Ohio bill would allow municipalities to regulate the sales of dogs, cats in pet stores

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A bipartisan bill introduced in the Ohio statehouse aims to crack down on the sale of dogs from puppy mills in pet stores. 

House Bill 443, sponsored by Reps. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) and Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), would change the Ohio Revised Code to allow local municipalities to prohibit the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores.

“I think this is really that first step in stopping that pet store to puppy mill pipeline,” Grim said. “Because we do have a large amount of puppy mills here in Ohio and making sure that we stop that puppy mill to pet store pipeline, we’re kind of cutting off that revenue source for the puppy mills and then promoting adoptions.”

The bill aims to reverse a preemption law passed in 2016 that replaced local regulations on Ohio pet stores with statewide regulations, allowing puppy sales in retail stores across the state. Grim said the preemption takes away municipalities’ home rule rights. Before the law’s passage, in 2013, Toledo was the first municipality to prohibit puppy sales in pet stores, according to Grim. 

“In 2016, Grove City tried to do the same thing with a Petland,” Grim said. “Petland quickly filed a lawsuit then went to the legislature and said ‘hey could you put a preemption on this’ basically, so [the legislature] passed a preemption in 2016.”

Seven states and nearly 500 localities across the nation prohibit the sale of commercially raised puppies in pet stores, according to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Grim claims retailers like Petland sell dogs from puppy mills, which are often brought up in inhumane conditions and live short lives, to unsuspecting Ohioans.

An annual HSUS report called “The Horrible Hundred” listed Ohio as the state with the second highest number of documented puppy mills in the country. 12 of the included “problematic” breeders in the 2023 report allegedly sold dogs to Petland. Additionally, in January, three families who bought puppies from central Ohio Petland stores sued the chain, claiming it sold them sick puppies from puppy mills. 

Petland denies allegations that the chain sells dogs from puppy mills. A spokesperson for the company said since Petland opened in 1967, the chain has never sourced pets from puppy mills, and that the company’s breeder partners operate at levels exceeding USDA federal care standards. 

“Here in Ohio, Petland works with professional breeders who are regulated and inspected by the USDA and the Ohio Department of Agriculture,” the spokesperson said. “All breeders working with Petland, in Ohio and elsewhere, must be USDA regulated and regularly inspected, without a single direct violation for the past two years.”

The proposal is in the House Government Oversight Committee, where it awaits proponent and opponent testimony.