Commissioners vote to ban unregulated pet sales

Measure seeks to reduce flow of pets into area’s overcrowded animal shelters.

Fulton County commissioners Wednesday banned the outdoor sale of dogs, cats and domestic rabbits.

It’s mostly a symbolic gesture: it’s only enforceable in the small unincorporated portion of the county. But Commissioner Bridget Thorne, sponsor of the ordinance, and other commissioners urged Fulton’s 15 cities to pass similar legislation in an attempt to reduce the flow of pets into the area’s overcrowded animal shelters.

Fulton County Animal Services held 343 dogs on Jan. 1, 2022, but that had risen to 627 by May 1, 2023, the ordinance says.

The county’s current main animal shelter, 45 years old, was designed to hold 150 animals but routinely houses many more. Lifeline Animal Project, which runs the shelters in Fulton and Dekalb counties, opened an overflow location in Midtown Atlanta; but it and other area shelters are chronically overfilled and animals are regularly euthanized due to lack of space.

About 80% of the animals in Fulton shelters are dogs.

Fulton County is spending $40 million on a new shelter, slated to open this fall. But with room for 367 dogs, it’s likely to be overcrowded on its opening day.

Thorne said she’s been working on the ordinance since April, but growing shelter overcrowding gave it more urgency. Even if adopted by local cities it won’t fix the pet overpopulation program but is one necessary part of several measures to deal with that, she said.

The ordinance bans the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits from any “roadside, public right-of-way, parkway, median, park, other recreation area, fair, flea market, outdoor market, commercial or retail parking lot, or similar transient or outdoor location,” except for holders of a state animal shelter license, or established events like 4-H shows, or at a law enforcement office. Violators can be fined and the animals confiscated.

It cites a University of Georgia School of Law study in saying pet overpopulation has reached “crisis level” in Georgia, blaming that in part on unregulated backyard breeders and puppy mills. Pets sold by such dealers usually lack health care and medical records.

Peggy Mccarthy, a volunteer board member for the Georgia Pet Coalition, said four other jurisdictions in the state have passed a similar law. A dozen local animal welfare organizations have endorsed it, she said.

Representatives of the Atlanta Humane Society and Georgia House Rabbit Society also spoke in favor of the proposal.

Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. asked if the county ordinance would only apply in unincorporated areas, and County Attorney Y. Soo Jo confirmed that. Commissioners approved the ordinance by a 6-0 vote.

HYOSUB SHIN/AJC 2023 Fulton County’s current main animal shelter is 45 years old and was designed to hold 150 animals but routinely houses many more. The county is spending $40 million on a new shelter, which is slated to open this fall, with room for 367 dogs.