LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville has become the third city in Kentucky to ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores. Supporters of the measure say it helps crack down on puppy mills and irresponsible breeders.
Metro Council voted 21-3 on the measure in late September. The ban, which also bars selling animals in parks and parking lots, will not go into effect for one year.
Nina Scott, president of Golden Retriever Rescue and Adoption of Needy Animals, says this measure helps tackle a very real issue.
“We know retail stores are the number one customer of puppy mills. So if, in essence, if you limit or shut them down, the supply and demand chain shuts down. So puppy mills won’t have a need to produce as much as they do,” Scott said.
Scott explains her ten kennel rescue is almost always at capacity, in part because of an increase in puppy mills.
“The past two years, the puppy mill scene has exploded because of COVID, and we have just been overwhelmed with the amount of requests we get,” Scott said.
Like many in the rescue community, Scott was glad to see Metro Council pass this ordinance. She adds she supports reputable breeders that make animal safety a priority.
“Passing it on a city level was a huge statement,” Scott said. “And I think anyone that thought they were going to plan to come in and open up another store is not going to.”
Louisville becomes the third Kentucky city to pass a ban on pet store animal sells. The other two are Radcliff and Elizabethtown.
Julia Springsteen, an Elizabethtown councilperson, says she helped pass the ordinance in her city to prevent bad actors from moving in.
“We knew some of these stores were coming into Louisville and the area, and with the growth we’re expecting, it was probably going only to be a matter of time before we started getting those kind of stores down here,” Springsteen said.
Springsteen adds prior to passing this, the pet stores in her city supported the ban.
Rescues and shelters can still partner with pet stories for adoptions.
Both women say they hope that with a large city like Louisville banning these sales, more cities will follow. They’d also like to see a statewide ban passed.
“So until we get to that point, you just had to chip away at the counties and cities until you can get the whole state,” Scott said.