Last week we sent a poll to our supporters asking which of our upcoming animal welfare initiatives is most important to them going into 2025. We focused on four areas: the new recovery and rehabilitation facility for cruelty victims in New York, fighting for stronger legislation for puppy mill victims, expanding our Community Veterinary Clinics for pets in underserved communities, and making more adoptions possible through our lifesaving programs in North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Ohio and New York.

We received over 20,000 responses and the initiative that was voted for the most was fighting for stronger legislation for puppy mill victims.

This important issue is a significant part of our work and will continue to be so going into 2025. Large-scale commercial dog-breeding facilities, called puppy mills, are overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But welfare standards for these commercial puppy breeders are outrageously weak and not what most people would consider humane. It’s legal to keep a dog for her entire life in a tiny, wire-floored cage just barely large enough for the dog to turn around. Dogs can be bred at every opportunity, churning out litter after litter of puppies with no time to rest and recover.

And even these paltry standards are rarely enforced. Licensed facilities with sick, neglected or injured animals can stay in business year after year, even when they’re breaking the law. The USDA rarely takes any action to stop them, allowing vulnerable dogs to continue to suffer.

In December 2024, we saw a huge win when the New York Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, signed by Governor Hochul in 2022, went into effect and ended the retail sale of cruelly bred dogs, cats and rabbits in New York pet stores. This was an incredibly important step, but our work isn’t done. We’re hoping to keep up the momentum and push other states to do the same in 2025.

In addition, this year we will continue to urge Congress to protect animals in federally licensed facilities by passing Goldie’s Act. Goldie’s Act would require the USDA to do its job by conducting more frequent and meaningful inspections, providing lifesaving intervention for suffering animals, imposing meaningful violations, and engaging in timely communication with local law enforcement in circumstances of suspected cruelty and neglect (cross-reporting).

You can help us fight for stronger legislation for puppy mill victims this year by joining our Puppy Mill Action Team.