Michigan might quickly end up being the latest state to prohibit the sale of cats, dogs and bunnies at family pet shops in an effort to target industrial breeding operations condemned by critics as “puppy mills.”
House Bill 4838, presented in late June by Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, D — East Lansing, would let family pet stores work rather with shelters to provide rescued or abandoned animals for adoption.
“Beginning July 1, 2025, a pet shop shall not sell, adopt, exchange, or transfer, or offer for sale, adoption, exchange, or transfer, a dog, cat, or rabbit,” HB 4838 read.
“My legislation will protect animals from inhumane breeding conditions and ensure Michigan consumers are no longer duped into buying cruelly bred, sick or genetically disordered pets,” Tsernoglou said in a June 22 statement. “Pet stores routinely rely on inhumane breeding practices to procure dogs, cats and rabbits. It’s against the values of our pet-loving state to let this continue.”
Tsernoglou likewise asked “Michigan pet lovers” to support the switch to a “humane business model” for family pet shops statewide. The expense mirrors regional family pet store regulations in Ann Arbor, Eastpointe, Fraser, New Baltimore, Royal Oak, Harbor Springs, St. Clair Shores and Woodhaven.
California enacted a comparable law in 2017, ending up being the first state to ban such sales, according to reporting by the Associated Press. A handful of states followed. In 2020, Maryland prohibited the sale of cats and dogs in family pet shops, triggering pushback from shop owners and breeders who challenged the procedure in court. Illinois disallowed family pet stores from offering commercially raised puppies and kittens a year later on.
New York prohibited family pet shops from selling cats, dogs and bunnies near completion of 2022.
The pet store market argued the laws “remove important consumer protections,” according to reporting by the AP.
Michigan shelters have actually dealt with an overcrowding crisis in recent years. Counties spend countless taxpayer dollars every year on animal control services, like safeguarding, euthanasia of undesirable animals and spay/neuter help, according to Tsernoglou’s workplace.
“We applaud Rep. Tsernoglou for introducing this humane pet store bill to shut down the puppy-mill-to-petstore pipeline in Michigan once and for all,” Blake Goodman, Michigan state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said in the June 22 declaration. “This policy will ensure that mother dogs are no longer treated like breeding machines so their puppies can be sold to unsuspecting Michigan consumers.”
Michigan is among the top 10 states for family pet store customer grievances to the Humane Society of the U.S.
Consumers report spending countless dollars on family pet store puppies, misleading sales strategies and winding up with ill (often passing away) puppies needing pricey veterinary care, according to the not-for-profit organization. Some clients were persuaded to fund their puppies just to wind up with concealed, high-interest rates.
The Michigan House sent the expense to the Government Operations Committee, where it awaits a hearing.
