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Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters
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Council takes action on retail sale of dogs
Banning the sale of dogs in South Lake
Tahoe moved one step closer to becoming a reality.
City council unanimously voted Tuesday for staff to develop an ordinance banning
the retail sale of dogs to prevent the sale of puppy mill-bred dogs in the city. Council thought a complete ban is the best of three options Los Angeles-based lawyers Laurence Wiener and Serita Holness developed for the city.In addition to the complete ban, the alternatives included collecting a licensing fee from pet stores to pay for independent inspections of a puppy’s breeding facility or requiring independent veterinarian exams of puppies upon arrival at a pet store.
Inspecting breeding facilities would be
difficult if not impossible, said Councilman Hal Cole.The complete ban represents the “easiest and most direct” way to prevent the
sale of puppy mill-bred dogs, Cole added.The possible ban should not prevent private breeders from operating in the city,
Jinkens said. Carmina wrote: This is great news and hopefully other cities will follow suit. Pet stores don't care where their animals come from and are only in the business of turning profits, regardless of the horrendous suffering of the dogs, cats, rabbits, and other creatures exploited for this vile industry. Don't support the cruelty; save a life and adopt from a rescue group or humane society. West Hollywood votes yes on pet shop ban
1/16/2009 Tahoe Daily Tribune
Landmark legislation was passed on February 1st, 2010, as the West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted to stop the retail sale of cats and dogs at pet stores. Only pet shops that “re-home” rescued or shelter animals will be allowed to stay in business.
The new ordinance will make the city off-limits to animals bred at puppy mills and commercial cat breeding facilities. Only a small number of cities in the country have stepped up to the plate with legislation like this. The West Hollywood law is similar to one adopted in South Lake Tahoe, CA in 2009, which only allows for the sale of “humanely bred, reared or sheltered animals.”
This isn’t the first time West Hollywood has taken the initiative to be a leader in the name animals. Earlier this year the city voted to ban the de-clawing of cats. October 13, 2010 Pet Industry - A Change is Coming B.C.’s City of Richmond tentatively adopted the bylaw which would ban pet stores in the municipality from selling puppies. The issue, supported unanimously by council, must go through a public consultation process before it can be adopted as a bylaw. If approved, it will come into effect, April 30, 2011. PIJAC’s (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Committee) executive director, Louis McCann insists banning pet stores from selling dogs won't stop puppy mills from operating. Instead, he suggests provinces need to enact legislation that would regulate breeding operations. He added only Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec currently have legislation to regulate breeding. While the BC SPCA, animal activists, municipal officials, and citizens alike, all agree that there needs to be legislation to regulate breeding, stopping sales at the pet store level is a good first step. Pet stores are far from transparent in their activities, and leave both animals and the consumer unprotected. PIJAC has done an abysmal job in regulating itself. Kristen Bryson, BC SPCA board member, and criminal prosecutor, says the council is “motivated by money.” She noted one of the largest retailers (Pet Habitat) of dogs in the Lower Mainland gets their puppies from a broker (the Hunte Corp. in the States) that sources puppies from "puppy mills and other unmonitored breeding facilities." There are thousands of these hellish operations in Canada and the US, all motivated by profits. A full or partial ban on the sale of live animals in pet stores exist in Hermosa Beach, South Lake Tahoe and West Hollywood, California; Austin, Texas; and Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, Lauderdale Lakes, Flagler Beach, North Bay Village and Opa-Locka, Florida. Meanwhile, similar bylaws are currently being considered in San Francisco and Glendale, California; Rio Rancho, New Mexico; El Paso, Texas; Wentzville, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; and Jacksonville, Hallandale Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition, Albuquerque, New Mexico imposed a ban on the retail sale of all companion animals back in 2006. According to media reports of 2010, animal adoptions have increased 23 percent and ‘euthanasia’ at city shelters has decreased by 