LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A state Senate committee on Tuesday will consider a bill that would ban the sale of dogs and cats in retail pet stores, just days before a key deadline.
Assembly Bill 487 was already approved in the state Assembly on April 21, with a bipartisan vote of 32-9. It’s now awaiting a 3:30 p.m. hearing in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
Sales of dogs and cats at retail pet stores have been banned in Clark County since 2023, but they are still legal in other jurisdictions in Nevada.
Las Vegas banned retail pet stores in 2016, but repealed the ban before it could go into effect. The city does limit the number of pets that may be sold to a single household in a given year, however.
AB 487 is supported by Humane World for Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society. The group says retail sales promote so-called “puppy mills,” where animals are kept in cruel and unsafe conditions and may be sick.
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But the Alexandria, Va.-based Pet Advocacy Network is opposing the bill, saying it won’t stop illegal pet breeding and that a similar bill in California has allowed a black market to thrive. The American Kennel Club is also against the bill.
After Tuesday’s hearing, lawmakers will have until midnight Friday to pass AB 487, or it will be considered dead for the rest of the session.
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