On Jan. 1, 2022, it becomes illegal in Illinois to sell dogs, cats and rabbits that come from breeding facilities.
A new state law with some Aurora influence bans such sales, unless the animals come from a shelter or a rescue organization. Sales are allowed from breeders of specific breeds directly to the new owners.
The Aurora influence is State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, who was a chief co-sponsor in the Senate of HB 1171, which passed both houses and was signed recently by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The bill’s chief sponsor was State Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin.
Holmes has been a long-time crusader against animals being sold from breeding facilities – often called puppy mills – and this year got bills passed to end predatory lending related to selling such pets, and also got a law through to allow dog and cat owners in affordable housing to keep their pets.
Holmes also testified in favor of a proposed Aurora ordinance to ban sales from puppy mills when an Aurora City Council committee studied the city passing such an ordinance.
As it turns out, the city’s Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee spent more than seven months studying such an ordinance, interviewing countless witnesses from all sides of the issue.
Both the state law and Aurora’s ordinance were patterned after what is known as the Humane Ordinance, in which pet stores could only sell animals that come from animal shelters, rescues or animal control facilities.
The Aurora council committee eventually voted 4-1 to send on a version of the Humane Ordinance to the full City Council.
The ordinance included establishment of an Aurora Animal Commission that would oversee enforcement of the law, as well as licensing of all pet stores selling animals, to make sure the animals come from where they are supposed to come.
More than 20 jurisdictions throughout Illinois, and hundreds across the country, have passed a version of the Humane Ordinance, which is favored by the Humane Society of the United States.
When Naperville passed the Humane Ordinance, two pet stores moved across Route 59 into Aurora, joining another store already in Aurora that sold dogs from breeders. Some said that made Aurora the puppy mill sales capital of Illinois.
That prompted Aurora to look at its own regulation.
Those pet stores, as of Jan. 1, will have to change their business models, or do business in another state.
