Ann Arbor pushes to ban sale of pets at stores

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Ann Arbor is one step closer to enacting an ordinance that will discourage pet stores across the city from selling animals sourced from breeding operations such as puppy mills.

The city council voted unanimously Monday night to green light the proposal.

The final approval vote will take place on June 20. If passed, no pet store in Ann Arbor will be able to sell or dispose of dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, long-lived birds or large reptiles.

Animal activists say this is a much-needed law.

Ann Arbor resident and animal welfare activist Emily Scroggie not only spoke at the city council meeting in favor of the proposal but was also the one who took the campaign to officials last year.

"Ann Arbor would potentially be a hub for dog-selling stores to come and set up shop here. It's an affluent area with a booming downtown and a lot of young people. And I feel like prevention is the best course of access," she said.

According to Scroggie, pet stores often source their animals from large-scale commercial breeding facilities, also known as mills.

Wendy Welch from the Humane Society of Huron Valley says the problem is that most of the time, these places are inhumane.

"They are raised solely for the benefit of profit and on not animal welfare. So, lots of times, veterinary care is a complete afterthought," Welch said.

Even though at present there are no pet stores in the city selling animals, Ann Arbor Councilmember Dharma Akmon says the proposed ordinance will help raise awareness.

"This is about the mistreatment of these animals. It's also about the overproduction of animals. I think many people know that there are plenty of pet that are up for adoption, there are plenty of pets that can't be taken care of," Akmon said.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, most dogs, cats and rabbits at pet stores come from mills.

"Nationwide last estimate, there were still a million animals being euthanized because they don't have homes," Welch said.

In fact, around 10,000 puppy mills produce more than 2.4 million puppies per year in the country.

"There are still plenty of opportunity for stores to sell supplies. The most successful pet stores in North America actually don't sell dogs or pets at all," Scroggie said.

Those are 2022 statistics from petbusiness.com.

Scroggie says the ultimate goal is to discourage inhumane breeding.

"Reputable breeders will always continue and we want to continue, so people that see a dog in the store can have that breed, but we want them to do it responsibly so we know the mother, the father, and the other puppies are going into good homes," Scroggie said.

Michigan currently has seven humane ordinances and besides Ann Arbor, there is another one pending in Berkeley.

Meanwhile, if you are looking to purchase or adopt a pet, make sure you get a full vaccination history and know where they came from. And all that also applies when seeking a pet online.