When Mike Ricci wanted to buy his daughter a puppy, he discovered that in his state, "There were pet stores but none that sell puppies (or kittens)."

Ricci, being president of Stossel TV, investigated.

He discovered that eight states now ban retail sales of dogs, cats and rabbits. Animal activists want the bans extended to all states.

They say this is needed to save animals (and protect pet buyers) from abusive puppy mills — places that breed animals over and over, often resulting in inbred and unhealthy puppies.

The activists tell people: buy only from "responsible breeders."

But how does one know who that is?

"Every site says 'this is the best breeder ... ethically sourced. Treated well,'" says Ricci in this week's video.

"They say, 'Don't trust the pet stores!' But am I supposed to be able to figure out from a website which breeder is great?"

Small pet stores "are the experts," says Alyssa Miller-Hurley. She lobbies for them and says most don't sell abused puppies. "Business owners know that you can't survive if you're providing a bad product."

Good point, says Ricci. "Had there been a pet store in my town, I could have gone there and complained, 'Hey, why'd you sell me a bad dog?' I would tell my friends, 'This pet store sells bad dogs! Don't go there.' That store's going to close."

Not so, replies Brian Hackett of the Associated Humane Societies. "Just because they're still in business doesn't mean they're operating humanely."

"So just ban all sales?" I ask.

"Every pet store ordinance or legislation I've worked on," he says, "has overwhelming support from pro-business Republicans and left liberals."

Of course they do. Both parties like pleasing activist groups, especially ones that give money to politicians, and also run dramatic TV ads showing abuse.

But what about the owners of pet stores forced out of business?

Hackett says, "They don't have to sell puppies."

They don't have to sell puppies?

Chains like PetSmart and Petco survive doing that, but many pet stores rely on selling dogs and cats. After all, they're pet stores.

After California banned sales, say pet store advocates, 95% of the impacted stores went out of business.

Yet the "ban pet stores" campaign is winning. More states will probably ban pet sales.

But how often does banning things solve a problem?

Animal activists say the bans are the only way to get rid of abusive puppy mills.

But Miller-Hurley points out, "A decade ago, they said there were over 10,000 puppy mills within the United States. Since then, eight states and hundreds of localities have passed these retail sales bans."

The result? They still say there are 10,000 mills.

So "by their own measurements, these bans aren't successful," she continues. "What they are successful at is fundraising ... they aren't actually actively engaged in any real animal care."

They aren't?

I thought the ASPCA and humane societies run animal shelters!

But they rarely do.

The ASPCA collects more than $300 million in donations but gives only 2% of that to shelters. Most of its money goes for advertising and salaries. Its CEO pays himself $1,203,267.

Because New York state bans pet store sales, Ricci ended up driving more than 100 miles to a breeder in Pennsylvania. He's happy with his puppy but has no idea if the breeder treats dogs humanely. He was shown medical records but asks, "How do I know if they were legitimate? They are the first dog medical records I've ever seen."

I agree with his conclusion: Pet store bans do more harm than good.

"There's already laws against animal abuse and neglect. Enforce that. Don't pass new laws."

Banning things that people want rarely works. Prohibition was repealed because it created new problems. The same is already true for pet store sale bans.

After California banned pet store puppy sales, puppy scams surged by 350%.

"It is not up to the government to tell people where they can get their animal," complains Miller-Hurley.

Unfortunately, state by state, that's what politicians are doing.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom.

Photo credit: hannah grace at Unsplash