January 20, 2022
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Proposed state law would void Orange County ban on pet sales, save pet stores - Orlando Sentinel

Karen Colick, holds a long-haired dachshund puppy, after the press conference -- Pet store owners and employees hold a press conference against a proposed Orange County ordinance that would prohibit to the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits, outside the Orange County Administration Building, on Monday, June 21, 2021. Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Karen Colick, holds a long-haired dachshund puppy, after the press conference -- Pet store owners and employees hold a press conference against a proposed Orange County ordinance that would prohibit to the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits, outside the Orange County Administration Building, on Monday, June 21, 2021. Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)

A proposed state law aimed at regulating pet stores would void Orange County’s much-debated ban on pet sales, set to take effect June 22.

The bill, (SB 994) known as the Florida Pet Protection Act, would require state licensing, periodic inspections and sales-record audits of pet shops by the Department of Professional Business Regulations but would preempt local laws like the county ban approved by a 4-3 vote of commissioners.

Humane Society officials panned the legislation introduced by a pair of South Florida Republicans, Sen. Manny Diaz Jr. and Rep. Juan Fernandez-Barquin, saying it undermines local efforts to stop the steady flow of sickly animals from puppy mills to retail shops in the Orlando area.

The bill, which an Orange County lobbyist characterized as having “momentum,” would forbid local ordinances from outlawing retail pet sales.

“The title is pet protection, right? Seriously? It’s not about protection at all,” said Kate MacFall, Florida state director of the Humane Society of the United States. “The point is that it’s a preemption bill being pushed by those who have no problem with the puppy-mill-to-pet-store pipeline.”

MacFall said pet-store puppy sales have led to animals suffering and consumer complaints about sick puppies and deceptive sales tactics.

“I have no problem with anything that helps protect animals and allows puppies to still be sold,” she said. “I know the animal-rights activists like to paint us like all we care about is money, but we’ve put so much into this and, not to sound corny, so much love into it, too. It’s like our second home.”

Davies’ store, located at 3920 S. Semoran Blvd., and two other Orange County pet shops sued the county in circuit court in July to block enforcement of the ordinance, which was approved after marathon meetings featuring competing voices of animal-rights activists and pet-store employees.

The other stores challenging the county ordinance are Breeder’s Pick Orlando, 11484 E. Colonial Dr., and Petland Orlando East in Waterford Lakes, owned by Hoof’s Pets, accused by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody of violating the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The complaint alleges the store misrepresented on its website and through its sales staff that its puppies were high quality, healthy and bred by licensed breeders, registered with the American Kennel Club, when some had serious health disorders, including a few that died within a year of purchase.

Petland Inc., headquartered in Chillicothe, Ohio, has assembled a force of 17 lobbyists for the session, according to Florida’s lobbying registry.

The company includes 240 Petland-branded franchises in U.S. and foreign markets that sell kittens, puppies, fish and other animals and pet food, grooming supplies and care accessories. It sent representatives to the county commission meeting last summer hoping to defeat the local ordinance.

“It would eliminate any type of ability to oversee or legislate at the local level,” she said, noting the county must deal with abandoned pets.

Wilson said provisions in the bill that appear to regulate pet stores are largely meaningless and unenforceable. For instance, the bill would allow pet stores to sell animals acquired from a “qualified breeder,” defined as a professional licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture.



source: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange-county/os-ne-orange-pet-sale-ordinance-threat-20220120-dybhwaelnzb5fatwtzw4nlddoe-story.html

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