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In 2021, Manatee County passed an ordinance prohibiting pet stores from selling cats and dogs from commercial breeding facilities (like puppy mills). Passing this lifesaving ordinance was a huge step toward reducing the number of companion animals who suffer in cruel factory-like breeding facilities as well as the number who end up homeless.
Because of pressure from the pet industry, including Petland (which has hired a team of lobbyists, donated hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars, and refused to comply with the current ordinance), the county commission is considering reversing this decision. Companion animals in Manatee County need you to take action today to help make sure this doesn’t happen!
Most dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills, which are supposed to be licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA’s own Office of Inspector General (OIG) has been extremely critical of the agency’s lack of oversight of commercial breeders and lack of enforcement action against facilities that fail to meet even the minimal survival standards of care set forth by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The OIG reported finding dogs at USDA-licensed breeders’ facilities who were left to suffer from untreated injuries. They were also teeming with ticks, eating contaminated food, and kept in unsanitary conditions.
Even when breeders are found in violation of the AWA, many pet stores continue to buy animals from them. A local news outlet found that one puppy mill operator with a history of supplying animals to Petland Bradenton had been prosecuted last year for grossly neglecting 500 dogs. USDA inspectors found animals kept in inhumane conditions, including dogs with matted hair that came off in patches or with skin covered with lesions, puppies gasping for air, and sick dogs hidden in a horse stall contaminated with layers of dirt, horse manure, and dog feces. During one visit, inspectors saw a poodle puppy die.
“Purebred” and “designer” dogs (including breathing-impaired breeds, such as French bulldogs, pugs, and Boston terriers) often endure lifelong disabilities and ailments and die prematurely because humans have bred them for grotesquely distorted features, such as flattened faces. Despite all the misery this causes, breeders continue to churn them out because pet stores keep selling them.
Please contact your elected officials today and urge them to vote to keep the ban on retail dog and cat sales.