animal that are not in compliance to this new law.
According to NYTimes, the vice president for state affairs of the ASPCA, Kevin O'Neil, said that this may be the start of a trend because it seems that other states such as; Washington State, New York, and New Jersey are drafting up or considering similar laws statewide.
"It did somewhat open up the possibility of moving it from a municipal effort to a statewide effort... I think you are going to start seeing more and more states doing it," said O'Neil.