St. Petersburg was named the most pet-friendly city in America last week by the site Zumper, a sentiment city officials demonstrated Thursday, when City Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance banning the sale of dogs and cats that are bred en masse in cruel conditions in "puppy mills."
The proposed ordinance called for banning “the retail sale of dogs or cats by pet stores unless such dogs or cats are sourced from a rescue or humane organization.” Hobby and home breeders are exempt from the ordinance.
Tearful testimony of residents and non-residents flooded the podium who shared the horrors of pet farms. Animal lovers drove from Tampa, Sarasota, Manatee and beyond to plead to the council to pass the ordinance.
Petland in Largo took the brunt of the criticism as many voiced their contempt to the pet store for selling dogs and cats from pet farms.
Petland owner Max Kennedy came to the podium to defend his company’s policy of selling puppy-milled puppies, stating that the prohibition-like ban will only hurt the public.
“We don’t support those breeders,” Kennedy said. “Private breeders aren’t regulated. We need to regulate rather than ban.”
Kennedy also said that he uses only USDA-certified pet farms, but that did little to sway the public or the council.
Pictures and stories were shared before the council of the deplorable conditions of USDA-approved pet farms. Pet farms are regulated on their survival rate as opposed to how they treat animals, said one member of the public.
Some offered firsthand accounts of experiences inside puppy mills with inspectors. Tiny cages, cold temperatures and overcrowding were common themes.
Councilman Karl Nurse was the one who brought the issue to the dais, and argued that there are too many animals in need of homes.
“From 2001-2015, over 32,000 dogs and cats were euthanized by animal services,” he said.
This number does not even account for pets euthanized for medical reasons.
Nurse said such “craziness” should no longer be part of our culture.
The ordinance also makes sure that those pets who are legally sold in pet shops must be at least eight weeks old, have access to fresh water and that display areas must be kept free of waste.
The city council unanimously voted in favor of the ordinance and it will take effect immediately.
