Originally Published in: Dallas Observer
Published on: May 2, 2025
Written By: Emma Ruby
When Simon Zubras and his wife decided to give their daughter a puppy for Christmas in 2023, they had to drive to Carrollton to find a store selling one.
A year before, the Zubras family’s hometown of Dallas had passed an ordinance banning the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores. Advocates for the city ordinance said it would help staunch the puppy mill pipeline, encourage adoptions from local shelters and rescues and prevent customers from being stuck with sickly pets. Council member Omar Narvaez, one of 11 council members who voted to approve the local legislation, called it the “right thing to do on behalf of our four-legged friends.”
Dallas’ ordinance resulted in the closure of a branch of the puppy-selling mecca PetLand, but stores touting top-of-the-line, pure-bred puppies still proliferate across the rest of North Texas. And that’s a problem, Zubras, a local electrical contractor, told state senators on the Business and Commerce Committee Thursday morning.
“[My wife] purchased a puppy from the store My Puppy Dreams, and this is when our puppy nightmare began,” Zubras said. “I spent $20,000 to save this dog’s life.”
Zubras told the Senate committee that in the two and a half months after he brought his puppy home, the pet was diagnosed with 14 different illnesses. At one point, liver surgery was required. According to Zubras, when he contacted the pet store about his sickly puppy, he was offered the chance to exchange it for a new one.
My Puppy Dreams has eight locations across North Texas, but a bill proposed by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) could shut the business, and others like it, down for good. Senate Bill 1652 would follow Dallas’ lead, outlawing the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores across the state. A House committee has already passed a companion bill by Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco).
Zaffirini emphasized the health complications generally linked to puppies sourced from puppy mills, and added that the banning of pet store sales could help encourage Texans to turn to an overburdened shelter system when looking for pets. Several pet store owners testified against the bill, arguing that the regulations proposed will harm only “good actors” working with reputable breeders.
“This bill fails to address real issues in the pet industry while harming ethical businesses, working families and the Texas economy,” said Marty Delgado, the owner of the Plano-based pet store Pettito. “If this bill passes, it will eliminate businesses like ours and encourage scams and backyard sales.”
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Cara Gustafson at 561-797-8267 or [email protected].