No new pet shops could sell puppies or kittens in Palm Beach County under new rules that are set for a first vote at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting.
The head of the county’s Department of Animal Care and Control says the goal is to try to dry up the county as a market for so-called pet “mills.”
Under the proposed rule, no permit would be issued for any new pet shop that offers dogs or cats for sale, beginning Nov. 1. New pet stores could still sell other animals and pet supplies, and existing stores could still sell dogs and cats from licensed breeders who comply with U.S. Department of Agriculture rules.
>RELATED: Read the proposed revision the county’s animal control law.
The plan also cracks down on outfits such as humane societies, private shelters and rescue groups — prohibiting them from obtaining dogs or cats from breeders. Such groups also would have to keep records for two years and send Animal Care and Control monthly reports showing how many animals they have on site, how many they’ve adopted out and to whom, the origins of the animals, and how many have died in their care, including those euthanized.
And the proposal would ban the breeding of cats in the county except for pedigreed cats registered with the Cat Fancier Association or International Cat Association. Violators would be fined.
Dianne Sauve, head of Animal Care and Control, said the crackdown on shelters follows reports that some bought high-end puppies or kittens and sold them at high prices.
She said the focus on non-pedigreed cats is because they “are the most at-risk animal for euthanasia anywhere in the country. The last thing we need are more cats than we already have.”
A second vote on the new rules would be Sept. 27.
The rules will apply countywide not just in areas outside cities but also in the 39 municipalities unless a muncipality passes an exemption opting out, Sauve said.
Sauve said the new rules would “protect local consumers” from buying animals that are sick or have undisclosed congenital problems.
It also would help squeeze the pipeline from out-of-state breeders that allegedly mistreat animals and “whose only role is to keep producing puppies or kittens,” Sauve said.
“We don’t want to put anyone out of business,” she said. “However, it is very reasonable that we prohibit animals coming into our county that we know are coming from areas that perpetuate the suffering of animals.”
Animal rights proponents also have long argued large commercial breeders sell dogs and cats that suffer lifelong health problems and even die, or at the least force their new owners to shell out thousands of dollars to try to save them.
And Sauve has said that every year her department must kill 1,500 to 2,000 dogs, and twice as many cats, in its overcrowded shelter. The county is hosting a large adoption event on Saturday.
The county commission first discussed the idea at a meeting in March and asked its legal staff if it could institute such restrictions. At the time, Commissioner Hal Valeche worried about such sweeping measures and said efforts should be directed at cutting off the pipeline closer to the out-of-town “puppy mills” themselves.
The county in 2011 passed an ordinance requiring stores to say where the dogs and cats they sell were born and bred. A 2010 Palm Beach Post investigation had found that at least 2,500 puppies were delivered to Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties from out-of-state breeders in an 11-month period. Roughly one in three of those came from breeders or distributors cited for problems by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees wholesale dog breeding.
In proposing the ban, Palm Beach County is following Palm Beach Gardens, which passed a law in 2014 banning the sale of dogs and cats at pet stores in the town. A Palm Beach County Circuit judge upheld the new law in January, when she tossed a legal challenge by Palm Beach Puppies North. The closing of the store was believed to be a first by any U.S. city. A lawyer for the shop had argued it was doing legitimate business and was partnering with licensed and approved breeders.
Other cities and counties around Florida, including Wellington and Delray Beach, also already limit stores to selling rescue pets and many of those bans are being challenged in court.
The county also is upping the ante with its proposed rules for animal rescue groups.
In June 2015, then-County Mayor Shelley Vana publicly called out two outfits — A Second Chance Puppies and Kittens Rescue — whom she said brought in 60 animals from Alabama.
“For every animal you bring in, one of ours is going to be put down,” Vana said at the time.
Sauve also said this week that volunteers at the Tri-County Humane Society, west of Boca Raton, complained last year that the shelter bought puppies from a Miami breeder and adopted them out for up to $1,000 each. Tri-County later received “multiple citations” after investigators determined its intake records “had false information as well as missing information,” Sauve said. She said the group has since instituted changes in its operations.
Tri-County officials did not return calls this week.
PET ADOPTION EVENT
What: Third annual Countdown 2 Zero adoption event, where as many as 1,000 dogs and cats will be available.
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday
Where:Palm Beach County Convention Center .
Details: Admission and parking are free. All adopters will receive gifts as well as free rabies tags.
Contact: Call 561-472-8845 or email info@countdown2zero.org.
WHAT THE COUNTY PROPOSES
- Beginning Nov. 1, Palm Beach County would ban the opening of any new pet stores that sell puppies or kittens.
- Existing stores would be “grandfathered in,” meaning they could still sell cats and dogs. But they have could not sell animals from breeders who are unlicensed or have violated U.S. Department of Agriculture rules.
- Humane societies, private shelters and rescue groups would be prohibited from providing compensation directly or indirectly to any breeder, pet dealer or other source for dogs or cats.
- Humane societies, private shelters and rescue groups would have to keep records for two years and send Animal Care and Control monthly reports showing how many animals they have on site, how many they’ve adopted out and to whom, the origins of the animals, and how many have died in their care, including those euthanized.
- No hobby breeder permits would be issued for breeding of cats, except for pedigreed cats registered with the Cat Fancier Association or International Cat Association. Violators would be fined with fines escalating until they culminate in mandatory court appearance. Owners of non-sterilized cats will get cited but the citation will be voided if the owner gets the cat sterilized within 15 days of the citation.
ALSO ONLINE
Read the proposed law, http://ift.tt/2cfFico
