The Pet Store disclosure law that I first told you about back in June took effect on January 1, 2011.  The law requires pet stores and animal shelters to post certain information about animals available for sale or adoption on or near the animal's cage.  It also requires a number of disclosures and that the agency/pet store obtain a signed disclosure form from the animal adopter/purchaser.  The Illinois Department of Agriculture announced the new law in a December 27, 2010 press release.

Although the Champaign County Humane Society has always provided adopters with complete medical records and as much information as we could gather about an animal's breed and history, to be in compliance with the new law we had to make changes in our paperwork, procedures, and cage cards.  We had plenty of advance notice, but still some staff members had to put in extra hours in the last few days of 2010 to make sure we were ready.  We were closed to the public for the holiday on January first, but when we opened on January 2, 2011, the new paperwork and procedures were in place. 

We've already received a few calls at CCHS from members of the public that have visited puppy stores in their community and found that information regarding price, breeder, and medical history was not posted.  If you visit a pet store (not something I ordinarily recommend) that is not complying with the new disclosure law, please contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture to report it.   The Dept. of Ag Bureau of Animal Welfare number is 217-782-6657.

If a non-profit agency with limited resources can manage to be in compliance with a new law on the day it takes effect, commercial puppy sellers should be able to do so as well.  This law was enacted in large part to protect consumers from the deceptive practices used by puppy merchants.  If informed consumers don't report pet stores that continue to withhold information from potential customers, I'm guessing that many pet stores will carry on with "business as usual."