District 13 Alder Tag Evers proposed a new ordinance on Oct. 28 that would ban the sale of cats and dogs in retail pet stores throughout Madison.
“I have long been concerned about puppy mills in particular. Puppy mills for animal experimentation, puppy mills for pet stores — just the cruelty, by which animals who are raised and, I consider to be, somewhat adverse circumstances and particularly those animals that are targeted for medical experiments,” Evers said.
There are currently no puppy mills or retail pet stores in Madison city limits, so no current businesses would be affected, Evers said. However, Evers said this ordinance would prevent future issues with puppy mills or retail pet stories in Madison.
Humane World for Animals reached out to Evers in March and encouraged him to pass the ordinance change. Ariel Lefkovits, Public Policy Specialist for Humane World for Animals, said 14 cities in Wisconsin have this policy in place, including Appleton, Beloit and Whitewater.
“These laws are primarily enacted to protect communities from the numerous animal welfare and consumer protection issues that puppy-selling pet stores pose,” Lefkovits said in a message to Evers.
This ordinance does not address animal experimentation, but it does address animal welfare. The major concerns with the sale of pets in retail pet stores is the puppy-mill-to-pet-stores pipeline. Puppy mills are “commercial breeding facilities that mass-produce dogs (and cats in cat mills) for sale through pet stores, or directly to consumers through classified ads or the Internet.”
Kristin Schrank, president of the Alliance for Animals’ (AFA) board of directors, said the organization is in full support of the proposed ordinance.
“I know this [proposal] is specific to dogs and cats, and generally speaking, the reason is it helps cut off the pipeline from puppy mills. So it is a way to help prevent puppy mills from continuing to abuse and mistreat animals,” Schrank said.
AFA has been involved in other proposals around the state of Wisconsin, including the closure of Ridglan Farms following the decision of a Dane County judge. Their support for the ordinance proposal comes from concerns over puppy mills.
“It will deter people from obtaining pets through puppy mill pipelines and unknowingly obtaining them from puppy mill pipelines. There's obviously a number of pets that need homes, with animal shelters and animal rescues that are helping animals that already are out there and need homes,” said Schrank.
Currently, Evers has no plans for future exploration of animal welfare ordinances, but AFA is hoping to one day ban the sale of all animals in retail pet stores. Schrank was unsure if an expansion on the ordinance would lower support of the ordinance change.
Evers expects his ordinance to pass unanimously and does not expect much push back or debate from other council members.
The ordinance goes to the Board of Public Health on Nov. 5 before it’s sent to the Madison Common Council on Nov. 11.
