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The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday banning pet stores from using so-called puppy mills.
Under the ordinance, stores will have to get their dogs, cats, and rabbits from shelters and humane adoption centers. They’re forbidden from getting the animals from for-profit breeders. The goal is to protect animals from what critics call inhumane conditions in breeding operations.
The Chicago-based Puppy Mill Project, who spearheaded the legislation, says of the reported 3,300 commercially-licensed USDA breeding facilities, the large majority operate with numerous violations that go unmonitored, leading to suffering and ultimately the death of the dogs.
“The unknown truth is that the USDA is overwhelmed with the burdening task of tracking unlicensed large-scale breeders who use the Internet and newspaper advertisements to entice unknowing individuals to buy their dogs. Licensed or not, it is still a puppy mill and the conditions in which the dogs are forced to live is inhumane and unregulated,” they say.
The Puppy Mill Project says for every dog sold, there are two dogs that are suffering in a mill.
Last month, 121 dogs and more than 60 other animals were rescued from a suspected Jefferson County, Ark., puppy mill after authorities discovered them living in filth and suffering from a lack of basic care.
The new Chicago ordinance says by promoting the adoption of dogs and cats, the euthanasia rate at Chicao shelters will be reduced and the financial burden on City taxpayers who pay much of the cost to care for and euthanize many thousands of animals will also be reduced.
San Diego; Los Angeles; Toronto; Austin, Texas; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, have passed similar laws.
Agencies/Canadajournal
