The Senate Unanimously Passes the Pets Act to Improve Animal Welfare

On March 19, Massachusetts Senate debated and unanimously passed An Act promoting pet equity, treatment, and safety (PETS Act). This bill combines a number of pieces of legislation from ARL’s Legislative Agenda to improve the lives of companion animals in Massachusetts.

Pets in Housing

Housing-related reasons are the largest cause for surrenders to our shelters. On top of the issues around cost and availability in housing, the overwhelming majority of rentals are not truly pet-friendly. Even for those who own their homes, insurance companies often charge more for certain breeds, regardless of the individual animal’s history. This legislation would prohibit home and renters insurance from canceling, refusing to renew, or charge an increased amount based on the presence of a dog on the property.

The human-animal bond improves human health and improves quality of life. The PETS Act adds onto existing programs in elderly housing authorities to increase pet ownership programs in other housing authorities. Expansion of pet friendly housing keeps pets out of shelters and keeps pets and people together.

Retail Sale of Pets

Dogs sold in pet stores come from large-scale breeders, often referred to as “puppy mills”. Animals from these facilities are raised in conditions that are harmful to their physical and emotional health. Consumers are also at risk of health concerns from these animals, with numerous documented cases of disease spread from pet store puppies.

Opponents of retail sales bans claim that these breeders are inspected by the USDA. Not only are USDA standards a bare minimum of animal welfare, the USDA’s own reports admit they are unable to effectively enforce their own standards. Further, dogs are often sold to pet stores through a broker, so information on the actual breeder is rarely available.

This bill would prohibit the retail sale of dogs and cats in Massachusetts, while still allowing for pet stores to partner with local shelters and rescues to provide pets to the public. This bill has no impact on breeders who sell direct to consumers. Sixteen municipalities in Massachusetts have banned the retail sale of dogs and cats, including Boston, Cambridge, and Springfield. Out of the 25 largest pet stores in the country, 24 do not sell animals. A humane model is profitable, with US consumers expected to spend almost $70 billion on pet food and treats alone in 2026.

Animal Testing

As the technology for alternatives to animal testing becomes more successful, testing on animals for household goods and cosmetics becomes unnecessary and is less accurate than alternatives. Animal test methods for testing cosmetics isn’t putting eyeshadow or lipstick on a rabbit. Animal test methods include the “Draize test” to determine toxicity and irritation to the human eye, accomplished by applying the substance to the animal’s eye or skin to observe the amount of irritation caused. Not only is this test inhumane to the animal, the biological differences between animals and humans means it often yields results inconsistent with impacts to humans.

Science, much of it developed here in Massachusetts, has made it so that we don’t need to use these barbaric methods to determine safety. This bill requires the use of non-animal test methods for household goods and cosmetics when there is a sufficient alternative available.

Cruelty

Massachusetts has a comprehensive animal cruelty statute, treating serious animal cruelty as a felony. However, there are situations where a felony isn’t appropriate for the circumstances. This bill builds on existing laws for dogs prohibiting cruel conditions to expand these protections to all household pets, allowing for a civil citation to be issued when there are cruel conditions that do not rise to the level of felony cruelty. Having increased tools for law enforcement and animal control officers means that they can intervene in cases before they rise to the level of felony cruelty. ARL’s community programs and law enforcement departments work together to provide support for pet owners when appropriate.

Massachusetts Homeless Animal Fund

Created in 2012, the Massachusetts Homeless Animal Fund seeks to provide no-cost spay and neuter to pets in-need in Massachusetts. This program has helped thousands of animals in Massachusetts, but the need has outpaced the financials of the program. The Fund receives money through donations, grants, and legislative appropriation. This bill would take certain fines that currently go into the General Fund and put them directly into the Massachusetts Homeless Animal Fund to pay for these essential services.

We are incredibly grateful to Senate President Spilka, Senate Ways and Means Chair Rodrigues, Senator Rausch, and Senator Cyr for their efforts in advancing this legislation through the Senate.
This bill has been championed by a dedicated group of sponsors, Senator Montigny, Senator O’Connor, Senator Payano, and Senator Lewis.

