California Law Would Require Pet Shops to Abide by Stricter Regulations: Keeping Detailed Records on the Animals They Sell

It would also require providing toys and exercise wheels for caged animals and other care issues.

Wow, another incredible step coming out of California. I think this is a great step and would lead eventually to greater accountability to a despicable industry. It still doesn’t go far enough, but will lead to improvement.


For more on the problems with pet stores and puppy mills visit: http://www.stoppuppymills.org/

For those in California who want to support it, the bill is AB2862

Article:

Measure could force pet shops to keep better records
Bill also calls for stricter rules on exercise and care

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/17/
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Kimberly Geiger, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Thursday, August 17, 2006

(08-17) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- Lawmakers will vote today on a bill that could require pet shops to abide by stricter regulations like keeping detailed records on the animals they sell and providing toys and exercise wheels for small animals like rats, hamsters, mice and guinea pigs.

A recent investigation conducted by an animal rights advocacy group prompted Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Leimert Park (Los Angeles County), to introduce a bill that would set into law a statewide regulatory policy for pet shops. Ridley-Thomas said current federal regulations are inadequate because they are vague and focus mostly on cats and dogs.

Major pet dealers like PETCO and PetSmart have lobbied against the idea, but last week brokered a deal with lawmakers. The original bill had included a highly detailed series of rules that would have become law, but PETCO and PetSmart said they would prefer to negotiate the specifics with a regulatory agency instead of the Legislature.

The bill now would require the state's Department of Consumer Affairs to "regulate the care and handling of companion animals sold to the general public at retail outlets."

"The pet industry itself has gotten the message that standards need to be raised," Ridley-Thomas said.

Pet shop owners initially opposed regulations contained in the bill that would have required them to keep better records, provide more cage space, and place toys and exercise wheels in cages.

Pet shop owners argued that these provisions should exclude mice that are sold as food for reptiles. The bill would have required pet shops to house no more than four mice per 1-square-foot-wide by 9-inch-tall container, and place an exercise wheel and gnawing item in the cage.

Jonathan Ito, owner of Animal Connection, one of six San Francisco pet shops that sells live animals, said the bill's provisions were unrealistic for a shopkeeper who sells mice exclusively as food. "We haven't sold mice as pets for a while now," said Ito. "I would have to set up exercise machines as if these are long-term pets."

In addition to the housing requirements, Ito said he opposed the bill's record keeping provisions which would have required him to document each animal's age, size, color marking, breed, sex and species as well as the names and contact information for the person or company that sold him the animal.

Ito said this type of record keeping is difficult when it comes to cats and dogs, but nearly impossible when dealing with a high volume of guinea pigs, hamsters, rats and mice.

The provisions were recommended to lawmakers by the Animal Protection Institute, the organization that conducted the investigation.

The institute's investigation of pet shops in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego gave pet shops statewide a poor grade for their treatment of animals, though San Francisco's shops performed better than those in the other cities.

The investigators visited four pet shops in San Francisco and reported that one shop failed to provide animals with sufficient space, one shop provided unclean water, one shop housed animals that showed signs of neglect, three shops housed animals that showed signs of psychological distress, and three shops kept animals in unsanitary enclosures.

The organization did not investigate large pet-shop chains like PETCO. The San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control had already filed a lawsuit against PETCO for repeated violations of existing law governing the treatment of animals. The city and county were recently awarded $50,000 and PETCO was required to improve its treatment of animals or face additional fines.

Ito suspects that the bill, AB2862, is part of a broader attempt by animal rights activists to stop the sale of animals entirely.

"The bill is sponsored by the Animal Protection Institute and they would rather have no one sell pets, so it's designed to do that," Ito said. "Based on the original provisions in that bill, we would not be able to provide the service we provide now."

Monica Engebretson, a spokeswoman for the Animal Protection Institute, said that when the group reviewed the results of its investigation, it concluded that animals should not be sold as pets. Regardless, she said, "this bill is not about putting pet shops out of business."