Pet store owners, activists clash on Chicago proposal that would block pet stores from selling breeders’ puppies
A proposed ordinance sent to the full Chicago City Council this week would bar pet stores from selling dogs and only allow them to take fees for adoptions of pets from shelters and animal rescue groups.
The proposal aims to close a loophole from an ordinance passed in 2014 that attempted to prevent the sale of dogs from large-scale breeders at Chicago pet stores.
The 2014 ordinance’s language allowed breeders to sell pets to retail stores under the guise of nonprofit organizations, a 2018 Chicago Tribune investigation found. The city’s Committee on Health and Human Relations on Monday recommended the revised ordinance for approval by the City Council. The guidelines also would apply to cats and rabbits.
“If you could see the inhumane manner in which these puppy mills operate, no Chicago pet owner that I know would want their money to go to support an industry like that,” Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, said Monday. “It’s abhorrent, it’s offensive, and the only way it can exist is in the darkness.”
Pet store co-owners Stephanie and Lane Boron said the pet rescues that supply their store get dogs from commercial breeders, surrenders and other sources. The pair owns Pocket Puppies, 2479 N. Clark St.
“Rescues are not required to provide disclosures on sourcing. We do,” Stephanie Boron said. “There’s no loophole. There’s no fraud. ... We should not be put out of business for doing it better with stricter control.”
David Dinger, vice president of operations for the Anti-Cruelty Society, said his rescue does not get dogs from breeders. He said they get dogs from other rescues and humane societies to prevent overcrowding issues.
“If it’s true that there are agencies that are participating in this charade, then we should shine a light on that because that is unethical behavior that flies in the face of the important work that real animal advocates are struggling with each and every day,” Dinger said.
Hopkins challenged pet store owners to find other ways to remain profitable without selling dogs at high prices from breeders.
“If any business is incapable of staying open unless they have the opportunity to make their profits on the backs of these animals, then they deserve to close,” Hopkins said.
Stephanie Boron added that the ordinance could prohibit rescues from holding adoption events at retail stores like Petco and PetSmart.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said the ordinance does not do anything to end puppy mills, while Hopkins said preventing retailers from purchasing dogs from breeders could shut down puppy mills.
“We’ve heard a lot of impassioned rhetoric today about that, but this has nothing to do with that,” Lopez said. “This has to do with three businesses in the city of Chicago.”
Pocket Puppies is one of those three stores. The other two were notified of the hearing, but did not testify.
Cari Meyers, president of the Puppy Mill Project, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate the public about what it considers inhumane breeders, said no responsible breeder would ever sell to pet stores. She said responsible breeders will want to meet potential owners, sometimes on multiple occasions, to make sure they are a good fit for a dog.
“They have been committing fraud against consumers, as well as the city of Chicago, by saying these are rescue dogs, which they are not,” Meyers said. “They are coming from the mills — they are the exact same dogs that have been in the stores before — and they are charging thousands of dollars for these dogs.”
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance July 22.
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