Another Petland will have to stop selling puppies and kittens after Illinois city passes anti-puppy-mill ordinance

A Petland in Naperville, Illinois, will have to stop selling puppies and kittens after the city council passed an ordinance Tuesday ending such sales in pet stores.

This makes Naperville the 341st locality in the United States to pass such a measure. There were Petland stores in several of these localities, including Pittsburgh, Sarasota, Deerfield Beach, Florida and Albuquerque, that had to stop sales of commercially raised puppies.

This is great news for animals and for those of us who have been campaigning hard to get lawmakers to act decisively to end puppy mill cruelty. Eight undercover investigations we have done at Petland stores since 2018 have uncovered horrible suffering and neglect of the animals on sale. Our investigators have time and again reported sick animals who were not given medical care and who, in some instances, died. Hundreds of consumers have written to us with their own sad stories of buying companion animals from Petland, only to have them fall sick or perish.

Eight undercover investigations we have done at Petland stores since 2018 have uncovered horrible suffering and neglect of the animals on sale.

But Petland, which has been known to source animals from puppy mills, has not simply refused to change its bad business practices; it has channeled its resources toward passing preemption laws that take away the right of local communities to stop pet stores from selling animals sourced from mills. In fact, right now, there is a bill in Illinois, H.B. 4105 introduced by state Representative Margo McDermed at the behest of Petland, that would do exactly that. If that bill passes, it would nullify anti-puppy-mill ordinances passed by 14 communities in Illinois, including Naperville. We cannot allow this to happen, and we will fight this bill with all of our might.

The Naperville ordinance, which will cover Petland and one other puppy-selling pet store, took a half-decade to secure but it passed last night with a 5 to 4 vote, signaling the changing times. The writing is on the wall: American consumers want to see the last of puppy mills, and simply do not want to support businesses that help keep this scourge alive.