Pet stores in Connecticut would have to stop selling animals under this proposal

A proposal to ban the sale of dogs, cats and pet rabbits would prevent Connecticut from becoming a hub for pet stores where animals are subjected to unhealthy and inhumane conditions, advocates claim.

Pet store owners, however, argue that Connecticut residents should be able to choose the dog they want, and that existing laws protect both animals and prospective owners.

There is a proposal in Connecticut to ban the sale of cats, dogs and pet rabbits, which would bring Connecticut statute in line with similar bans in nine other states, among them California, New York, Vermont and Maine.

“What we are trying to legislate is the commercial pet shops that are getting cats and dogs in from the big, large-scale breeding operations, and then selling them to people,” she said. “A lot of them are unethical, and they produce unhealthy animals, and they pass them on to the pet shops that then pass them on to consumers who are looking for a cat or a dog.”

“I ended up getting a dog that definitely had health issues for his entire life,” she said. “The vet would say she can’t tell for sure, but it probably had to do with how he was bred.”

New York state banned pet stores late last year, and John Goodwin, senior director of the Humane Society’s campaign Stop Puppy Mills, said they’ve already seen some pet stores move across the border into Connecticut.

“Massachusetts and New Jersey also have bills to end the sale of puppies in pet stores,” he said. “If they get these over the finish lines, then Connecticut becomes a hub for puppy mill stores.