Pet Stores In LA Will Be Required To Sell Only
Rescues If City Council Motion Passes
The cute puppy
and kitten faces peering out from Los Angeles malls and storefronts could soon
all be rescues. The LA City Council Tuesday voted 11-1 in favor of banning
stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that are not rescues.
Councilman Paul
Koretz, who sponsored the motion, explained to The Huffington Post that the
measure is in large part in response to the problems caused by puppy and kitten
mills. "Puppy mill dogs are kept in horrible, inhumane conditions. Puppies
and kittens, in the case of kitten mills, often end up with severe health
problems and sometimes behavioral problems," he said. "They also make
worse the problem of an overabundance of animals and the euthanasia of hundreds
of thousands of animals," he added.
He speaks from
personal experience. Koretz's own Bichon Frise died due to an illness he
believes was caused by conditions at the puppy mill that sold him the dog.
"I've always been an animal lover," Koretz said to HuffPost. For him,
the measure is a "win win win win" on many levels: fighting animal
cruelty, reduction in overpopulation and ending euthanization.
The measure is
part of an effort to increase adoptions as one step in a multi-pronged effort
to make LA a "no kill city." "So many people have a stigma and
don’t want to go to a shelter," the councilman's staff person Jeff
Ebenstein told HuffPost. "They think they're dirty and unpleasant. But if
the animals are in malls or storefronts, I have to imagine that the adoption
numbers will go up."
Ebenstein added
that if an Angeleno wanted a particular breed not available as a rescue, he or
she could still turn to breeders. "We don’t want to attack breeders. As
long as you have sanitary humane conditions, you're not a puppy mill and you're
licensed with one of the reputable organizations, you'll be fine," he
said.
In addition to
this attempt to increase adoptions, Koretz's office is working with nonprofits
to offer mobile low-cost spay and neutering and to increase pet micro-chipping
so that lost pets can be returned to owners, Ebenstein said. Also, earlier this
year, Koretz worked with state officials to allow Angelenos to license their
pets online at laanimalservices.com.
The measure
will be drafted by the City Attorney's office into an ordinance, which will go
before the council for another vote and then to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's
desk. Councilman Koretz told HuffPost he is confident that it will be signed
into law by the Mayor in three to six months.