San Marcos takes aim at ‘puppy mills,’ crowded shelters
San Marcos is following the lead of other Texas cities in targeting “puppy mills” and trying to lessen crowding at its animal shelters.
The San Marcos City Council recently approved an ordinance that would prevent pet stores in the city from selling from socalled “puppy mills,” which refers to commercial breeders that breed large numbers of animals, in some cases under inhumane conditions.
A number of Texas cities, including San Antonio and Austin, already have similar rules for pet stores. New Braunfels began enforcing a similar ordinance as of October.
The San Marcos measure also reshapes procedures at the city’s Regional Animal Shelter related to sterilization and microchipping, the holding of strays and the handling of feral cats.
The ordinance passed 7-0 during the March 7 City Council meeting. Discussion began on the plan in November, but passage was delayed due to debate over how long the animal shelter would hold onto cats without microchips and whether certain breeders are exempt from the puppy mill ordinance.
The ordinance says pet shops may not “sell, lease, offer for sale, trade, give away or otherwise transfer a cat or dog, unless the cat or dog was obtained from a city or county animal shelter, an animal control agency, or an animal welfare organization licensed by the department.”
Most national pet store chains say they already follow similar policies, but the measure could affect smaller or locally owned pet shops.
All cats and dogs sold by pet shops will now have to be sterilized and microchipped and display information on the origin of any animals they sell. Stores must also provide purchasers with information about the animal on a form prescribed by the city of San Marcos.
“I hate puppy mills,” City
Council Member Mark Gleason said during a November council meeting. “I’m an (agricultural) breeder. I think anyone that breeds animals and doesn’t take care of them is the lowest of the low when it comes to quality of
life as a human being.
“Everyone’s trying to find a solution to get rid of puppy mills. No one can present a solution that can say ‘This will end (them),’ but I’m glad people are thinking out(side) the box.”
Gleason had disagreed with the ordinance’s new policy allowing only three business days for a pet owner to look for a lost cat at a shelter before the animal is released back where the it was found. Gleason said 72 hours isn’t enough time to notice some cats are missing and make time to find them at a shelter — especially “outside” cats that are not “community cats.”
“If I have a cat that goes in and out and doesn’t necessarily have a chip, and 72 hours later they’re neutering it and turning it back loose because they think it’s a community cat, that cat’s not going to survive in the wild,” Gleason said.
“I’m more worried about someone losing a pet or having a pet given up that didn’t get a chance,” Gleason said during the Nov. 1 meeting.
Other council members agreed to revisit the debate after having time to review the results of the new ordinance.