35 percent since then. - Carmina Gooch December 16, 2010 Great news from Texas - Austin City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that would ban the retail sale of puppies and kittens while placing new requirements on local breeders. Anyone selling a puppy or kitten will have to have the proper registration documents and also spay or neuter the animal before selling. Breeders can sell dog and cats that are not spayed or neutered only if they pay a $50 fee per animal. The new ordinance will be enforced on a complaint basis. February 22, 2011 Lake Worth, Florida, has become one of a growing number of US and Canadian cities to ban the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores. It requires pet stores to post the location of the breeder for each puppy or kitten offered for sale, post signs promoting pet sterilization, and submit monthly reports listing the buyers of each animal sold. This step helps prevent the flow of animals raised in mills or by backyard breeders from entering retail outlets. However, it doesn’t stop the online trade currently experiencing exponential growth. L.A. to ban the sale of "mill-bred" pets June 10, 2011 DVM Newsmagazine Los Angeles — Los Angeles
City Council voted unanimously in favor of banning the sale of pets bred in
“puppy mills” or “kitten mills” June 8. Comment: The California Penal Code lists dozens of laws designed to penalize people for abusing animals, including laws that could relate specifically to breeders. Penal Code 597t makes it a crime to confine an animal in an area that does not provide it with adequate exercise or restricting an animal with a leash that allows the animal to become entangled. Code 597z makes selling dogs younger than 8 weeks of age a crime. April 17, 2012 Update: L.A. to Ban Sale of Animals in Stores June 9, 2011 San Francisco’s Commission of Animal Control & Welfare is once again scheduled to hear a proposal to ban the sale of pets at city pet stores after months of postponing a vote on the controversial issue. PIJAC has spoken out against a ban. The revised proposal comes after a year of study and was expanded to include breeders as well as pet stores to help protect pets, consumers and the environment. It seeks to prohibit the retail sale of dogs, cats, birds, small animals (including but not limited to hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, guinea pigs and chinchillas), reptiles, amphibians and aquarium fish. "Most fish in aquariums are either mass bred" under inhumane conditions "or taken from the wild," commission member Philip Gerrie told the San Francisco Chronicle. That leads to "devastation of tropical fish from places like Southeast Asia.” Specifically, the ordinance would state that, in San Francisco, people can acquire pets of all species through the following methods: 1.) Pet store adoptions events; 2.) Pet store permanent adoption centers/partnerships; 3.) Direct sale from small breeders; 4.) Adoption from shelters such as Animal Care and Control and the SF/SPCA; 5.) Adoption from animal rescue organizations. Methods that fall outside of those listed above, such as non-adoption sales through pet stores, would not be permitted. August 17, 2011 Last night, the Glendale City Council, California, voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance to ban the retail sale of commercially bred dogs and cats in pet stores within the city limits. The ordinance, which was revised to exclude a section that would have permitted backyard commercial breeding, will be presented to the Council for an official vote on Aug. 23. If the ordinance is adopted, it will go into effect 30 days later. Glendale is the third Los Angeles-area city to enforce this type of ordinance, joining West Hollywood and Hermosa Beach, as well as larger cities including Albuquerque, NM and Austin, Texas. In related news, The Irvine Company, owner of Newport Beach’s Fashion Island, the Irvine Spectrum and several other shopping malls and plazas, will ban the sale of dogs and cats at any of its retail properties. The decision was made last month. Irvine is considering banning the sale of dogs and cats by city ordinance. Excellent! July 9, 2013 San Diego Council Makes Tentative Vote To Ban Retail Pet Shops September 10, 2013 USDA Announces Landmark Rule to Crack Down on Online Puppy Mills March 6, 2014 Chicago Council Approves Ban of Animal Mill Sales at Pet Stores; more cities follow, San Francisco in 2017 November 26, 2014 New York City may ban the sale of pet rabbits; update: victory! Jurisdictions with Retail Pet Sale Bans State Pet Shop Laws Ordinances in the US that protect rabbits More: Live animal markets; Santee Alley Bunnies Read more: Free pet rabbits offered on Craigslist; cracking down on breeder ads online; Kijiji's position |