State lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent puppy mills from trucking cruelly bred puppies into your community’s pet stores. Cats are also included and protected by this bill.
Texas currently does not have a state law to address the ethical sale of pets. A 2024 poll shows that the majority of Texans — 83% —oppose the selling of dogs from puppy mills in pet stores. Now, the legislature has the opportunity to pass a bill in alignment with our values. This overdue bill will finally protect families in Texas and require pet stores that sell dogs and cats to only source them ethically and humanely.
Dallas, Houston and Corpus Christi and have passed similar laws to address the ethical sale of pets; it’s time for the full state to take action.
Texan pet stores often advertise that their puppies and kittens are “top quality” and come from “responsible breeders.” The sad reality is that those animals are trucked in from out-of-state commercial breeding facilities (for dogs, they are also known as puppy mills). These commercial breeders treat animals like products. Their only goal is to produce the highest number of animals at the lowest possible cost. As a result, animals are often sick, injured or malnourished and are confined to filthy, crowded cages.
Many of these animals pass through middlemen, called brokers, who buy high volumes of puppies and kittens from poorly regulated, licensed breeders. These animals are then resold to pet stores in Texas. They have misrepresented and disguised the reality of where their animals come from, exploiting animals and deceiving consumers.
This harmful system is driven by profit and greed. It continues to exist because state law still allows the sale of cruelly bred dogs and cats in pet stores.
What You Can Do
Please use our brief form below to send a message TODAY urging your state lawmakers to support this bill. If your lawmaker already supports this bill, the system will instead generate a message of thanks.
