Bans on Sales of Pets in Stores Negatively Impact the Pet Industry

DIVIDE AND CONQUER is a strategy dating back to the Romans. And unless the pet industry unites, it’s going to be used against us.

Pet products are the largest segment of the $150 billion pet industry. But pet product sales are dependent on the tail that wags the dog: businesses that supply live animals. That supply is under attack across the country, and numerous pet product businesses have been recruited to — unwittingly — lobby against their own long-term prospects and to constrict the growth of our industry.

In Texas this year, animal rights activists pushed legislation to ban the sale of cats and dogs at licensed and inspected pet stores. It was opposed by dozens of local pet stores, professional and ethical breeders, and others. But shockingly, animal activists wielded a list of local pet stores that supported the legislation.

Fortunately, the bill died. But in total, seven states have passed bans on the sale of pets, and eight more states saw proposals this year. And in many of those states, activists who seek to reduce pet sales and pet ownership were able to claim the support of some stores that sell pet products.

The supply of animals is a controversial subject — but it shouldn’t be. Across the industry, we all have the common goal of seeing a regulated, responsible supply chain of live animals.

But there needs to be a common understanding that pet sale bans are creating a situation harmful for pets, people and pet businesses. We must be united in opposing these bad policies.

California was the first state to pass a pet sale ban. It went into effect in 2019, and it’s been a disaster.

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year on the damage to both pets and people from the ban on pet stores selling dogs. “[A] network of resellers — including ex-cons and schemers — replaced pet stores as middlemen,” the paper reported. “[I]n some cases, pet owners were left heartbroken or facing thousands of dollars in veterinary bills when their new puppies got sick or died.”

These pet sale bans are not just about dogs and cats. Animal rights activists are now going to localities and lobbying for bans on all species being sold through stores: fish, reptiles, small mammals, you name it. They’ve even pushed laws banning the breeding of certain animals, such as in Ojai, CA.

If these laws continue to be passed, where are pets going to come from?

For dogs, we’ve seen a rise in foreign imports. The federal government reports that more than 1 million dogs are now brought in every year from foreign countries.

This creates serious welfare problems for animals. There is no U.S. licensing or inspection of operations in Eastern Europe, China or Mexico, where many of these dogs come from. It’s likely that many of these animals are being trafficked in from foreign “puppy mills.”

This is a cruel irony, given that the pet sale bans are supposedly aimed at stopping puppy mills. Instead, pet sale bans help them.

And for other species, there is really no alternative to retail pet sales. There aren’t many fish, birds and reptiles at shelters and rescues. If sales of these pets are banned, these sectors will collapse.

That’s the goal of pet sale bans. Animal rights activists ultimately want to shrink the pet industry. The more radical groups want to eliminate it entirely. The well-known People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has written that “It would have been in the animals’ best interests if the institution of ‘pet keeping’ — i.e., breeding animals to be kept and regarded as ‘pets’ — never existed.”

Certainly, pet stores would never willingly align with such an extreme position. But some retailers have been tricked into supporting bans on pet sales, which is part of this larger agenda.

Regulated, responsible sales of animals is the future of the pet industry. If there are no pets, there are no pet products.

As the new CEO of the Pet Advocacy Network, I ask for your help in advocating for our industry. Visit our website and sign up for our free Network of Advocates program. We would love to work with you and advocate for you, because we can only stay successful if we’re united.