x********u
发帖数: 15396 | 1 http://www.dogster.com/the-scoop/dog-and-puppy-sales-banned-in-
They don’t call it the City of Angels for nothing. We’re not being
sarcastic -- Los Angeles has a serious soft spot for little furry critters.
Last week, on Halloween, the L.A. City Council pulled off an impressive
trick: formalizing its approval of an ordinance that bans the retail sale of
dogs, cats, and rabbits, becoming the largest American city to do so.
You heard right. In the future, the dogs, cats, and rabbits seen in Los
Angeles pet stores will be from shelters or rescue groups. Products of puppy
and kitten mills will simply not be available for sale in L.A. Animal
advocates around the country are cheering this as a giant leap toward the
Golden State becoming the largest no-kill community in the country. Way to
go, Los Angeles!
The action is significant. It makes L.A. the largest city in the U.S. to
enact legislation that puts an effective stopper in what, until now, has
been a seemingly unstoppable stream of puppy-mill pets. As more and more
Americans learn about the cruel reality behind these cuteness factories, and
that the majority of the commercially-bred animals impulse-purchased at pet
shops wind up on death row at animal shelters, this legislation is a major
scoop -- and reason to cheer, for it will have a profoundly positive impact
on California's pet overpopulation problem.
L.A. alone operates seven municipal, open-admission animal shelter
facilities, each one of them overloaded with beautiful dogs (and cats) who
are killed every day for lack of space, because impulse buyers have been
busy maxing out their credit cards at pet shops. Well, no longer.
“It’s a very good day for the people and animals of L.A.,” said Elizabeth
Oreck of Best Friends Animal Society, the highly respected non-profit
headquartered in Kanab, Utah, which has been at the forefront of puppy-mill
initiatives for years now. “Not only will this restrict the flow of animals
coming into our city from pet mills and backyard breeders, it will help
alleviate the pet overpopulation problem in our shelters by providing more
opportunities for rescued animals to find homes.”
Said Carole Raphaelle Davis of the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS
), “After eight years of investigations and protests, we are satisfied and
optimistic about breaking the blood money contracts between puppy mill
owners who abuse animals and L.A. pet retailers." CAPS provided the L.A.
City Council with the results of its two-year investigation into L.A.’s
retail pet stores and the commercial breeding facilities, located mainly in
the Midwestern states and in rural California, that supplied them.
“This ordinance will relieve mill animals and help save the lives of
animals who are killed at Los Angeles Animal Services,” Davis added. “The
2011-2012 body count is unacceptable, with 9,056 dogs and 12,061 cats killed
in our shelters. We are relieved that finally, the cries of L.A.’s shelter
animals have been heard. Puppy mills and cruel pet factories will fade into
history at last.”
OK, so putting emotions aside for a moment, let’s say you don’t care about
shelter euthanasia rates or the greed of commercial breeders. With the
general election just days away, fiscal matters are top of mind right now
for all taxpayers, regardless of which candidate you intend to cast your
vote for. And on top of the terrible karmic cost of taking innocent animal
lives, killing shelter pets puts a huge dollar burden on us, the American
taxpayers.
“More than 70,000 animals are euthanized in Los Angeles city and county
shelters every year -- at taxpayer expense,” Oreck explained. “To continue
importing puppies and kittens from mills in other states while we are
killing the surplus that are already filling our shelters simply doesn't
make sense. Today, Los Angeles took a reasonable and progressive step to
addressing these issues in our city.”
Oreck was careful to add that the ordinance will not affect responsible,
hobby breeders, the existence of whom Dogster has evidence, who will remain
a source of purebred animals for those who are not able to find the purebred
of their choice through shelters, purebred rescue groups, or online
databases such as Petfinder.com. In fact, the ordinance should actually help
increase business for the breeders in local communities, which is
preferable to importing business from outside of Los Angeles, she added.
Oreck has been busy fielding calls and emails from people all over the
country, asking how they can enact an ordinance to ban retail sales of pets
in their own communities. "We are witnessing a cultural shift that comes
from true grassroots advocacy in action,” she concluded. “It is only a
matter of time before there will be very few places where one will be able
to walk into a pet store and purchase an animal from a puppy or kitten mill.”
Here's what this reporter says: Hear, hear! What do you think, Dogster
readers? Is this the kind of political-cultural trend you’d like to see
more of? Please make your voices heard in the comments! | y*********u
发帖数: 14561 | | m**u
发帖数: 6829 | | b********i
发帖数: 10335 | 4 很好
.
of
puppy
【在 x********u 的大作中提到】
: http://www.dogster.com/the-scoop/dog-and-puppy-sales-banned-in-
: They don’t call it the City of Angels for nothing. We’re not being
: sarcastic -- Los Angeles has a serious soft spot for little furry critters.
: Last week, on Halloween, the L.A. City Council pulled off an impressive
: trick: formalizing its approval of an ordinance that bans the retail sale of
: dogs, cats, and rabbits, becoming the largest American city to do so.
: You heard right. In the future, the dogs, cats, and rabbits seen in Los
: Angeles pet stores will be from shelters or rescue groups. Products of puppy
: and kitten mills will simply not be available for sale in L.A. Animal
: advocates around the country are cheering this as a giant leap toward the
| c*****a
发帖数: 5428 | | k*******e
发帖数: 11147 | |
|
