Following in the and local governments, Gov. Jared Polis signed a new law Wednesday that will soon ban pet stores in Colorado from selling dogs or cats.
Once it goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2028, will only allow pet stores to host animals from adoption or rescue services, so long as the stores don’t charge fees and the animals are sterilized. It otherwise prohibits those stores from selling dogs and cats in an effort to curb commercial breeding and sales from “puppy mills.”
, there are seven pet stores in the state licensed to sell the animals and five more that serve as brokers.
As Polis prepared to sign the bill, five black-and-white, 13-week-old puppies — Benedict, Daphne, Violet, Eloise and Hyacinth — lounged, climbed over one another, leaned into a reporter’s mic and cuddled in a pair of pens on the Capitol foyer’s floor. All of them .
The governor also brought his dog, Gia, who hopped off her chair and wandered under the bill-signing table to investigate the newcomers.
“We’re sending a very powerful message with this bill — first of all: Adopt, don’t shop. Little Gia is here, we adopted her 16 years ago,” said Polis, who had scooped up the little brown dog. His husband, animal rights advocate Marlon Reis, stood beaming nearby.
“If you do want to purchase … some people want (a) purebred or a specific breed, (and) there are many wonderful home breeders, legitimate breeders in our state, people who have a litter of dogs in their home and sell them,” Polis added.
The new law will not apply to the sale of specially trained animals — like those used by law enforcement, hunters or people with disabilities.
The bill took eight years to pass, according to Polis and the bill’s primary sponsor, House Majority Leader Monica Duran. Duran officially named the bill after her late Pomeranian, Pistol.
Polis said 26 jurisdictions in Colorado have banned puppy mill sales in retail stores. Denver joined them when its City Council passed an ordinance last year, though the city had no stores selling dogs and cats at the time. Several other states, including and , have adopted similar bans.
HB-1011 was also sponsored by Democrats Rep. Karen McCormick and Sens. Robert Rodriguez and Dylan Roberts. The measure passed the Senate earlier this month on a 19-16 vote, with all Republicans and some Democrats opposed. It had cleared the House 44-21, with only one Republican — Rep. Rick Taggart — voting in support.
“Today, this bill has lived in my heart for eight years,” an emotional Duran said. “Eight years of conversations, eight years of setbacks, eight years of (the time for this law) being not yet, not now and maybe never. But here we are.
“And today, I don’t stand alone. I stand here with every voice that refused to give up on the animals who could not speak for themselves.”
Ahead of the bill signing, the Best Friends Animal Society hailed the legislation and expressed hope it would help reduce euthanization of shelter pets in Colorado by increasing adoptions. In a news release, the group cited recent data showing a nearly 16% increase last year in the killing of shelter pets across the state, though the vast majority of shelters are considered “no-kill.”
“Best Friends has been working to make the country no-kill and itap incredible to see the continued momentum in Colorado to help save every healthy and treatable dog and cat,” the society’s CEO, Julie Castle, said in a statement.
