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Has San Diego pet-sale ban built momentum?

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One year after San Diego became the 33rd city in North America to ban pet stores from selling dogs and cats, advocates of the new law say it’s helped build momentum against so called “puppy mills” by educating the public about them.

“The ordinance has done its job in terms of bringing to the public’s attention the horror of the puppy mill industry,” said Dr. Gary Weitzman, chief executive of the San Diego Humane Society. “We wanted that so people would be good consumers and go to a reputable breeder or adopt at a shelter.”

San Diego’s legislation has become a national model, 24 more cities have adopted similar laws since last summer, and a federal lawsuit filed against San Diego by the owner of a Grantville pet store was dismissed in February.

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The ordinance, however, hasn’t led to a sharp increase in pet adoptions at area shelters, which some predicted and many hoped for.

The owner of the Grantville pet store — the only one open in the city of San Diego when the ban was approved — quickly moved to a new site in Oceanside and has announced plans to open a second store in National City.

And City Councils in Oceanside and Carlsbad rejected similar bans last fall based on concerns that animal rights groups were unfairly targeting reputable small businesses and exaggerating how many local pets come from puppy mills.

San Diego City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf said last week that it was disappointing to have Oceanside and Carlsbad reject puppy mill legislation after the county’s two largest cities — San Diego and Chula Vista — adopted it.

“For me, this is a no-brainer,” said Zapf, a staunchly pro-business Republican. “Some people say Lorie wouldn’t do anything to hurt a small business, but when support for a business conflicts with humane treatment of animals, then I’m on that side.”

Supporters of bans like San Diego’s say most dogs and cats sold at pet stores are mass-produced at profit-driven breeding facilities in the Midwestern U.S. that they call puppy mills and kitten factories.

The supporters, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, say the animals are trapped in small cages and deprived of veterinary attention. They also contend the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t do enough to regulate breeders or correct problems.

“The animals are living in small cages and getting pregnant again and again,” Zapf said.

Supporters of such bans say eliminating pet stores would force more people to adopt dogs and cats from shelters and rescue organizations, putting the puppy mills out of business and allowing shelters to euthanize fewer animals.

National supporters have been joined in San Diego by the Animal Protection & Rescue League, the San Diego Animal Defense Team and San Diego Animal Advocates.

Opponents of such bans, including pet store owners and breeding organizations such as the American Kennel Club, say only a small number of breeders are unethical and that activists should target unscrupulous breeders, not pet stores.

David Salinas, owner of the San Diego Puppy store that moved from Grantville to Oceanside after the ban, reiterated Friday that he’s been unfairly attacked by activists who let emotion trump the facts.

Facing weekly protests at his Oceanside store, Salinas says he’s a small businessman trying to make a living and that consumers should be allowed to choose whether to buy from a retail pet store or adopt from a shelter or private breeder.

The owners of California Pets, which operates the only two other pet stores selling cats and dogs in the county, made similar arguments last fall when Carlsbad considered a ban. The company’s other store is in Escondido, where a ban has yet to be proposed.

The councils in Oceanside and Carlsbad didn’t endorse puppy mills, but said they rejected the proposed bans because they didn’t understand the problem well enough and weren’t sure precisely what constitutes unethical breeding.

Those cities and several others will be targeted soon with more thorough campaigns in support of banning retail sales of cats and dogs, said Denay Heddy, who works with the San Diego Animal Defense Team.

She said its frustrating that some people cross the picket lines in Oceanside on weekends to buy pets from Salinas.

“Unfortunately, some people just don’t care,” she said.

Her group films deliveries of out-of-state puppies to Salinas’ store every two weeks and plans to use the videos as part of an education campaign, she said.

Despite some setbacks and frustration, Heddy said the San Diego ban has made a big difference to efforts against puppy mills.

“It was huge because of the size of the city,” she said, noting that Los Angeles and Chicago have also passed bans. “It really got people motivated and it helps them stay motivated.”

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