LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Pet stores in Michigan could be in the dog house with animal welfare groups, if governor Rick Snyder signs two bills that are headed for his desk.
Only breeders and pet stores considered qualified by the state could sell animals.
Deborah Schutt is with the Michigan Pet Alliance. She says the problem is that some large-scale breeders that the state would consider qualified, are what animal welfare advocates call puppy mills. She says the bills would allow these pet stores to continue operating even if local governments didn’t want them.
The bills would bar local governments from banning the stores.
“It’s not good for the animals themselves. It’s not good for the whole animal welfare industry. What it is good for is somebody who’s putting money in their pocket at the expense of people who want to bring a loving-living animal into their home.”
The bills also include provisions that keep pet stores from buying dogs and cats younger than eight weeks old, without a health certificate from a vet, or without a microchip.