Ohio, Puppy Mill Puppies Are Counting On You!

Update—December 20, 2016: We are sorry to report that Governor Kasich chose not to exercise his line-item veto and signed S.B. 331 into law with the Petland language retained. This new law will allow Ohio’s pet stores to source puppies from some of the worst mills in the country as well as block the state’s towns and cities from banning the retail sale of these dogs. While we are disappointed, we are pleased to report that critical measures to ban bestiality and make cockfighting a felony in Ohio were passed as part of S.B. 331. We want to thank everyone who attended meetings, wrote letters and placed calls to their legislators in opposition to this bill. We won’t stop fighting to reduce puppy mill cruelty in Ohio, and we hope we can count on you to stand beside us as we work to protect these vulnerable dogs in 2017.

The Ohio Legislature passed the Petland bill last week by a slim margin despite heavy opposition. Petland, the largest puppy-selling pet store chain, knew they were in trouble and encouraged last minute additions to their bill to help it pass out of the Legislature, including provisions to increase penalties for cockfighting and to ban bestiality. These are two important issues that the ASPCA has long fought hard to enact in Ohio and that many Ohio legislators have personally championed. But these good provisions are tied to a poison pill—the Petland language, which allows pet stores to continue to sell puppies from puppy mills.



The good news is that Governor Kasich has the ability to line-item veto specific parts of bills passed by the Legislature. We need your help to tell the Governor to line-item veto the Petland language from S.B. 331. This will stop Petland’s attack on regulating pet stores in Ohio while allowing the enhanced cockfighting penalties and the ban on bestiality to become law.

