By Elisa Black-Taylor
According to a July 9 post by ABC10 News, the San Diego City Council has now banned the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits on a retail level. This means that a person looking for a new pet can no longer go into a pet store or other commercial business in the city and buy a pet.
Los Angeles has already passed this ordinance, and now San Diego becomes the second largest city in the nation with such a ban. There are a dozen cities in California who have a similar ban.
This has not been an easy issue for San Diego. Dozens of protestor’s from both sides gathered before city hall on Tuesday to express their opinion.
Those who welcome the bill see it as a way for more shelter and rescue pets to find a home, while at the same time cutting down on pets that came from a puppy mill type environment. Once the ordinance passes a second reading, all animals sold will have to come from a shelter, rescue organizations, animal control, code compliance officials or city employees.
This second reading will likely pass, as the first was approved by unanimous vote.
The amendment to the ordinance reads:
“unlawful for any person to display, offer for sale, deliver, barter, auction, give away, transfer or sell any live dog, cat or rabbit in any pet shop, retail business or other commercial establishment located in the city of San Diego, unless the dog, cat or rabbit was obtained from a city or county animal shelter or animal control agency, a humane society or a nonprofit rescue organization.”
David Salinas of San Diego Puppy, says he will go to court or state legislators if the amendment passes the second reading.
Salinas, as well as many others, believe the revised ordinance will hurt the honest pet shop owners who get the pets they sell from reputable breeders.
Those who support the ban hope it will stop the number of puppy mills dogs that come into California from other states. The ban isn’t meant to hurt the small business owner, but to get an upper hand in puppy mill type situations.
Private breeders who adopt to the public won’t be affected. Neither will those who offer non-profit adoption (like PetSmart and Petco), because they work through partnership with rescue groups local to their area.
Pet shop owners believe more effort should be made in preventing the sale of puppy mill dogs, rather than creating laws that hurt small business owners. Some pet shop owners will most likely be forced out of business when this takes effect.
Readers, what are your thoughts on banning the sale of dogs and cats (as well as rabbits) by privately owned pet shop owners? Is this another attempt at big government to push aside the small business owner, or will the ban help prevent the mass sale if animals, which will most likely improve the quality of pets sold to the residents in the city of San Diego?
I would love to do a bit of honey-sopping. My favorite pastime. I am a past champion you know.:)
Yes, one day I will come and visit. I want to visit VG in Atlanta too. And Ruth in Wisconsin. Hell, that’s a lot travelling.
I turned in a small pet store about 10 years ago. It was over 100 degrees outside and these puppies were sitting outside in a kennel on the concrete with no shelter to get in the shade. I called the Humane Society on them. When I went by there a few days later the dog kennel had not only been moved to a shady area, the dogs also had a new doghouse.
There’s a woman in the U.S. right now who worked at Wal Mart and was fired when she asked a customer not to leave her dog in a hot car. The woman wasn’t even in her Wal Mart uniform or on the clock yet and they fired her.
It depends on where you are in the south. The larger cities, not so much. But there are small towns in the mountains I’d be afraid to visit because the are very family oriented and if you weren’t born there you could have trouble. I worked a lot in Charlotte, NC and Augusta, Georgia and Greenville, SC and they’re very metro these days. I live in an area now that doesn’t even have a traffic light it’s so small. There’s a catfish festival every year nearby. And a town just down the road has a “honey-sopping” festival. Would you like to come visit me Michael?
There is a pet shop within 7 mins walk of where I live. I buy the odd bit of cat food there. Outside on the grass verge is a large mobile sign saying “Kittens for Sale”.
They also sell hamsters and all kinds of other animals. I like the people but hate what they do.
They are not bad people. They just don’t see a problem with selling animals bred in some nasty place.
It must be about education.
Are the people in the South a bit backward 😉 ? Hicksville. Chewing tobacco etc.
Never been to California. Doubt I’ll ever get there. But I’m told I don’t act like someone from South Carolina either. People think I’m from what they call “up north” because I have opinions usually found by people in the Northeast U.S. Don’t know exactly what they mean by that…