In an editorial, Jersey City resident Jason Caballero explains why Ward E council candidate Eleana Little’s proposed puppy mill ban would be a welcome change.
Is there a greater indictment of government in America than the plight of puppies?
Everybody loves puppies. Even without a marketing team, they have a slogan: man’s best friend. Without a single book deal, they are main characters in millions of stories. They’ve made it in Hollywood, without a single one-way bus ticket. And without ever joining a gym, they’ve gotten more swipes on Tinder than all the humans.
That’s a lot of social and cultural capital.
But then there’s profit to be made, and despite never applying for any jobs, puppies are exploited in unspeakable, factory farm-like conditions in puppy mills.
Animal advocates have been sounding the alarm on puppy mills since at least the early aughts. I (a Jersey City resident most of my life and sometime journalist) wrote an article on the topic in 2005.
And Oprah herself gave it her best shot with a TV special in 2006. It wasn’t until 2017 that a state banned puppy mill puppy sales. (Yes, it was California.)
Now in 2025, only eight states have bans, and New Jersey is one of the 42 on the wrong side of history. What’s the holdup?
When New York passed its ban in 2022, the vote was 57-5 in the Senate, and 133-16 in the Assembly–votes so lopsided, one imagines there must be 21 politicians in New York wearing Dalmatian fur coats.
Now Jersey City, New Jersey’s second-largest city, has a candidate with a plan to stop the puppy mill pipeline.
Eleana Little, running for City Council in Ward E, has put forth a plan to make Jersey City pet-cruelty-free.
This includes a puppy mill sales ban; help for people experiencing temporary hardship–such as an eviction or the loss of a job–so that families and their beloved pets aren’t ripped apart; and, most appreciated by non-profit pet rescues, a plan to fund trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs.
Little is on “Yeam Solomon,” allied with city council veteran and mayoral contender James Solomon. Solomon supports Little’s plan, but also has his own.
His campaign shared a detailed policy paper with me. It has many of the same goals as Little’s, and a noteworthy addition: an acknowledgement of the crisis of exploding veterinary costs, caused by private equity.
I have done pet rescue work my entire adult life, and this feels overdue. The public shelter in Jersey City is often unable, or unwilling, to take in pets left homeless. Presumably, the city has simply not budgeted realistically.
Landlords who find pets cruelly abandoned in newly-empty apartments often end up calling volunteers, who scramble to rescue stressed, confused pets, and find them foster homes and forever homes.
But rescue groups are not on the public payroll. We are a tiny fraction of the city’s population, stepping up, doing unseen, unappreciated, labor-intensive, and expensive work–often on our own dime, and always on our own time.
Just one Heights resident, my friend Elizabeth Cook, trapped or re-homed over 220 cats last year alone, in her free time–an astounding achievement, by someone with a full-time job.
She orchestrates this daily struggle with an ad hoc network of volunteers, rescue organizations, and friends with cars. In 11 years of selfless service to Jersey City, they have saved thousands of souls. (You can follow her and her adoptable fosters on Instagram @jccat_watch)
Eleana Little’s proposal, to increase public investment in saving pets, is in my opinion an acknowledgement that in the past both Jersey City’s government and its people have abdicated their responsibility to companion animals; and that it’s unfair that such a small number of people carry such a massive burden, while the entire city reaps the benefits.
We deserve some help. No, you don’t have to take in five cats. (Although if you want to, definitely reach out.)
Our neighbors can make all the difference by together stepping up in small ways–for example, by supporting Eleana Little and James Solomon on November 4.
Reasonable people might question why this would be a campaign issue when there’s a housing crisis. But let’s not fall prey to the trap of division.
Listening to people who constantly pit one group in need against another group in need is how we got here in the first place.
Conversely, voting for people who understand the duty to care for all living beings might help weed out the psychopaths (if any) on the ballot. And a glance at Eleana Little’s and James Solomon’s social media reveals their first priority is Jersey City’s people.
I, for one, am excited about the prospect that my community will choose to help.
I’m hopeful that beautiful, innocent dogs and cats will no longer suffer in the streets, in the winters, or in shelter cages. And that our big-hearted volunteers will feel seen and appreciated, and have a manageable workload.
I’ve been waiting for 20 years. And sure, it’s hard to believe in something I’ve yet to see. But when the choice is between giving up, or seeing the future we want? I’ll use my imagination; the revolution will first be visualized.
I’ve known Eleana a little while, and that she has worked for years to help pet rescues, renters, and many others. I believe she will keep her promises.
I’m visualizing a wanted ad: “Seeking a fur baby to adopt. There are none left at the shelter. Our new affordable apartment won’t feel like home until we find one.”