California bill seeks to ban sale of ‘unicorns’, glowing rabbits and other gene-edited pets

Lions, tigers… and unicorns?

Genetically modified pets including glow-in-the-dark rabbits, hypoallergenic cats and dogs, and real-life unicorns could soon become a reality after a bill to ban the sale of such creatures failed to advance in the California Senate.

Assembly Bill 1382, known as the Ethics Over Aesthetics Act, stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee last week and was held under submission, halting it from advancing further during the legislative session, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The bill sought to prohibit the sale of pet animals with “cosmetic transgenic traits” — defined as any trait that modifies the animal’s “natural appearance or functions.”

This includes changes to the animal’s fur, skin, feather, or scale coloring, the removal of claws or vocal cords, or the “addition or subtraction of appendages.”

Animals covered by the bill would include common pets like dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and any other species that could be considered a household pet.

The bill proposed civil penalties of at least $5,000 for violation of the law.

First introduced by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the bill passed unanimously in the State Assembly earlier this year and advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.

Animal welfare advocates blame politicking for the bill’s demise.

“It’s my belief that there is some kind of political game going on,” Michelle Kelly, chief executive of the nonprofit welfare organization Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation, told the LA Times.

“Why would anyone not want to move forward with this bill?”

A legislative analysis of the bill cited a 2025 WIRED article about The Los Angeles Project, a Texas-based startup dedicated to developing genetically modified animals.

Using the gene-editing tool CRISPR, the company hopes to create glow-in-the-dark rabbits and real-life unicorns. “I think, as a human species, it’s kind of our moral prerogative to level up animals,” founder Josie Zayner told WIRED.

Other companies are also making progress developing gene-edited pets with CRISPR.

Earlier this month, biotech startup Kindred Companion Sciences unveiled two gene-edited beagles who do not produce the Can f 1 protein, the main allergen found in dog saliva and dander, making them effectively hypoallergenic.

The dogs were born in September 2024 and have shown healthy growth and development, according to the company.

In a statement to the LA Times, Castillo vowed to continue fighting for animals.

“This bill was never about politics — it was about protecting animals from being turned into novelty products,” she said.

“I’m disappointed AB 1382 did not move forward, but I am not done fighting for these animals. The technology that makes ‘designer pets’ possible isn’t going away, and neither am I.”

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