Dennis RomeroThe Humane Society is sounding triumphant today because, it says, 80 L.A.-area pet stores have signed a pledge to stop selling puppies. (The concern among animal-rights activists has long been that retail pooches come from inhumane puppy mills.)
The thing is, selling puppies at retail stores has already been outlawed in the core of L.A. — in the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood.
That didn't stop the Society, however, from …
… taking credit for the movement against pet-store sales of dogs. According to a Society statement:
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers and local advocates of the Humane Society of the United States, 80 Los Angeles-area pet stores have signed the HSUS' Puppy Friendly Pet Stores pledge — committing not to sell puppies, and instead support local animal adoption programs and provide literature that helps customers learn how to get a puppy from a responsible source.
Um. Yeah.
Credit: JennieMarie / Flickr
Jennifer Fearing, state director for the Humane Society:
These stores have set a positive example of corporate responsibility for other businesses to follow. Pet stores that profit from the cruel puppy-mill industry need to step up and do the right thing by stopping their puppy sales.
To be fair, the Humane Society has been working on this concurrently. It claims the number of shops that have pledged not to sell puppies nationwide is now at 2,000.
A publicist says it's “a great day for the dogs of Los Angeles.”
In October the L.A. City Council voted to prohibit pet stores from selling cats and dogs that don't come from “rescue” organizations and shelters.
West Hollywood did the same thing in 2010.
The Society sent us a list of those 80 stores, which includes several in the city of Los Angeles and two in West Hollywood.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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