NY pet shops banned from selling dogs, cats, rabbits starting Sunday prompting major price cuts to clear furry inventory
What doggy in the window?Pet shops across New York were banned from selling dogs, cats and rabbits starting Sunday thanks to a new law — prompting stores to frenetically offer bargain-basement prices beforehand to clear out their furry inventory.“I never thought I’d buy a dog, but if they didn’t get sold, they were going to the shelter,” said 31-year-old paralegal Krisjan Polonia, who made off with a black and white “teddy bear dog” — a shih tzu and bichon mix — from Astoria Pets in Queens.“Plus, kids make you do crazy things,” said Polonia, who picked up the adorable pooch for her son for $650 after it was initially priced at $2,800.The Puppy Mill Pipeline Act — intended to curb the flow of animals coming into the state from abusive puppy-mill breeding practices and instead encourage adoption from overwhelmed shelters — took effect Sunday, two years after Gov.Kathy Hochul signed it into law.So across New York City, it was a buyer’s market for prospective pet owners over the weekend.Ingrid Rodriguez, 25, picked out a 10-week-old Pomeranian for $1,300 after it was marked down from $1,450 at Astoria Pets.One buyer brought home a $3,250 corgi puppy for just $500 cash.“This wasn’t the plan,” Rodriguez told The Post.
“I was walking by with my mom, and she saw the sign, and she wanted to come in.We went in, and you know, holding the dog up to her chest …”She said she had “mixed feelings” about the law but hopes it will discourage people from breeding dogs illegally.Polonia said, “I’m for the change in the law, I was a vet tech, unlicensed.”But the pet-shop owners cutting the tail-wagging deals for customers couldn’t disagree more with the law — insisting countless small businesses following ethical practices will have no choice but to close their doors over it.“I’m here for 42 years.
The last eight years the city tells us we have to buy only from the breeders that they give class A license to,” said 73-year-old...