The bill has moved on to the House and currently sits in the House Ways and Means Committee. The House will debate their budget at the end of April, so stay tuned to learn about ways to advance this bill through the House and to the Governor’s Desk! Save the Date for the annual Lobby Day for Animals on June 10.

New Laws and Bold Advocacy Keep Massachusetts at the Forefront of Animal Protection

Massachusetts was recently named the #2 state for animal welfare by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Massachusetts has been in the top tier for animal protection laws for over 10 years. With one of the oldest animal cruelty statutes in the country, Massachusetts has consistently been a leader on animal welfare issues. 2025 was filled with progress for animals in Massachusetts with the implementation of multiple laws passed in the 2023-2024 session and work on the 2025-2026 agenda. In January the ban on exotic animals in traveling acts went into effect, while in April the ban on cat declawing and bans on the sale of puppies and kittens under 8 weeks and roadside sales went into effect. ARL has continued working to protect dogs in boarding and daycare kennels, being involved in the Ollie’s Law Advisory Committee meetings to discuss upcoming regulations.

Map of the U.S. showing 2025 animal protection law rankings by state. Oregon ranks best with Massachusetts in second. Credit: Animal Legal Defense Fund

The 2025-2026 session started in January and ARL has been advocating for our most ambitious legislative agenda ever by providing information to advocates, testifying at hearings, and meeting with stakeholders. Due to this work of our coalition partners and advocates, a large portion of ARL’s legislative priorities have seen progress in the legislature. In 2026, the legislature will continue to consider these bills.

Housing

Housing has been a challenge for people and pets for years, particularly for dogs of certain breeds and appearance. This session, ARL priorities regarding pets in housing were able to advance from committee. S.1022/H.1559, An Act to maintain stable housing for families with pets, filed by Senator Payano and Representatives Montaño and Rogers would increase pet friendly housing options by preventing insurance companies and certain landlords from being able to discriminate on the basis of dog breed, size, weight, or appearance. Despite assumptions by some, dog breed has no connection with propensity to bite, and identification of dog breed is difficult for even trained animal welfare professionals. These bills also provide protections from eviction during states of emergency as well as put a cap on pet rent.

Animal Protection

Massachusetts is the only state that does not have a misdemeanor animal cruelty law. One of the strongest in the country, it reflects an understanding of the link between cruelty against animals and cruelty against people. However, it isn’t appropriate in all circumstances. This session a number of bills to provide additional, non-criminal, options were filed, including S.1190, An Act enhancing the issuance of citations for cruel conditions for animals, filed by Senator Mark Montigny and H.4675, An Act preventing animal cruelty, filed by Representative Ted Philips. S. 1190 would add domestic animals to protections from cruel conditions currently afforded to dogs only. H.4675 would establish a civil process to ensure neglected animals are cared for and provide a mechanism to order care of or take possession of an animal in danger, without involving criminal charges. ARL strives to provide services to people in need, and creating non-criminal options can help intervene to protect animals without the threat of a felony conviction.

Pet Shops

For the first time in Massachusetts, a bill to full ban the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits was advanced from committee favorably. S.2720, An Act banning the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet shops, filed by Senator O’Connor has been filed a number of sessions. While Massachusetts has limited pet stores compared to other states, the risk to animals and consumers is still prevalent. Another concern is the migration of pet stores from other states, like New York, where the retail sale of such animals was banned in December 2024. This legislation would still allow pet stores to partner with shelters and rescues to provide animals to the public, but would stop the puppy mill pipeline that helps fund continue poor animal welfare conditions by out-of-state commercial breeders at the expense of animal and human health.

In addition to these priorities, ARL has also seen progress on bills relating to animal testing, pets in custody and separation proceedings, regulation of dog breeders, improving the dangerous dog law, and providing additional funding for spay and neuter for at-need dogs and cats.

These are only some of the priorities that are being considered this session. Learn more about ARL’s Legislative Agenda.

Advancing animal welfare priorities is no guarantee, but is the product of years of constant work on these issues. Massachusetts remains a leader in animal welfare due to the outreach of advocates to their legislators. Through phone calls, emails, and meetings, even 5 minutes can make a difference.

Advocating for animals can take many forms. To learn about ways you can get involved in advancing ARL’s Legislative Agenda, email advocacy@arlboston.org