Stop the Puppy Mill Cycle: Ban the Sale of Puppies in San Diego Pet Stores

We ask the San Diego City Council and Mayor Jerry Sanders to ban the sale of dogs in pet stores.

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), 98% of puppies sold in pet stores originate in puppy mills. These are commercial dog breeding facilities operated for maximum profit by sacrificing the health and welfare of the breeding dogs as well as their pups.

These factory farms turn out up to 5 million puppies per year for the puppy store business and hold thousands of the breeding dogs captive in cages for their lifetimes.. At the same time, 4 million dogs are euthanized every year in the U.S. for lack of homes -- that's 10,000 dogs each day! Many of those same pet store puppies end up in our shelter system.

The HSUS, the ASPCA and the animal welfare organization Best Friends, are all campaigning to stop the sale of pet store puppies and shut down the inhumane puppy mills that supply them.

To ban the sale of pet store puppies would benefit San Diego financially. In 2006, Alburquerque, New Mexico banned the retail sale of all companion animals. Adoptions from shelters increased 23% and euthanasia rates dropped 35%.

Multiple cities across the U.S. have now joined Alburquerque.  Similiar legislation has been passed in the California cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco. Irvine, Glendale, South Lake Tahoe, West Hollywood and Hermosa Beach.

It is time for the city of San Diego to follow their lead and become part of the solution. There is a pet overpopulation crisis in San Diego. We must pass legislation to end the unchecked inflow of puppies from the cruel industry of commercial kennels and their sale through local pet stores.