Expert veterinary care for every stage of your pet’s life.
Emergency: 617-522-7282
Poison Control: 888-426-4435
Bringing pets and people together—for life.
Advocate for animals, volunteer, or get help for your pet with our compassionate community services.
Changing the laws relating to animals is something that can happen on a local level, impacting your city or town. In fact, many laws relating to animals are local in nature. Leash laws, dangerous dog laws, and other animal control matters are often under the authority of the local government.
Passing a local ordinance or bylaw may be less complicated and timely than trying to pass a statewide law. While local ordinances or bylaws would only impact animals in a city or town, their reach is often far greater. Local ordinances provide a model for other cities and towns to follow and local legislation can gain enough momentum to pass the issue to the state level. In 2024, the state legislature passed a bill to restrict certain wild animals in traveling acts; this happened after many municipalities adopted similar local measures.
Seventeen Massachusetts municipalities have banned the sale of certain animals from pet shops unless they are from a shelter or rescue: Arlington, Attleboro, Beverly, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Holliston, Lenox, Lexington, Marshfield, North Adams, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Springfield, North Andover, Stoneham, and Watertown. Brookline’s impacts the retail sale of all mammals and all birds; Arlington’s impacts mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish; Cambridge’s ordinance covers mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and arachnids. See also the hundreds of local ordinances passed across the country on this issue.
Eight municipalities have passed measures banning the retail sale of new fur products including Wellesley, Weston, Brookline, Plymouth, Lexington, Attleboro, Arlington, and Cambridge. Read about Nirval Patel’s experience passing the fur sales ban in Lexington on our Animal Advocate Spotlight page.
Advocates in many municipalities are working to restrict the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Over 40 municipalities have passed ordinances restricting the use of SGARs on public lands. Chelmsford, Bedford, Truro, Salem, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Grafton, Georgetown, Concord, Billerica, Belmont, Lowell, Brookline, Newbury, Newton, Arlington, Eastham, Lexington, Orleans, and Wellfleet have home rule petitions (needed to work around a state law) pending in the state legislature to allow additional restrictions. Check out MassAudubon’s toolkit on how to work on this in your municipality.
Fifteen cities and towns have passed restrictions on the use of exotic animals in traveling shows and exhibits: Amherst, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Northampton, Mendon, Quincy, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Provincetown, Revere, Somerville, Topsfield, Weymouth, and Wilmington. These ordinances led to the passage of the state law banning the use of elephants, primates, big cats, bears, and giraffes in traveling acts!
