Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters

L.A. Moves to Ban Sale of Animals in Stores 

The proposed ordinance will promote humane treatment of pets. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 atvn.org 

Los Angeles City Council made the initial steps on Tuesday to ban the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in retail stores in an 11-1 vote. The vote will now request the City Attorney’s office to draft an ordinance that bans the sale of pets that are not from shelters, humane societies, or registered rescue organizations. If approved, the ordinance would go into effect after six months and would be on a temporary three-year trial period. 

Los Angeles joins many cities in Orange County that have created and passed similar ordinances in an attempt to reduce pet homelessness, promote adoption from animal shelters and prevent possible abuse and neglect of cats and dogs. 

City Councilman Paul Koretz also proposed that the Animal Services Department conduct a report on how the proposed ban would affect kill rates at city shelters.

Los Angeles is one step closer to prohibiting pet stores from selling dogs and cats that don’t come from shelters. It's a drive to get rid of notoriously inhumane puppy mills— and the councilmember behind it says he's learned from personal experience.

A "puppy mill" is what many call the cramped farms and cages in which dogs are bred to birth puppies for sale in pet stores. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are often killed, abandoned or sold cheaply to another mill, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

City Councilmember Paul Koretz says his dog died of a serious illness which he now believes was picked up in a puppy mill. That loss led him to sponsor a motion making it illegal in Los Angeles to sell an animal that’s not a rescue. The city council approved the motion on Wednesday by a vote of 11-1. It would not apply to legitimate breeders who treat their animals humanely.

Koretz says puppy and kitten mills keep their animals in horrible, inhumane conditions, leading to disease, and behavior problems. The mills also contribute to overpopulation, and the euthanasia of hundreds of thousands of animals.

The motion will now be drafted into an ordinance which will pass through the council again before — if it passes — going to the mayor for his signature.