Banning pet-store sales does more harm than good – Latest News
When Mike Ricci wished to buy his daughter a pet, he found that in his state, “There were pet stores but none that sell puppies (or kittens).”
Ricci, president of Stossel TV, investigated.
He found that eight states now ban retail sales of canines, cats and rabbits. Animal activists need the bans prolonged to all states.
They say that is needed to save lots of animals (and defend pet consumers) from abusive pet mills — locations that breed animals time and again, usually leading to inbred and unhealthy puppies.
The activists inform people: Buy solely from “responsible breeders.”
But how does one know who that’s?
“Every site says, ‘This is the best breeder . . . ethically sourced. Treated well,’ ” says Ricci.
“They say, ‘Don’t trust the pet stores!’ But am I supposed to be able to figure out from a website which breeder is great?”
Small pet shops “are the experts,” says Alyssa Miller-Hurley. She lobbies for them and says most don’t sell abused puppies. “Business owners know that you can’t survive if you’re providing a bad product.”
Good level, says Ricci. “Had there been a pet store in my town, I could have gone there and complained, ‘Hey, why’d you sell me a bad dog?’ I would tell my friends, ‘This pet store sells bad dogs! Don’t go there.’ That store’s going to close.”
Not so, replies Brian Hackett of the Associated Humane Societies. “Just because they’re still in business doesn’t mean they’re operating humanely.”
“So just ban all sales?” I ask.
“Every pet store ordinance or legislation I’ve worked on,” he says, “has overwhelming support from pro-business Republicans and left liberals.”
Of course they do. Both events like pleasing activist teams, particularly ones that give money to politicians, and in addition run dramatic TV advertisements exhibiting abuse.
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But what in regards to the homeowners of pet shops pressured out of business?
Hackett says, “They don’t have to sell puppies.”
They don’t need to sell puppies?
Chains like PetGood and Petco survive doing that, however many pet shops depend on promoting canines and cats. After all, they’re pet shops.
After California banned sales, say pet-store advocates, 95% of the impacted shops went out of business.
Yet the “ban pet stores” marketing campaign is profitable. More states will in all probability ban pet sales.
But how usually does banning issues resolve a downside?
Animal activists say the bans are the one strategy to get rid of abusive pet mills.
But Miller-Hurley factors out, “A decade ago, they said there were over 10,000 puppy mills within the United States. Since then, eight states and hundreds of localities have passed these retail-sales bans.”
The consequence? They nonetheless say there are 10,000 mills.
So “by their own measurements, these bans aren’t successful,” she continues. “What they are successful at is fundraising . . . They aren’t actually actively engaged in any real animal care.”
They aren’t?
I assumed the ASPCA and humane societies run animal shelters!
But they not often do.
The ASPCA collects more than $300 million in donations however offers solely 2% of that to shelters. Most of its money goes for promoting and salaries. Its CEO pays himself $1,203,267.
Because New York state bans pet-store sales, Ricci ended up driving more than 100 miles to a breeder in Pennsylvania. He’s glad along with his pet however has no concept if the breeder treats canines humanely.
He was proven medical data however asks, “How do I know if they were legitimate? They are the first dog medical records I’ve ever seen.”
I agree along with his conclusion: Pet-store bans do more harm than good.
“There’s already laws against animal abuse and neglect. Enforce that. Don’t pass new laws.”
Banning issues that people need not often works. Prohibition was repealed as a result of it created new issues. The identical is already true for pet-store-sale bans.
After California banned pet-store pet sales, pet scams surged by 350%.
“It is not up to the government to tell people where they can get their animal,” complains Miller-Hurley.
Unfortunately, state by state, that’s what politicians are doing.
