100 signatures reached
To: City Council
Stop The Sale of Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits in Our Community
Please protect pets, consumers, and taxpayers by enacting a retail pet sales ordinance for Oakland County. We respectfully urge the city council to support an ordinance to restrict the retail sale of inhumanely bred dogs, cats, and rabbits. Many of whom end up in our overcrowded, taxpayer-subsidized shelters. We are asking that Oakland County adopts a similar ordinance that the City of Eastpointe Michigan adopted in 2015. The ordinance outlines that "No pet store shall offer for sale, offer for adoption trade, barter, auction, give away, or otherwise transfer dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, long-lived birds, or large reptiles" (ORDINANCE NO. 1126).
Why is this important?
More than 440 other cities, counties and states have already passed laws to stop the retail sale of pets sourced from commercial breeding facilities. It's time for our community to do the same.
Puppy, kitten, and rabbit mills are in business to supply pet stores. The pets in these facilities often spend their entire lives in dirty, crowded cages for the sole purpose of producing as many animals as possible for the retail pet trade. Pet stores that obtain animals from these facilities are not an asset to our community.
These facilities often produce puppies. kittens, and rabbits that are often sick, causing unsuspecting consumers to have to care for a new pet in need of expensive veterinary treatment. Milled puppies can also spread campylobacter, a dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria that is contagious to humans. In the past several years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) traced a multi-state outbreak of Campylobacter to pet store puppies. This is a public health risk in a time where public health should be a top priority.
A humane pet sales ordinance will not prevent pet stores from doing business, but it will reduce the burden on our shelters and rescue groups by increasing pet adoptions. It will also benefit our local ethical hobby breeders by allowing them to provide responsibly bred pets directly to those who cannot find what they are looking for through adoption.
Please consider protecting pets and consumers by passing a humane pet sales ordinance for our community.