Update: This bill did not complete the legislative process prior to adjournment.
Bill Description: This bill requires the registration of breeders of cats and dogs to help limit the market for cats and dogs from mass breeding facilities with poor and unhealthy conditions. The bill includes provisions banning the delivery of pups and kittens to pet stores unless the animals are at least 10 weeks old, banning pet dealers from purchasing a cat or dog from a breeder if the breeder is not registered by the state, and requiring pet dealers to provide to consumers of dogs and cats a written statement summarizing the source of the animal and the animal’s health status.
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This bill will improve fundamental protections for New York animals as well as protecting consumers. Puppies and kittens need proper care during their formative weeks to ensure good health and proper socialization. Healthy, well-socialized animals make better companions and tend to stay with their human families for longer periods of time, thereby benefiting the families, ensuring animal welfare, and reducing the pressure on animal rescue organizations and animal shelters. In addition, purchasers have the right to know under what conditions the animals they purchase have been bred or from what kind of facility they were purchased. This legislation would require pet stores to disclose that information to purchasers.