CAPS’ Undercover Pet Shop and Mill Investigations Provide Strong Evidentiary Support
Los Angeles, CA – July 17, 2017 – California Assembly Bill 485, which would ban the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in the state, passed 7-1 in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee today. The bill, which has already passed in the Assembly, now goes to the full Senate for a vote.
Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) President Deborah Howard submitted extensive written testimony and investigative evidence to committee members and counsel. https://caps-web.org/testimony-of-deborah-howard
AB 485 would not have been possible had it not been for CAPS’ nearly 10-year pet shop campaign in California, which includes ordinances banning the retail sale of puppies and kittens, protests with up to 150 participants (CAPS was the first animal nonprofit to protest inside a shopping mall), and conversion of pet shops to humane adoption centers.
CAPS continues to work with local municipalities to pass retail ban ordinances. The purpose of these ordinances is to save lives by encouraging pet shops to provide shelter and rescue animals for adoption. As a leader in the pet shop ordinance movement, CAPS was behind ordinances in Los Angeles, San Diego, West Hollywood, and Glendale, but many Southern California municipalities still have pet shops that sell puppies, kittens and rabbits. West Hollywood was the genesis for the ordinance movement in the United States and Canada (more than 230 to date).
CAPS’ investigation of every California pet shop selling puppies and kittens (and some that sell rabbits) has uncovered a pattern of deceptive and illegal practices. Pet shops are routinely misleading customers about the sources of the puppies and kittens they sell. Some shops are outright refusing to disclose the sources, which is a violation of California law.
CAPS’ short documentary and video exposés of the Barkworks chain and David Salinas’ pet shops (Salinas is a major opponent of AB 485) feature the nonprofit organization’s undercover investigations of California pet shops and some of the puppy mills supplying them. They reveal the ways in which pet shop employees often assure prospective customers that none of the animals in their stores come from “puppy mills,” sometimes even claiming that their puppies and kittens are privately bred in “loving homes.”
Undercover with CAPS: An Investigation of Barkworks: https://vimeo.com/225159022
Undercover with CAPS: An Investigation of David Salinas’ Pet Shops: https://vimeo.com/224887882
Undercover with CAPS: An Investigation of Southern California Pet Shops: https://vimeo.com/189367133
Founded in 1992, the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) is the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals from cruelty in pet shop and puppy/kitten mills. CAPS addresses animal suffering through investigations, legislation, education, media relations, consumer assistance, and rescue.
759 CJC Hwy. #332 Cohasset, MA 02025 Phone: (339) 309-0272 caps@caps-web.org www.caps-web.org
