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Animals Are Not Merchandise. Always Adopt. Never Shop.

Selling animals is costing many of them their lives.

Animals sold in pet stores are sourced from horribly cruel breeding mills, and many are kidnapped from their habitats in the wild. Hermit crabs, for example, are exclusively kidnapped from the wild.

These animals have almost no legal protections. Reptiles, amphibians, and fishes aren’t even included in the Animal Welfare Act. They are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. It’s estimated that the vast majority of animals in the pet trade die in breeding mills or during shipping before they even make it to the store shelf.

Most “exotic pets” are actually wildlife and they languish in captivity, unable to express their natural behaviors and instincts. Pet stores sell animals to anyone, with no vetting process to ensure appropriate, life-long care for that individual. This contributes to the horrifying reality that 75% of “exotic pets” die within the first year after being purchased. Many others end up abandoned outside in ecosystems they are not native to or dumped at already overwhelmed rescues and shelters.

It does not have to be this way: we can adopt animals from rescues instead of buying them from stores or breeders; pet stores can thrive by selling supplies, offering services, and hosting adoption events with local shelters; and cities can protect animals by introducing retail animal sales bans.

Numerous cities have already passed full retail animal sales bans that protect all animals exploited in the pet industry, not just cats and dogs.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, animal rescuers and activists with DxE are working hard to denormalize the commodification of animals and get retail animal sales bans introduced in various cities. Our efforts are making a difference!

• The City of Albany voted unanimously to move forward with a retail animal sales ban and is currently drafting an ordinance
• The San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare has unanimously recommended to the Board of Supervisors that they introduce a ban on the retail sale of animals
• City council members in Oakland are supportive and one of them has agreed to take the lead on it
• Constituents have also been reaching out and meeting with their city council members in other cities all around the Bay Area!
• We are also continuing to spread awareness about this issue and put pressure on Petco to stop selling animals by organizing protests every month at different Petco locations around the Bay Area. You can find these and other local DxE events at dxe.io/events

Link to this page: https://dxe.io/adoptdontshop