Richmond ban on selling dogs in stores is a good model for other cities, says CFHS
Thursday, November 11, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Ottawa) – A by-law adopted this week in Richmond, B.C. prohibiting the sale of dogs from pet stores is a move that other cities should consider, according to the CFHS.
“We commend Richmond city councillors for showing leadership on this issue,” says Shelagh MacDonald, program director for the CFHS, “and we encourage the other B.C. cities considering similar by-laws to follow suit. In fact, we’d love to see every city in Canada put a stop to pet stores selling dogs and cats.”
Several U.S. cities have banned the retail sale of pets to help stem the growing tide of stay animals and cut off sales from abusive puppy and kitten mills. Since a ban was introduced in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2006, local animal shelters have seen a 23 percent increase in adoptions and a 35 percent decrease in euthanasia rates.
“Stopping the retail sale of pets has two key benefits,” says Lori Waller, communications coordinator for the CFHS. “First, it removes a source of pets that encourages impulse buying, and increases peoples’ incentive to go adopt animals from shelters instead. Second, it helps fight the puppy and kitten mill industry by eliminating one of its primary points of sale.”
“Puppy mill” or “kitten mill” are terms used to describe the worst pet breeders, who keep their animals in cramped, unsanitary cages with little or no social interaction. The cats or dogs they keep for breeding are often underfed, bred during every heat and discarded after a few years. Puppy and kitten mill operators also use irresponsible breeding practices that perpetuate genetic defects and hereditary disorders in their animals.
While not all breeders who sell to pet stores treat their animals as poorly as those described above, many do.
“A truly responsible breeder would never sell to a pet store,” says MacDonald. “Good breeders care about their puppies or kittens and they spend time getting to know prospective buyers to make sure each animal goes to a suitable home.”
The CFHS urges all people considering a pet to do their research to make sure they are prepared to care for an animal, and to adopt animals from shelters rather than buying. Every day, there are thousands of loving, healthy pets awaiting adoption at humane societies and SPCAs across Canada.
The CFHS has background information on puppy mills, responsible breeding and shelter animal adoption on its website, www.cfhs.ca.
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About the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies
The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies is the national voice of humane societies and SPCAs. Since 1957, it has worked on behalf of its member societies to educate Canadians about animal welfare and advocate forthe humane treatment of animals in communities, on the farm, in the lab and in the wild.
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