February 20, 2016 4:47 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)– A mayor in New York is the first in the state to push for a local ban on puppy mill puppies and kittens from being sold in pet stores.

Mayor Norman Rosenblum for the Village of Mamaroneck is banning puppy mill animals and mandating the sale of only shelter animals, according to a press release.

“We are responsible for the welfare of our animals and our citizens, and this law protects both,” Rosenblum said of the new proposed law.

More than 120 towns nationwide passed similar laws, including Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago. New York State currently has no such law. Up until 2014, New York localities were prohibited from passing animal welfare laws. That changed when Governor Cuomo signed the Puppy Mill Bill allowing towns to pass their own laws.

“This law protects animals by cutting off the demand for breeding them in inhumane Puppy Mills and protects consumers from purchasing sick animals that pet stores buy from puppy mills. Every Federal court in 2015 from Arizona to New York has upheld our responsibility to protect our animals and dismissed pet store lawsuits trying to undermine sales of shelter animals,” Animal Rights Counsel Susan Chana Lask said in the press release.

The proposal was met with critics who sent a notice to the mayor in fear of being sued by the Pet Store lawsuit. Rosenblum is determined to proceed with the hearing, saying, “We cannot fear passing legitimate laws that protect our society because of threats of lawsuit.”

The law was drafted in response to a pet store called Best Breeds Puppies and Kittens. Owner Richard Doyle was arrested on several counts of animal cruelty and accusations of performing unlicensed surgeries on the puppies he sold.