N.J. lawmakers can give consumers the gift of a humane holiday | Opinion

By Kathleen Schatzmann

A local pet store might seem like the right place for New Jerseyans to purchase a new puppy, kitten, or rabbit this holiday season, but the hidden reality of where these animals are sourced can lead to devastating consequences for unsuspecting buyers.

Many people are apt to trust their local pet store because they have scripted the answers consumers want to hear. The salesperson assures you the animal came from a highly regulated, humane breeder and is healthy, and while you didn’t intend to spend thousands of dollars, the salesperson offers financing and says you’ll pay little to no interest.

Meanwhile, the furry family member that you imagine bringing home to your family for the holidays has likely come from a mill — a large-scale commercial breeding facility where the emphasis is on profits over the welfare of the animal.

It is well-documented that the vast majority of pet store puppies come from Midwest puppy mills. Dogs in these mills live lives of misery, forced to mass-produce puppies for the pet trade. Public records show that New Jersey pet stores source puppies from these very mills, some of the most egregious commercial breeding facilities in the nation. Purchasing puppies from these stores has led to heartbreak and financial strain when consumers learn they have purchased a sick puppy who requires costly veterinary care — and in the most unfortunate cases, the puppy does not survive.

While puppy mills are tragic for the animals, consumers are also put at risk of financial devastation from situations in which they learn that their loan had an undisclosed, shockingly high interest rate and hidden fees. Pet stores drastically inflate the price of puppies, then push financing on customers.

In most cases, New Jersians are protected from soaring interest rates. But as the National Consumer Law Center explains, puppy-selling pet stores can offer “predatory puppy loans,” with interest rates that would otherwise be illegal. Pet stores utilizing lending companies that partner with banks are often exempt from usury laws.

This is how one New Jersey pet store customer ended up with an interest rate of 151%, which is five times the state’s legal limit of 30%. When you couple these interest rates with the increased health risks associated with mill-bred puppies — frequently necessitating expensive and even lifelong specialized veterinary care — the financial vulnerability of customers cannot be overstated.

In 2015, New Jersey legislators attempted to protect puppy-store customers with the Pet Purchase Protection Act. It was a compromise with the puppy stores that claimed they could sell puppies responsibly. Almost 10 years later, it couldn’t be clearer that it’s not working.

But our state has an opportunity to protect consumers and animals, as Trenton considers legislation known as the Humane Pet Store Bill, a bipartisan bill that will prohibit the sale of puppies, kittens, and rabbits in the few New Jersey pet stores that still sell them.

These stores will have time to transition to a more humane, products- and services-focused business model, and can partner with shelter and rescue organizations to host adoption events. Eight states and nearly 500 localities — including 149 in New Jersey — already have similar policies in place, and 10 New Jersey counties have passed resolutions urging the state and cities to address this issue.

And we cannot understate the urgency of doing it in this session, because New York’s own humane pet store law will also go into effect in December – which could expose New Jersey to an influx of bad actors preying on unsuspecting consumers.

As families gather for the holidays, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether their pet store is trustworthy when deciding to bring home a puppy; this legislation can do that for them by ending the connection to puppy mills. It’s up to all of us in New Jersey to let our legislators know that we need this bill to become law, and give consumers the gift of a humane holiday.

Kathleen Schatzmann, a lifelong New Jerseyan, is Strategic Legislative Affairs Manager for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

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