Rep. Tsernoglou introduces ‘Pet Safety Invoice’ cracking down on pet mills

“My laws to section out the sale of canines, cats and rabbits in pet shops will defend animals from inhumane breeding circumstances and guarantee Michigan shoppers are not duped into shopping for cruelly bred, sick or genetically-disordered pets,” Tsernoglou mentioned of her invoice launched on Thursday. “Pet shops routinely depend on inhumane breeding practices to acquire canines, cats and rabbits. It’s towards the values of our pet-loving state to let this proceed.”

If handed, Michigan would be part of Illinois, New York, Maryland, Maine, Washington and California in enacting retail pet sale bans. The coverage additionally mirrors ordinances in Ann Arbor, Eastpointe, Fraser, New Baltimore, Royal Oak, Harbor Springs, St. Clair Shores and Woodhaven.

Based on the Humane Society of america, Michigan is among the many prime 10 states for pet retailer shopper complaints. Customers reported spending 1000’s of {dollars} on puppies and misleading gross sales techniques. Complaints additionally included buying puppies that have been sick or dying and required costly veterinary care, and being satisfied to finance puppies solely to be met with undisclosed excessive rates of interest.

Public data present that a whole bunch of puppies have been imported since 2021 to Michigan pet shops from Midwest pet mill breeders and brokers. Within the final two years, Michigan pet shops have bought puppies from pet mills cited for filthy circumstances, denying veterinary care to canines with gapings wounds, and permitting canines to kill a litter of puppies inside their enclosures.

Michigan shelters have additionally confronted an overcrowding disaster in recent times, as counties spend tens of millions in taxpayer {dollars} on animal management providers together with shelter, euthanizing undesirable animals, and generally offering help having animals spayed or neutered. 

“We applaud Rep. Tsernoglou for introducing this humane pet retailer invoice to close down the puppy-mill-to-petstore pipeline in Michigan as soon as and for all,” mentioned Blake Goodman, Michigan state director for the Humane Society of america. “This coverage will be certain that mom canines are not handled like breeding machines so their puppies will be offered to unsuspecting Michigan shoppers.”