Vancouver could be about to ban the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores

It follows a series of complaints regarding the ill-treatment of animals

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Vancouver is considering a ban on the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits at pet stores, says a city councillor.

Following a wave of concerns from residents about a pet store that opened last month, the city is researching a possible ban on the sale of pets at retail stores, says Heather Deal, a Vancouver councillor.

“People have started telling us that there has been a history of bad treatment of animals, not at the stores necessarily, but at the mills that produce these animals,” Deal told Global News.

“And so, our staff went down to the new store and discovered that many of these animals come from the U.S. or overseas. We don’t know how to control whether or not they come from puppy mills.”

However, the store in question claims that they got their pets from reputable breeders and puppy brokers.

That being said, Paws for Hope executive directory, Kathy Powelson, has revealed that the Canadian Kennel Club code of practice for breeders prohibits the sale of dogs to pet stores, so this shouldn’t have been allowed to happen in the first place.

“We’re asking the city to ban the retail sale of cats, dogs and rabbits,” said Powelson.

“No reputable breeder will sell to pet stores. It is not uncommon that if you purchase a pet from a pet store that pet is going to have health and behaviour issues.”

This isn’t the first time the owners of the store have come under fire either. In 2010, they owned a franchise of Pet Paradise which closed in 2011 in response to the Richmond pet sale ban.

Similarly in 2015, another store owned by the same proprietors closed after numerous complaints to the SPCA, City of Burnaby and Metrotown Hall.

Now, people are calling for the bylaws which have already been successfully implemented in Richmond and New Westminster to take effect in Vancouver.

“The biggest issue is where they’ve come from,” Deal added.

“There’s no chain of supply to guarantee that they weren’t treated poorly in their early lives and that they aren’t being bred in an unethical way.”