# Massachusetts H 967: An Act banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in new pet shops

Massachusetts H 967, An Act banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in new pet shops, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Kimberly N. Ferguson (Republican), Natalie M. Higgins (Democratic); status in committee, last action 2026-04-13 (Placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (under the last sentence of Rule 7A) for a second reading) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H967-194
- As of: 2026-11-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Massachusetts H 967
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in new pet shops
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-02-27
- Last action: 2026-04-13, Placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (under the last sentence of Rule 7A) for a second reading
- Sponsors: Kimberly N. Ferguson (Republican), Natalie M. Higgins (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 74
- Subjects: Environment and Natural Resources, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 1 (8 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Kimberly N. Ferguson (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Natalie M. Higgins (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Adam J. Scanlon (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Adrian C. Madaro (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Adrianne Pusateri Ramos (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Amy Mah Sangiolo (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Angelo J. Puppolo Jr. (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Bradley H. Jones Jr. (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Brian M. Ashe (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Brian W. Murray (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Bruce E. Tarr (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Bruce J. Ayers (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Carmine Lawrence Gentile (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Carole A. Fiola (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Christine P. Barber (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Christopher Hendricks (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Colleen M. Garry (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Danillo A. Sena (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: David F. DeCoste (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: David M. Rogers (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Dennis C. Gallagher (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Erika Uyterhoeven (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Estela A. Reyes (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Greg Schwartz (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Hadley Luddy (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Hannah Kane (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Homar Gómez (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Jack Patrick Lewis (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: James Arciero (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: James B. Eldridge (Democratic), Senate
- Cosponsor: James C. Arena-DeRosa (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: James K. Hawkins (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Jay D. Livingstone (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Jennifer Balinsky Armini (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Jessica Ann Giannino (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: John Barrett III (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: John Francis Moran (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: John J. Marsi (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Jonathan D. Zlotnik (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Joseph D. McKenna (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Joseph W. McGonagle Jr. (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Kathleen R. LaNatra (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Kevin G. Honan (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Kristin E. Kassner (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Leigh Davis (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Lindsay N. Sabadosa (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Manny Cruz (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Marcus S. Vaughn (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Margaret R. Scarsdale (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Marjorie C. Decker (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Meghan K. Kilcoyne (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Michael J. Finn (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Michael P. Kushmerek (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Michelle L. Badger (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Michelle M. DuBois (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Mike Connolly (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Mindy Domb (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Natalie M. Blais (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Patrick Joseph Kearney (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Paul K. Frost (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Paul McMurtry (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Rodney M. Elliott (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Samantha Montaño (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Sean Reid (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Steven George Xiarhos (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Steven Owens (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Steven S. Howitt (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Tara T. Hong (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Thomas M. Stanley (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Thomas W. Moakley (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Tommy Vitolo (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Tricia Farley-Bouvier (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: Vanna Howard (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: William C. Galvin (Democratic), House
- Cosponsor: William F. MacGregor (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-06 | committee | Committee Favorable: Should the Committee report the following bill out favorably? | pass | 8 | 0 | 2 |

## Actions (7)

- 2026-04-13: Placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (under the last sentence of Rule 7A) for a second reading (House)
- 2026-03-12: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House)
- 2026-03-12: Accompanied by H893 and H943 (House)
- 2026-01-20: Reporting date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (House)
- 2025-10-10: Hearing scheduled for 10/21/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1 (legislature)
- 2025-02-27: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-02-27: Referred to the committee on Environment and Natural Resources (House)

## Bill text

- As Filed: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H967.pdf)

## Related bills

- H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate)
- H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed)
- H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house)
- H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed)
- H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading)
- H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed)

## Sources
- [As Filed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H967.pdf)

## Related
- [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194)
- [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194)
- [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194)
- [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194)
- [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194)
- [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H967-194 (as of 2026-11-01).