By Andrew Martins
Staff Writer
JACKSON – Although Jackson does not currently have any pet shops, the Township Council has adopted an ordinance which requires any person or commercial entity that wants to sell cats or dogs to obtain the animals from an animal care facility or an animal rescue organization.
The ordinance targets so-called puppy mills and prohibits animals that were bred in these locations from being sold in Jackson.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), a puppy mill is “a large-scale commercial dog breeding facility” where dogs are usually bred in “overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialization.”
Animal rights activists claim such a practice is done more to maximize profits, rather than to ensure the health and safety of each puppy that is born.
The ASPCA states that most puppies that are sold by the operators of puppy mills are more likely to develop congenital and hereditary health issues than puppies that are sold by breeders.
Although the newly amended sections of Jackson’s code book specifically mention pet shops, the ordinance states there is nothing in the regulations that “prohibit a shelter, pound or other establishment from keeping, displaying or selling any cat or dog which has been seized, rescued or donated.”
“Small breeders” that are limited to handling no more than 10 cats or dogs through the breeding process each calendar year are also defined in the ordinance.
Resident Bonnie Barrington said the amendments to the municipal code book were a positive step for officials to take against puppy mills.
“To allow for the sale only of rescue animals in pet stores … (the council) has basically diminished the demand for the supply of these (puppy mill) animals and increased the likelihood of having shelter animals adopted out,” Barrington said.
According to Barrington, the council’s action makes Jackson the 128th municipality in the United States to ban the sale of animals that have been bred in puppy mills.
“The ban on the sale of puppy mill dogs and cats in Jackson, even though we do not currently have any pet stores, saved a lot of lives,” Barrington said.
