The owner of a Petland store is suing the City of Dallas, saying it will be forced to close as a result of a new ordinance making it illegal for pet stores to sell commercially-bred dogs and cats. The store’s owner, who has sold thousands of puppies, “claims the measure discriminates against the store and violates the Texas Constitution.The lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing the ordinance from going into effect and more than $1 million in damages”:
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. Lawsuits of this kind have failed in other states.
The new Dallas law, which takes effect in November, serves three purposes:
1. Encouraging people to adopt/rescue;
2. Educating the community about dog and cat (and rabbit) abuse in mills;
3. Stopping that abuse.
And they work. “Nebraska Department of Agriculture records show that half of the state’s commercial dog and cat breeders have left the business,” thanks to these laws:
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Pet stores generally get their animals from Commercial Breeding Enterprises (CBEs), commonly known as ‘puppy mills.’ And CBEs engage in systematic neglect and abuse of animals, leaving severe emotional and physical scars on the victims. One in four former breeding dogs have significant health problems, are more likely to suffer from aggression, and many are psychologically and emotionally shut down, compulsively staring at nothing:
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The owner of the store claims the puppies he sells are “from United States Department of Agriculture licensed breeders,” but that does not, in and of itself, mean they are not neglectful or abusive mills. The Office of the Inspector General found that the USDA fails in its mission to protect dogs in puppy mills by choosing to “cooperate” with puppy millers, rather than protect dogs by punishing abusers. As a result, “the agency chose to take little or no enforcement actions against violators” including repeat violators. In one case, USDA inspectors found “dead dogs and starving dogs that resorted to cannibalism, dogs that were entirely covered in ticks, kennels overrun with feces and urine, and food infested with cockroaches. At the facility in which the starving dogs were found, the [USDA] inspector did not remove the surviving dogs, and as a result twenty-two more dogs died.” (75 Alb. L. Rev. 379.)
The owner also claims the new ordinance will put him out of business, but that may also be misleading. Many pet stores in similar jurisdictions are thriving by partnering with rescue groups and shelters. How? Whenever anyone adopts an animal in these stores, not only is a life saved but the store benefits by having the new pet owner buy his/her needed supplies right then and there. And the pet store potentially also gains a new customer for years. PetSmart, Petco, and other pet stores have been doing it for years. It’s a classic win-win.