As the puppy mill and pet store industries continue to pad their pockets by selling sick and neglected animals, their lobbyists are going state by state influencing lawmakers on the state level to pass baldly cruel and undemocratic preemption bills. These state-level bills seek to invalidate crucial local laws at the city and county level that ban the sale of dogs and cats raised in horrific puppy and kitten mills. We need your help to fight against these backward bills!

Preemption bills allow the heartless and money-hungry puppy mill industry to continue to crowd animals into tiny, filthy cages, often without adequate veterinary care. These state-level bills strip cities and towns of their ability to protect the animals in their communities, and consumers are left with the false impression that the state will fill the regulatory void.

Such preemption bills could wipe out more than 300 ordinances nationwide that prohibit the retail sale of dogs and cats. In Florida alone, there are 67 of these local ordinances and counting. Rather than respect consumer concern for the welfare of dogs and cats, Florida legislators have disgustingly sided with corrupt puppy mill lobbyists who have attempted on three separate occasions to sneak language into unrelated state bills that would have preempted local bans.

Thankfully, it is now clear that the puppy mill lobby has made a grave error, as these underhanded preemption efforts have galvanized animal advocates across the country in opposition. Animal advocacy organizations have defeated preemption bills in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Tennessee. Most recently, thanks to your calls and emails, Florida’s third attempt to overturn local puppy mill bans failed yet again. We need your help in continuing this fight. Please donate to our ongoing efforts to stop puppy mills.