Animal Care Agencies
Urge Governor to Sign
Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill

Legislators and representatives of animal care organizations throughout the region gathered at the Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SQSPCA) on Wednesday, August 17 to collectively urge New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill.

SQSPCA Executive Director Stacie Haynes spearheaded the effort, which brought together members of the New York State Animal Protection Federation (NYSAPF), the national ASPCA, state and local officials, and shelter workers in support of the bill, which — if signed into law — would ban the sale of puppies, kittens, and rabbits in New York’s pet stores.

“We are thrilled to be able to mobilize this tremendous group of animal welfare advocates in favor of this piece of legislation we all care so deeply about,” said Haynes, who is also the current NYSAPF president. “Special thanks to our elected leaders Senator Peter Oberacker, Assemblyman Brian Miller, Assemblyman John Salka, Assemblyman Robert Smullen and Assemblyman Chris Tague, who joined us today and who helped champion this bill to reach the Governor’s desk,” Haynes said.

“We also want to thank Village of Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, Otsego County Representative Dan Wilber and Herkimer County Legislator Robert Schrader for being here to show their support of Governor Hochul signing this legislation into law,” Haynes added.

Also gathered on the SQSPCA campus on Wednesday to lend their voices to the call for passage of Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill were animal shelter leaders from across New York State, including Staffworks Fund founder Anita Vitullo and representatives of shelters from Broome, Delaware, Herkimer, Oneida, Otsego, and Schoharie counties. Haynes was especially happy to welcome SQSPCA alumni and their adopters, who were able to share the joys as well as the trials and tribulations of living with a former puppy mill dog.

According to the NYSAPF, records prove that thousands of puppies from out of state “USDA-certified” puppy mills are sold every year to unassuming consumers in New York at astronomical prices. The USDA’s own reports indicate that enforcement actions have reached new lows, and transport records regularly link these incoming and often physically, mentally, and medically compromised puppies to the nation’s most notoriously cruel commercial breeders — operations that the USDA has failed to hold accountable to the extremely low federal Animal Welfare Act standards, NYSAPF literature explains.

“The vast majority of retail outlets in New York State — about 1,000 big and small — already recognize that selling puppies from these mills is a broken, outdated business model, and that consumers are demanding better. The people gathered here today are demanding that New York State’s complicity in animal abuse be stopped by the passage of this bill,” said Libby Post, NYSAPF Executive Director.

To urge Governor Hochul’s swift passage of the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill (A.4283/S.1130) call 518-474-8390. The SQSPCA, located at 5082-5088 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with new evening hours on Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Appointments to meet animals are advised to avoid wait times by calling 607-547-8111, but walk-ins are also welcome.