Our fight to end puppy mill cruelty has reached a milestone well worth celebrating: 500 localities across the U.S. have banned the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet shops.
We’re proud that the cities, towns and counties that have enacted humane pet store laws span 31 states and represent communities of all political leanings, demographic characteristics and population size. But we’re prouder still of the steady beat of progress in our campaign to shrink the puppy mill industry by limiting its retail opportunities. We’re sealing the deal with our public policy work, investigations and contributions to enforcement efforts, educational campaigns, litigation work and corporate outreach initiatives. From the board room to the courthouse, and from city councils to the U.S. Congress, where the Puppy Protection Act has just been reintroduced, we’re on the march, and we’re making a difference.
In addition to 500 local jurisdictions, we’ve helped to persuade eight states to prohibit the sale of puppies in pet shops, and our successes at the local and state levels are mutually reinforcing. In Nevada for example, five localities have humane pet store laws, including Clark County, where in 2022 the county commission passed an ordinance to prohibit sales of dogs, cats, rabbits and potbellied pigs at retail pet stores in the county’s unincorporated areas, home to more than a million Nevadans.
Soon, a humane pet store law may cover the entire state. On Monday, the Nevada State Assembly passed AB487, Cindy Lou’s Law, which honors the memory of a Havanese puppy who was left to suffer alone in Puppy Heaven’s back room and later died of liver failure.
Now, our attention has shifted to the Nevada Senate, where we’ll press for the measure’s passage.
Public records make it clear that the Nevada legislation will cut off key sales outlets for some of the cruelest puppy mills in the country. Of the 15 puppy-selling pet shops in Nevada, our researchers were able to confirm 12 had purchased puppies from breeders whose substandard operations were described in our 2025 Horrible Hundred report on U.S. puppy mills.
A similar dynamic has provided momentum to our efforts in Texas. There, every major city has a humane pet shop ordinance, and we’re urging legislators to enact the Ethical Pet Sales Bill (SB 1652/HB 3458) to stop the sale of puppies in pet stores statewide. This week, the House version of this bill cleared one hurdle, passing out of its first committee.
We’re also supporting state legislation in New Jersey (with 149 local ordinances), Massachusetts (with 16 local ordinances), and Minnesota (with 11 ordinances). In Connecticut, we’re supporting the passage of HB 6832, legislation to grant localities the home rule authority needed to enact and enforce their own humane pet shop ordinances.
In the face of our substantial gains, Petland—the largest puppy-selling pet store chain in the U.S.—has dug in. Rather than adapt to changing social ethics, the company continues to resist. In Kentucky, as a direct result of ordinances passed in Louisville and Lexington last year, Petland lobbyists swarmed the state capital and tried to convince state legislators to pass a preemption bill to overturn all local ordinances in the state. But working with good allies we overcame this legislative threat and preserved six existing local laws and the right of other Kentucky cities and counties to ban the sale of puppy mill puppies if they wish to do so.
Whether we’re on offense or defense in this fight, our animal protection litigation team has played a central role. Working with local counsel, we’ve represented dozens of plaintiffs in lawsuits seeking to hold Petland accountable for business practices that mislead customers, result in substantial veterinary costs, and sustain the puppy mill industry. In addition, in instances when these local and state laws have been challenged in court, our legal team has helped to defend them; not one law of this kind has been struck down.
In sticking with a cruel and archaic business model, Petland has lost its way. In contrast, most pet stores across the nation, from larger chains such as PetSmart and Petco to thousands of small, locally owned boutique pet shops, do not sell puppies. They want no part in puppy mill cruelty, and many host adoption events with shelters and rescues. They want to help solve the challenge of pet overpopulation, rather than exacerbate it by selling commercially raised puppies.
Humane-minded pet store operators are an influential force with lawmakers concerned about the economic impact of humane pet sale laws. Nothing has done more to dispel such concerns than the support of over 400 pet stores across the nation for ordinances and state bills. In Texas alone, 100 pet stores have endorsed The Ethical Pet Sales Bill, and in Nevada, 45 pet stores have put their support behind Cindy Lou’s Law. It’s one thing for us to make the argument that no pet shop needs to sell puppies to be profitable. It’s more powerful when people in the industry make that claim and back it up with evidence of their success in the booming pet food, pet products and services market.
All of this gives us confidence about the future gains we can make in our campaign to bring puppy mill cruelty to an end, by closing the door to pet shop puppy sales and all the misery, suffering and disappointment for which puppy mills are responsible. With your help, we know we can do it.
Sara Amundson is president of Humane World Action Fund.
