DE HB 131
enactedAN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 6 AND 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PET STORES AND ANIMAL WELFARE.
Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower
Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.
Quick answers
Did DE HB 131 pass?
Yes. DE HB 131 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-07-23): Signed by Governor
What is DE HB 131 about?
This Act fosters the humane treatment of animals and prevents animal cruelty by prohibiting retail pet stores from selling dogs or cats. It further authorizes retail pet stores to collaborate with animal shelters and animal rescue organizations to offer space to showcase dogs or cats for adoption. The Office of Animal Welfare will be responsible for enforcing this Act. Retailers will receive a civil penalty of no more than $500 for each prohibited sale. This Act takes effect 6 months after its enactment into law.
Who sponsors DE HB 131?
Laura V. Sturgeon, Nicole Poore, Stell Parker Selby and 9 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 131.
Description
This Act fosters the humane treatment of animals and prevents animal cruelty by prohibiting retail pet stores from selling dogs or cats. It further authorizes retail pet stores to collaborate with animal shelters and animal rescue organizations to offer space to showcase dogs or cats for adoption. The Office of Animal Welfare will be responsible for enforcing this Act. Retailers will receive a civil penalty of no more than $500 for each prohibited sale. This Act takes effect 6 months after its enactment into law.
- Introduced
- 2025-05-01
- Latest action
- 2026-07-23 — Signed by Governor
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Laura V. Sturgeonprimary
- Nicole Pooreprimary
- Stell Parker Selbyprimary
- Sarah McBrideprimary
- Mara Gormanprimary
- Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
- Melanie Ross Levinprimary
- Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
- Eric Morrisonprimary
- John "Jack" Walshprimary
- Marie Pinkneyprimary
- Kimberly Williamsprimary
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-07-23
Signed by Governor
executive-signature
2026-06-18
Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
passage
2026-06-16
Passed By Senate. Votes: 15 YES 6 NO
passage
2026-06-16
Amendment SA 1 to HB 131 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 15 YES 5 NO 1 ABSENT
amendment-passage
2026-05-13
Amendment SA 1 to HB 131 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2026-05-13
Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-01-20
Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2026-01-20
Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 4 NO 1 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT
passage
2025-05-14
Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 6 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-01
Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee
Versions
Documents
Votes
SM
2026-01-20 · pass · 33-4
Member-level votes (41)
- Alonna Berry: yes
- Stephanie T. Bolden: other
- Frank Burns: yes
- William Bush: yes
- William J. Carson: yes
- Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
- Richard G. Collins: no
- Franklin D. Cooke: yes
- Daniel B. Short: yes
- Timothy D. Dukes: yes
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: yes
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: yes
- Jeff Hilovsky: yes
- Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: yes
- Michael F. Smith: yes
- Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
- Shannon Morris: yes
- Eric Morrison: yes
- DeShanna U Neal: other
- Josue O Ortega: yes
- Edward S. Osienski: yes
- Sophie Phillips: yes
- Charles S Postles Jr.: no
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: yes
- Bryan W. Shupe: other
- Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
- Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: other
- Jesse R. Vanderwende: no
- Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
- Lyndon D. Yearick: no
SM
2026-06-16 · pass · 15-6
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: no
- Daniel Cruce: yes
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: no
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: no
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: yes
- Brian Pettyjohn: no
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: yes
- Bryant L. Richardson: no
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: no
SM
2026-06-18 · pass · 41-0
Member-level votes (41)
- Alonna Berry: yes
- Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
- Frank Burns: yes
- William Bush: yes
- William J. Carson: yes
- Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
- Richard G. Collins: yes
- Franklin D. Cooke: yes
- Daniel B. Short: yes
- Timothy D. Dukes: yes
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: yes
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: yes
- Jeff Hilovsky: yes
- Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: yes
- Michael F. Smith: yes
- Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
- Shannon Morris: yes
- Eric Morrison: yes
- DeShanna U Neal: yes
- Josue O Ortega: yes
- Edward S. Osienski: yes
- Sophie Phillips: yes
- Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: yes
- Bryan W. Shupe: yes
- Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
- Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
- Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
- Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
- Lyndon D. Yearick: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-22T08:22:51.646773Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=DE&identifier=HB 131. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.