Animal Advocates Watchdog

Pijac against the closing of Pet Stores

http://www.pijaccanada.com/en/news/legislative/
Also read "BC"Petition

February 1st 2010
City of Langley
20399 Douglas Crescent
Langley, British Columbia
V3A 4B3
Subject: City to consider banning the sale of puppies in pet stores.
Your Worship the Mayor, Councilors;
The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Canada has recently learned of the city’s
intention to look at a possible ban on the sale of dogs in pet stores. While the situation
experienced at Doggie World is indeed tragic, we would strongly recommend that the
city consider an alternative to the ban for the following reasons.
We must not forget that the primary objective of the City of Langley is to ensure that
their residents have access to quality pets, supported by information relevant to their care
and husbandry with an appropriate after sale support in the form of warranties. While
there are issues to address at Doggie World, this doesn’t mean they are prevalent in all
other pet stores.
If the city’s reaction to this outbreak of sick puppies would be to ban all sales from the
outlet in question, then it would only be fair that their decision applies to all outlets that
have experienced similar outbreaks. This would include the local animal shelter and all
other facilities, having experienced similar outbreaks in the past.
Incidents of upper respiratory disease, parvo virus (in dogs) and panleucopenia (in cats)
often occur in local animal shelters and other facilities where large quantity of animals
are housed together. Following the logic behind what is presently considered by Council
would dictate that the sale of dogs and cats in all of these establishments also be banned.
Respectfully, the suggestion to impose a ban comes from a competing outfit
that has a written policy against the sale of dogs in pet stores. The issue here
should not be who sells the dogs but what steps are being taken to ensure the
animals offered to Langley residents are to the best of every one’s ability,
healthy.
What’s the solution?
In our opinion, the City of Langley and its residents would best be served by a
regulation that would require all of the city’s pet establishments to follow the
same guidelines when it comes to animal care, customer service and proper
record keeping. Such provisions should apply to all of Langley’s pet establishments, not
only pet stores. Shelters, rescues, privately owned and municipal pounds should all have
to answer to the same standards of care and husbandry. By doing so, the city of Langley
would help maximize the number of good operations, having fixed addresses and roots in
the community.
PIJAC Canada is a national association dedicated to promoting the highest possible
standards of care and professionalism within the Canadian pet industry. We are
recognized for our expertise on matters dealing with pet ownership, animal care and
husbandry and other issues pertinent to animal control by federal, provincial and
municipal governments from across the country.
We respectfully ask that Council considers an alternative to the proposed banning of the
sale of dogs in pet stores. Our association would welcome the opportunity to work with
the City of Langley on developing a bylaw that would be fair and efficient for all
businesses operating within the city limits.
Sincerely,
Louis McCann
Executive Director
PIJAC Canada

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