Pet Stores Under Attack-Sourcing Bans Violate The Supremacy Clause

The interstate pet market has been targeted for decades by NGO's intent on eliminating purposely-bred pets and replacing them with randomly-sourced and irresponsibly-bred pets sold through rescue and shelter channels. According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) more than "140 jurisdictions nationwide" have recently passed pet store sourcing limitations or bans, with 35 local bans passed in the first five months of 2016 alone. The patchwork of ordinances affecting retail pet stores and their sources are decimating the interstate pet market and create an impermissible obstacle to the mechanisms USDA has adopted to enforce the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). These ordinances, therefore, violate the Supremacy Clause and are preempted by the AWA.