Popular Internet story claims Arizona, Missouri and Texas enacted two-pet limit


Do not fret, the pug or feline in your life won’t be given to the Humane Society.

A popular May 6 story from a website called “Associated Media Coverage” claims that Arizona, Missouri and Texas recently passed two-pet limit laws.

“According to state representatives, pet owners within Texas, Arizona, and Missouri are expected to be in compliance with the new ordinance by September 2016. All pet owners are expected to surrender any pets in excess of the mandatory ‘2-pet maximum’ to their local Humane Society shelter by the compliance date of September 3rd 2016,” the story reads.

We reached out to Associated Media Coverage and did not hear back. Nonetheless, experts quickly dismissed this claim.

Not a ‘hare’ of truth

“This is, in fact, a hoax, and The Humane Society of the United States would never support such an ordinance,” Humane Society spokeswoman Cheylin Parker said.

Locally, we also reached out to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office.

“This couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Ducey. “There’s no such law in Arizona, and as a huge animal lover himself, Governor Ducey encourages animal adoption all across our state.”

Others have debunked this story, too. The Snopes website debunked the claim and noted that the Associated Media Coverage website appears to have been registered in February 2016.

Our ruling

Associated Media Coverage said, “pet owners within Texas, Arizona and Missouri…are expected to surrender any pets in excess of the mandatory ‘2-pet maximum’ to their local Humane Society.”

That’s a ridiculous and unfounded claim.

We rate it as Pants on Fire!

https://www.sharethefacts.co/share/32ce8799-2973-4b60-8553-5bc2b000738f

A
By
Anthony Cave
Fact Checker
May 13, 2016

Truth-o-meter Ruling

Pants on Fire!

Statement

Says Arizona, Missouri and Texas residents have a two-pet limit, so the public must "surrender their third pet to the Humane Society."

Context

a Web article

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Bloggers

Statement Date

May 6, 2016
Our Sources

Associated Media Coverage, "Multiple states have agreed to implement a ‘two pet maximum’ ordinance," May 6, 2016

Snopes.com, "Dog fired," May 9, 2016

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, "associatedmediacoverage.com," accessed May 12, 2016

Interview with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato, May 11, 2016

Interview with The Humane Society of the United States spokeswoman Cheylin Parker, May 12, 2016

Translations

Language: en

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