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 Don D’Alessio, who owns Astoria Pets, explaining that he closely followed whatever regulations the city handed down — only to have them now ban pet sales altogether.
“Two years ago, they passed the law saying you can’t buy from anyone! You can’t stay in business. We’re out of business! We’re not going to last,” he said. “I can’t last selling supplies that are cheaper online. All I hear all day is, ‘$14?! I can get that on Chewy for $5!’ We’re not going to survive. We’re done.”
“A hundred-twenty businesses that I know of are closing almost immediately,” he said. “It’s roughly 2,500 employees from Albany to Montauk.
“We’ve never had a violation here, look at the paperwork. Fifteen years of paperwork, not one violation.”
D’Alessio said he was forced to clear out all his dogs over the weekend or else send them to a shelter.
He said he ended up selling all of the 21 dogs he had — not counting the three he gave to longtime customers who couldn’t afford them.
“I’m out. I’m done. I’m 73. I got six kids, two who work for me. I got six grandkids. [New York officials] don’t have any idea what they’re doing to small businesses in the state,” D’Alessio said.
Activist groups on the other hand, including the New York Animal Care Centers of NYC, are pleased to see an end to practices they say enable inhumane breeding.
“For too long, pet stores have been the final stop in a cruel supply chain that treats sentient beings as commodities,” ACC President Rise Weinstock said in a statement. “This law not only helps shut down that pipeline but also shines a light on the humane alternatives such as adopting from shelters.”
Tthe Best Friends Animal Society called the ban “a long time coming.”
“Oftentimes pets sold at pet stores are raised in puppy mill situations, which are often inhumane and prioritize profit over humane care,” a rep from the group told The Pos on Sunday. “The reality is dogs in these facilities who are used for breeding puppies often spend their entire lives in wire crates without adequate shelter, veterinary care, food or socialization.
“When people don’t have the option to buy from a pet store, which may seem like the easiest but often not best choice, people will be more incentivized to explore the adoption option,” the representative added, pointing out that pet shops will now have the option to rent out their space to overflowing shelters.