On Monday, Jan. 25, Mayor Norman Rosenblum proposed a pet store law that has the backing of the state director of the Humane Society of the United States. If approved, the legislation proposal would prohibit the sale of any commercially-bred animal within village boundaries.
The mayor’s proposal comes as part of an ongoing discussion by the village Board of Trustees about how to regulate pet stores in Mamaroneck. The board is also considering a previously proposed law that regulates the care of animals for sale and the conditions that they are maintained under.
“The sale of commercially-bred dogs and cats contributes to the proliferation of homeless or unwanted animals that end up in public animal shelters,” Rosenblum, a Republican, said in making his proposal. He added that prohibiting the sale of commercially-bred animals may lower the euthanasia rate of the county’s shelter animals and increase the adoption rate.
The mayor’s proposal was met with a round of applause from those in attendance at the Jan. 25 village board meeting.
The Democrats on the board had some concerns, however.
Trustee David Finch, a Democrat, told the Review that he had questions about the legality of Rosenblum’s proposal, and wanted to address it with the village attorney at the board’s next work session.
Brian Shapiro, the state director of the Humane Society of the United States, said Rosenblum’s proposed law is legal and more pet stores are adopting what he refers to as a “humane model” for their businesses.
“The village [of Mamaroneck] is keeping with something that works and a system that helps to promote animal rescue and finding animals permanent homes without supporting overpopulation or puppy mills,” Shapiro told the Review. “For a business to say, ‘We help rescue animals,’ and to make that their central theme as a business, I think it’s something that would help the business owner in the end.”
In New York City, there are 180 pet stores that have signed the Humane Society’s pledge not to sell puppies in their stores. Conversely, at the Jan. 25 village board meeting, Susan Kaminsky, a New York state district leader for the Humane Society, said that a hidden camera investigation found that more than 100 New York state pet stores were supplying consumers with puppies from puppy mills.
According to the Humane Society’s website, “truly responsible breeders” do not sell their puppies to pet stores.
The push to regulate pet stores began in the village last August when residents protested Best Breeds Puppies and Kittens, located at 154 Mamaroneck Ave. The owner of that store, Richard Doyle, who has since sold the business, was charged with three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and one count of selling a diseased animal in connection with one of his other storefronts in Connecticut. Mamaroneck residents believed that Doyle was selling puppies obtained from puppy mills, establishments that breed dogs under inhumane conditions.
Although Rosenblum wants to see the original proposed law passed, he hopes that his proposal will be passed immediately. It is also possible that the mayor’s proposed law could be added to the initial proposal.
Rosenblum said that it was the intention of the board to vote on the proposals at the next Board of Trustees meeting, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 22.
