Rebuttal: We Don't Need To Sell Pets Out Of Stores [OPINION]

By Aaron Zellhoefer and Lauren Calmet, Minnesota Reformer

March 31, 2026

The smooth passage of the Humane Pet Store Bill (HF2627/SF1943)  out of committees in both the Minnesota House and Senate’s judiciary committees with no nay votes is a sign of this legislation’s measured, commonsense approach. It would  prohibit any additional pet stores in the state from selling puppies, while ensuring that the several stores that currently sell puppies  adhere to stronger sourcing and transparency requirements.  

Should this pass in both chambers, the bill would bring Minnesota in alignment with nine other states and more than 500 localities, 16 of them in Minnesota, with just such a policy in place.

There are a couple of trade groups trying to cast the Humane Pet Shop Bill as controversial, but the truth is that no Minnesotan needs a pet shop to find the pet of their choice — we currently only have just a couple in the whole state.

Moreover, industry data makes it clear that no pet shop needs to sell puppies to be profitable. A new report from the American Pet Products Association shows that Americans spent $158 billion on their pets last year. The booming pet products and services industry continues to grow, and the future is especially bright for pet shops focused on services, food, and other products. That’s because millennial pet owners prefer to shop in person at smaller, locally-owned pet shops. Minnesota can and will continue to welcome these stores.  

 The last thing we need is for Minnesota to become just one more state in which the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline flourishes, sending countless sick and unhealthy animals out into the world, with all the heartache and expense that brings to the families who purchase them.

The Florida Attorney General recently released a study showing that Florida’s puppy-selling stores — and specifically their deceptive sales practices, sick animals, and predatory financing schemes — cost Floridians over $25.1 million each year. The Humane Pet Store bill will ensure that Minnesota’s puppy store market stays small, and the state doesn’t become a safe haven for puppy mill suppliers to pet stores.  

We cannot rely on USDA oversight of commercial breeders as a reasonable alternative to humane pet shop legislation. USDA standards allow for dogs to be kept in stacked, wire cages only six inches larger than their bodies for their entire lives. Mother dogs can be bred repeatedly until their bodies wear out — and then simply disposed of like trash. This is simply not in line with how most Minnesotans and Americans believe dogs should be treated — like family members.   

 The connection between pet shop puppies and puppy mills is well-documented and undeniable. Puppy stores rely on large-scale commercial breeders and brokers, many with awful animal welfare records, to consistently fill their cages with weeks-old puppies. Responsible breeders simply do not have the volume or the willingness to supply pet stores with puppies. For those breeders, it is a core tenet of responsible breeding to only sell directly to consumers they have screened.  

To state the case plainly, humane pet shop laws curb puppy mill cruelty. USDA data indicate that 550,000 fewer puppies are churned out by puppy mills each year, as compared to 2020. That’s a 44% decrease. There’s also been a 15% decrease in the number of commercial breeders licensed to sell to pet stores and online. If what some opponents of the Humane Pet Store Bill say is true — that humane pet shop laws merely drive people to online sellers — we would not be seeing these declines.  

In Minnesota, as in many other states, there’s a shift occurring in human attitudes about the puppy mills that have for so long plagued the pet trade, confounded regulatory authorities and produced sad and wrenching outcomes for families who have fallen victim to the predatory business model that underpins puppy-selling pet stores.

With their support of the Humane Pet Store Bill, Minnesota legislators are right in step with this compassionate trend, just like the citizens they represent.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..