Run Off The Mills

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of litigation brought challenging Maryland laws involving puppy sales

The plaintiffs in this case want to sell dogs through physical retail stores in Maryland. But a Maryland law restricts their ability to do so. The plaintiffs sued, alleging the Maryland statute is preempted by the federal Animal Welfare Act and violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ complaint, concluding they failed to state plausible claims. We affirm…

Over the past twelve years, Maryland has passed an evolving series of laws designed to stop the sale of dogs bred in so-called “puppy mills.” The earliest laws required retail pet stores to source the dogs they sold from breeders and brokers who were licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and in compliance with applicable federal laws and USDA regulations. Later iterations banned retail pet stores from selling dogs altogether.

The law at issue here is Maryland’s 2021 retail pet store statute. See An Act Concerning Domestic Animals – Retail Pet Stores & the Task Force to Study Canine Breeding Facilities & Sourcing Standards, 2021 Md. Laws, Ch. 448 (2021) (codified at Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §§ 19-701–19-705) (hereinafter, Pet Store Statute). The Pet Store Statute contains a straightforward prohibition: “A retail pet store may not sell or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats or dogs.” Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. § 19-703(a). A “retail pet store” is “a for-profit establishment that sells or offers for sale domestic animals to be kept as household pets” or “a broker.” Id. § 19-701(f)(1). A “broker” is any “person who transfers dogs or cats for resale by another person.” Id. § 19-701(e). The Pet Store Statute, however, essentially excludes breeders from its prohibitions, at least when breeders sell animals at the location where they were born. The statute defines a breeder as “a person who breeds or raises dogs or cats to sell, exchange, or otherwise transfer to the public.” Id. § 19-701(d). It then provides that the term “‘[r]etail pet store’ does not include an establishment at which the animals sold at the establishment were born at the establishment.” Id. § 19-701(f)(2).

Practically speaking, the Pet Store Statute allows breeders to sell dogs in Maryland, both in person and over the internet, but prohibits retail pet stores and brokers from selling dogs. According to plaintiffs, the law “effectively shift[s] the sale of puppies from regulated retail pet stores (who source puppies from regulated out-of-state breeders and brokers) to Maryland breeders and unregulated marketplaces, such as on the internet, and [to] unregulated nonprofit animal welfare organizations, rescues, and shelters.” J.A. 39.

Plaintiffs 

Plaintiffs are parties affected by Maryland’s retail pet store laws. Just Puppies, Inc., Just Puppies of Maryland, Inc., and Charm City Puppies, LLC, are retail pet stores in Maryland whose business models are premised primarily on offering dogs for sale to Maryland consumers. Each of these businesses has historically derived more than ninety percent of its gross revenue from dog sales and the remainder from selling pet accessories. These businesses generated millions of dollars annually by buying high-end, pure-bred puppies, primarily from out of state, and reselling them to Maryland consumers. Sobrad, LLC, is a Missouri corporation and USDA-licensed dog broker that sources dogs for retail pet stores, including for Charm City Puppies. Tara Baker is a USDA-licensed dog breeder based in Missouri. In the past, she has sold nearly all her puppies to Just Puppies.

The District Court judge is a law school classmate, Georgetown 1974. (Mike Frisch)