Toronto on Thursday took a huge step towards pushing puppy mills out of their city. Officials announced that pet stores can no longer sell cats and dogs that come from outside humane society, shelter or rescue groups.
The law was put into place for two reasons, first to end the cruelty that comes with puppy mills who often leave dogs sitting in small crates in their own feces all day long and to discourage residents from buying puppy’s and kittens as part of impulse buys, purchases which oftentimes lead to abandoned pets that fill up kennels at rescue agencies.
The vote to ban puppy mill sales was a unanimous decision with one official noting:
“We’ll never shut down puppy mills, there are all sorts of ways people will illicitly raise animals, but I believe this will limit animal cruelty in the city of Toronto.”
It’s a small victory in a big city one that animal rights activists are already now trying to have brought into their own cities where such laws often do not exist.
Do you think shutting down puppy mills at pet stores is a big win for animal rights groups in Toronto? Will people simply find new ways to purchase newborn puppies from other sources?