If This Bill Passes, Will Pure Breeds Cease To Exist in California?

"Yeah, she's a rescue" has been a common brag of new pet owners within recent years. People who acquire their family pets from shelters and rescues are often looked at with admiration, and approval with a big thumbs up.
And rightly so, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says "each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats)." 

Rescuing these animals from death and giving them a good home is a commendable thing. But soon it may become the bragging right of every new pet owner in California...and then it won't really be much of a bragging right at all, just an average right. 

The Assembly Bill 485, the Pet Rescue and Adoption Act, has been approved by the Senate and sent to Governor Jerry Brown to be vetoed or signed by October 15, said the Orange County Register.

The bill would make it illegal for pet stores to sell any dogs, cats, or rabbits that are not from shelters or non-profit rescues. The goal is to defund puppy mills where, according to the website Pet Finder, most pet shops get their animals from.

Puppy mills, Pet Finder, and PETA, and other animal activist sites say, are the devils spawn of the pet industry. Conditions are more than poor and animals are treated inhumanely. So far no one is saying there are any good puppy mills, just in case you were wondering. According to internet world logic, anytime an animal is bred specifically for profit it will be mistreated.

Which brings me to the other option for pet stores, breeders. These too can easily be a no no, said an article about the difference between breeders and puppy mills by the non-profit, Your Dogs Friend.

"A reputable breeder wants to cover expenses—not make her living selling dogs," the article said, warning animal lovers to forgo any breeders who only accept cash or credit cards, or specialize in more than one dog breed.

Blocking pet stores from these options and giving rescue animals a bigger venue for rehousing may be a really good thing, but it has me wondering. Will pure breeds disappear from California? Sure people can still seek out a breeder on their own, but most people end up with the pricey pure bred pups that pet stores get from puppy mills and breeders. Some people are just too lazy to go track down a breeder, who probably lives far, and wait for their future furry child to be born or weaned.

But maybe that is a good thing too. Maybe this means their will be less impulse buys from people who misjudged their readiness for a pet.

And sure there are pure bred rescue's, but they're not as common as mixes. Not that mixes are a bad thing either. But over time, as less pure breed puppies and kittens in general are being bred for profit, will the pups we see wagging along down the side walk change from recognizable breeds like, golden retrievers, pomeranians, German shepherds, and bulldogs, to mixes that make us pause and go 'huh, well what might you be'?

Just something to think about.