California bans animal torture in the form of Puppy Mills. Image Courtesy – http://www.countryliving.com.
A ban on dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. has been implemented in California to prohibit pet stores from the retail selling of companion animals. California Governor, Jerry Brown, has signed the law named AB 485, being the first state in the US regarding companion animals. The bill ‘AB 485 Pet Rescue and Adoption Act’ got passed unanimously in the California Senate with a 32-0 vote. A similar type of law has also been passed in other cities in the US like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, etc.
According to the new law in California, dogs, cats, or rabbits derived from a public animal control agency or ‘society for the prevention of cruelty to animals’ group or rescue group are prohibited. Selling animals in compliance with castrating them is within the regulation of the law. A pet store operator will face a penalty of $500 for violating this law due to animal torture.
The law authorizes a private animal shelter to cooperative agreements with animal rescue groups to include rabbits in their list. However, the law is not applicable to a person from purchases animals from a private breeder.
The law is the recent step against large-scale commercial breeding in the US known as ‘puppy mills’. The target of the businessmen in this process was only making money, providing animals in crowded and unsanitary conditions with limited medical facilities.
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The ‘Humane Society’ supported the bill. They alleged that the businessmen were compelled to put animals to death in huge numbers every year, and also 99% of the puppy sales used to come from irresponsible breeding in puppy mills. However, the pet shops defended the law stating that buyers would face difficulty to find specific breeds as a result of this law.
Public awareness has contributed a lot to the development and implementation of the legislation prohibiting such torture of innocent animals for vested interest. Lawyers have focused on the inhumane treatment of animals in puppy and kitten mills with overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, inadequate socialization, lack of appropriate veterinary care, lack of food and drinking water, etc. Animals bred in such conditions are prone to suffer from a multitude of health and behavioural problems.
The cruelty of these pet stores and puppy mills got focused due to continuous campaigns and public criticism. This law has at least reflected the concept that animals are living beings with inherent value rather than only commodities that can be bought and sold.
