Toronto Council bans dog and cat sales in stores

By Kyle Mumford

Toronto Council has passed a bylaw unanimously banning the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores within the city, but the OSPCA says selling isn’t the issue.

“It’s not whether dogs or cats are being sold but whether care is being given,” said Alison Cross, manager of communications for the OSPCA.

The issue of purchasing dogs from puppy mills is a major concern for the OSPCA. Puppy mills are breeders or facilities that don’t properly care for the animals that they breed. They are overbred and kept in unsanitary conditions with many ending up unsellable or diseased.

“They’re faulty merchandise,” said Toronto councilor Glenn De Baeremaeker who introduced the bylaw. “They’re physically and mentally damaged.”

The Quinte Humane Society couldn’t comment on Toronto’s decision but did say that they work with local pet stores to help adopt animals. PetSmart in Belleville is involved in national adoption weekends held at all PetSmart locations in North America in an effort to place animals from local shelters with people.

The problem with puppy mills is that they run heavily underground.  Most have brokers that set up the sales between the stores and the mills. The community is the eyes and ears for the OSPCA and local humane societies when it comes to finding puppy mills and shutting them down, said Cross.

Toronto joins Richmond, B.C., as the second municipality to ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores, a ruling that was held up by the B.C. Supreme Court.