A “Humane Pet Store” ordinance authored by St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker calls for banning city pet shops from selling cats and dogs entirely.
“No pet shop shall sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away, or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats or dogs,” according to the proposed ordinance.
Under the proposal, pet shops can still collaborate with animal shelters, animal rescue organizations and animal control authorities to showcase adoptable dogs and cats, provided the animals are not younger than eight weeks old.
The ordinance states it is “not intended to limit the ability of consumers to work with reputable breeders, where they can see directly the conditions in which the dogs or cats are bred or can confer directly with the breeder concerning those conditions.”
The measure is expected to be approved by the council on Dec. 12.
The proposal comes after the closure of the Petland retail store in St. Paul’s Sun Ray Shopping Center last February.
The store had been the subject of magazine and television news exposes on retailers that acquire cats and dogs from large-scale commercial breeding facilities — so-called “puppy mills” and “kitten mills” of questionable repute.
Some 280 cities, as well as the states of California and Maryland, have passed similar restrictions on pet sales.
In Minnesota, where Roseville and Eden Prairie have already adopted city ordinances, animal rights groups say St. Paul would be the third such city.
No existing St. Paul retailers would be immediately impacted, said Noecker. In Highland Park, PetCo Animal Supplies on Ford Parkway showcases cats available for adoption from Spring Lake Park-based Whisker Rescue. The location does not sell commercially-bred animals.
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Noecker’s proposal has drawn written letters of support from a variety of animal rights groups and St. Paul-area activists.
The owner of Four Paws and a Tail, a pet store in Blaine, expressed concern, however, that the rules as written would impact “well-run store(s) offering locally bred family-friendly puppies from a healthy environment.”
Kristin Smith noted in a letter to the council that “while currently popular, rescues are exempt from … consumer protection measures, offer dogs with unknown histories and give the buyer little recourse if dissatisfied.”
She noted she was not defending any particular retailer. Noecker and other proponents of restricting pet sales have said it’s too difficult to track the origins and living conditions of commercially-bred animals.