This is Buster.

Buster, on the day he was adopted.

I rescued Buster from the Los Angeles East Valley Animal Shelter on August 22, 2017.

When Buster was brought to the shelter, he had been found as a stray just walking down the street. He was microchipped, but even though the the shelter would repeatedly try to contact the owners with the information on the chip, they never got a response. Buster had tartar covering all of his teeth, an unspecified tumor on his chest.

Since then, Buster has received proper veterinary care, become an ESA (Emotional Support Animal), visited friends in the hospital, moved to Boston, been featured in a professional play, and has started to accrue an Instagram following (follow him @professional_good_boy).

Buster, Halloween 2017.

After hearing all these amazing things about my rescue dog, it must be clear that when AB 485 passed, I could not have been more thrilled.

Although Buster is obviously very special to me, he is not special in that there are shelters full of Busters (amazing, sweet, adorable, loving dogs) in need of homes, yet breeders still make money by perpetuating the incredibly false idea that

a) dogs make best pets when they are puppies

and

b) dogs make best pets when they are purebred/bred specifically to be sold as pets

When Buster and many of his peers are adult mutts who make the greatest pets and friends in the whole world!

Ironically enough, a representative of American Kennel Club, who administers Buster's pet insurance, Sheila Goffe (AKC vice president), was against the measure as quoted in this LA Times article, stating that "AB 485 blocks all of California’s pet lovers from having access to professional, licensed, and ethical commercial breeders...This is not good for Californians or their companion animals".

She could not be more wrong. This measure does make it harder for Californians to have access to ethical commercial breeders, but it also makes it harder for Californians to consume from unethical breeders, which is the whole point of this measure. The law itself still even allows individual citizens to purchase from breeders so long as it is not in a pet store. People who insist, for some dumb reason, on purchasing from a breeder still will be able to, it just will no longer be a systematic issue in the pet industry in California.

If I had wanted a dog who maybe never has had tartar build up or who had no history and no little bumps and bruises, yes, I could have gone to a pet store and gotten a picture-perfect dog, but Buster, bumps and bruises and all, is the greatest thing to ever happen to me, and pet stores taking in more dogs like Buster means easier accessibility to Buster-type dogs for folks all over the state of California. Pet lovers, I could not be more excited for you to adopt your Buster instead of getting a custom-bred little friend. Busters are the best kinds of pets.

Buster, showing his little puppy-dog eyes to try to show you that rescuing your pets is the greatest thing in the world!