California has banned retail pet stores from being allowed to sell dogs and cats (also rabbits too) unless the animals originate from an unwanted shelter. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...n-latest-animal-welfare-farming-a8000291.html I have mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, something needed to be done to encourage more people to adopt pets from shelters, instead of just breeding more animals and leaving the unwanted ones to be discarded. On the other hand, this is a very sweeping move and the state probably went too far, it's very controlling and authoritarian on pet owners. Getting dogs from a shelter is not just like getting new pets from a regular pet store. There are often times reasons why these animals were discarded in the first place (as people familiar with this will tell you) And particular breeds will be unavailable. Basically choice is being taken away from the consumer and they're going to be forced to get what are tantamount to "reject" animals, in many cases. Whatever the pound happens to have. I can see an argument being made for certain breeds, that there are too many of winding up in the shelters, but there's not going to be enough of every type of breed available if the only source retail stores can get their dogs from are shelters. Many states have already placed controls on what animals people are allowed to have (like foxes, native owl species), and now apparently California is starting to take those restrictions and encroach on the traditional animals people have always had too. Although right now people are still allowed to buy directly on their own from a private breeder, I have no doubt California is going to close that loophole too in 5 or 6 years, judging by how other things have been banned in the past in the state.
More stupid from the state that is king. What will happen to all the little animals that are not born in a shelter? Will there now be a puppy and kitten black market?
LOL none of my animals was ever in a shelter as my four cats and two dogs was at one time was all local strays but are now part of my family. One of the dogs was found in the middle of the road as a puppy and the other dog was taken in by a friend of mine who later die so I then took him in also. When the police and fire department show up to deal with my friend body the little dog was going to take on the whole police department to defend his human and only due to him knowing me allow me to place him in an extra bedroom until they got done. The last kitten taken in was found at the mail room during a heavy rain storm and she 'ask' my girlfriend for shelter. Plenty of wonderful animals that would be happy to be offer homes and that a short walk around your neighborhood can find.
Not all pet owners are as benevolent as you. Nor should the state force them to be. What if they just put a 40% tax on the sales price of all animals that didn't come from a shelter? I bet that alone would get half the pet buyers to choose shelter animals. Moreover, why does that state always seem to want to resort to banning things and mandates to try to get people to change their buying behavior, rather than using incentive taxes?
As long as it doesn't prevent me from buying pure bred puppies from a breeder, I can live with it. I'd never buy a dog (or take one in) that I haven't met at least one of it's parents. My current dog is a purebred boxer, and I knew his parents for years before he was born. They were great dogs, and he is, too. I would never buy a dog from a store (or take one in from a shelter).
From what I read about it, this only applies to pet store sales. A breeder is still allowed to sell puppies directly to the public.
Knowing anything about how things tend to get done in California, they probably just want to ease the majority of the pet-owning public into the idea of buying shelter animals for a few years before closing the breeder loophole.
I visited both government SPCA shelters in my area, and the only thing they had were pit-bulls and pit-bull mixes. I do not like terriers, and I especially do not like pit-bull terriers, so nothing the government does would make me want to adopt one. I got my dog (a beautiful black flat-coated retriever chow-chow mix) from a private animal rescue, and after working with her, she's just the best. Instead of discarding cats and dogs from the shelters, they could use them to feed the "homeless", and you'd have a win-win situation.
Doubt it. There's big money in selling purebred dogs. Much more money than in the puppy mills/pet store trade.