end the retail sale of animals in pet stores
Expanding current animal retail sales bans to include all animals such as small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes, arachnids, and hermit crabs will save lives, prevent animal cruelty, protect biodiversity, and reduce stress on shelters and rescues.
The retail sale of these wild animals as “exotic pets” is costing many of them their lives: Most die before they ever reach the store shelf.
Most animals sold in pet stores come from cruel breeding mills where thousands of them are confined to small cages, containers, and tanks without adequate food, water, or veterinary care. Sick and injured animals may be ignored or brutally killed. Some wild animals are taken from their habitats in the wild and sold as “pets”. Even illegally trafficked animals may be laundered through breeding mills and falsely marketed as “captive-bred.” These animals have no protections and are vulnerable to extreme abuse as federal Animal Welfare Act is under-enforced for birds and small mammals and doesn’t protect reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.
Even after being purchased, many languish in small cages and in inadequate conditions, others are dumped into non-native habitats, and some are surrendered to shelters and rescues, which are already chronically overwhelmed with animals in need of homes. An estimated seventy-five percent of “exotic pets” die prematurely within a year of being purchased.
California has already taken steps to end the cruelty and suffering caused by the “pet” industry by. The state banned the retail sale of cats, dogs, and rabbits in all pet stores in 2017. California also banned gerbils, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, and ferrets, and prohibited having native wildlife as pets. California cares about animals, and we must expand upon existing law to include and protect all of them. That’s why we’re working in the San Francisco Bay Area to introduce local city-wide ordinances and end the exploitation and suffering of these animals.
About 500 localities have already passed retail animal sales bans to protect some animals. West Hollywood, CA, Arlington, MA, Washington DC, and Cambridge, MA have all passed comprehensive retail animal sales bans that protect all mammals, reptiles, fishes, and birds! Cities in the Bay Area will be next!
