NJ: Shut Down the Puppy Mill Pipeline!

NJ S. 2511/A. 4051 — Ends the Retail Sale of Dogs, Cats and Rabbits

ASPCA Position: Support

Sponsors: Senators Stack and Mukherji; Reps. Haider, Peterpaul and Sampson

Update — December 17, 2025: Your advocacy is paying off — this bill is inching closer to the finish line! Please urge your lawmakers to pass this bill before time runs out.

It's time to end the Garden State’s participation in the horrific puppy mill pipeline. New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would stop the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in the state’s pet stores, which continue to profit from cruelty.

New Jersey pet stores advertise that their puppies are “top quality” and come from “responsible breeders,” exploiting animals and deceiving consumers. The sad reality is that puppies are trucked in from cruel out-of-state commercial breeding facilities, also known as puppy mills, where animals are confined to filthy, crowded cages. Commercial breeders treat dogs like products; their only goal is to produce the highest number of puppies at the lowest possible cost. As a result, animals are often sick, injured or malnourished and can suffer from genetic issues because of poor breeding practices.

While communities and states around the country have enacted laws and ordinances to prevent pet stores from selling inhumanely bred animals, New Jersey still allows pet stores to profit from this inherently cruel system.

What You Can Do

Don’t wait! Please use our brief form below to send a message urging your lawmakers to shut down New Jersey’s puppy mill pipeline.

Advocacy Alert

Your Message

Subject Shut Down New Jersey's Puppy Mill Pipeline!

Dear Legislator,

Message

As an animal advocate and your constituent, I am reaching out to ask for your support on S. 2511/A. 4051. I was disappointed to see this important measure stall in 2024, because it will stop cruel breeders from selling their dogs in New Jersey’s pet stores as other states and communities have done.

Puppies sold in pet stores come from commercial breeding operations known as “puppy mills,” designed to prioritize profit over the well-being of animals. In these operations, dogs often spend their entire lives in wire crates without adequate shelter, veterinary care, food or socialization. At the end of 2024, New York's law prohibiting the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores went into effect, and some of these businesses moved into our state bringing predatory sales tactics, deception and sick puppies with them. Without action now, I am concerned this problem will only grow.

Year after year, the pet industry has demonstrated that it is not interested in ensuring the welfare of the dogs it churns out, nor is it interested in transparency or public accountability. These poorly regulated commercial dog breeders have only one goal: to breed the highest volume of puppies possible at the lowest cost for maximum profit. Enough is enough. This legislation would shut down the puppy mill pipeline that imports cruelly bred animals from puppy mills across the country to New Jersey’s pet stores. It will also better protect our state’s consumers, public health and animal welfare -- while still permitting stores to provide space for rescue groups and shelters to adopt out animals to the public. Some local laws already prevent pet stores from selling cruelly bred animals in their communities, but pet stores still operate with impunity in many parts of the state, profiting off cruelly bred animals.

It is time for the state to shut down the puppy mill pipeline. Please pass S. 2511/A. 4051 before the end of this session. Thank you for your time and consideration of my views.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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