Nationwide petition urges San Clemente to ban dog, cat sales

Nationwide petition urges San Clemente to ban dog, cat sales An online effort by the Desperate Paws of Orange County Dog Club gathers more than 800 supporters, many of whom barrage four council members with emails urging them to reverse their votes rejecting a proposed ban applying to pet stores. I own a dog that was rescued from a puppy mill at 18 months old. There need to be laws on the books to outlaw (puppy mills). It seems to me that stuff like that has to be federally or state-regulated. "Pet stores are keeping the puppy mills and other inhumane abusive industries in business. "It's not the city. If they want to fix the problem, they have to go back to the source of the problem. Here are statements from respondents to the Desperate Paws of Orange County Dog Club's online petition: "Pet stores that sell pets are perpetuating the cruelty of the puppy/kitten mill industry. Council members' email inboxes were flooded with hundreds of messages over the weekend, prompting Mayor Jim Evert to write back, asking the organization to stop. Evert's email said he is sympathetic to the group's cause of eliminating inhumane puppy mills but said, "Your email approach is atrocious. Evert said the group should not have sent council members mass emails that looked identical. The council's April 16 vote was 4-1, with Councilwoman Lori Donchak supporting the ban. I would help with that if I could, but that does not entail putting a (city) law on the books. Terry said that as other Orange County cities adopt bans on retail sales of dogs and cats, stores that sell the animals may move to cities like San Clemente. "They want us to make a statement to the wider world about their cause," Evert said. "The smallest bit of research will show you that your decision is unsound. "Come on, San Clemente, stand tall and show the rest of the U. (and the world) that you truly care about the health and welfare of puppies in your city. Dana Point and Irvine have enacted bans, while Laguna Beach is preparing an ordinance and Huntington Beach is giving serious consideration to one. Her back is rounded in a hump from living in a cage her entire life. Terry called puppy mills "America's dirty little secret" where puppies are mass-produced, their parents stay in cages and the puppies may change owners multiple times before they reach a pet shop. "If people really understood what was happening and what was going on, they'd be 100% for (the ban)," Terry said. Legitimate breeders don't sell topet stores, he said, only to people they insist on meeting first. Nationwide petition urges San Clemente to ban dog, cat sales Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 26/04/2012