COLUMBUS, Ind. – The Columbus City Council met Tuesday evening and gave first-reading approval of an ordinance to amend the municipal code with regard to animal care. The change would ban the sale, barter, auction, giveaway, and other kinds of transfer of dogs, cats, or rabbits by pet shops within city limits.
The purpose of the change is to proactively address the puppy mill phenomenon. Animal Care Services director Nicohl Goodin told the council that puppy mills tend to appear in communities in which pet stores sell these animals on a retail basis.
There were two nay votes on the measure from councillors Tim Shuffett and Frank Miller. Shuffett expressed a desire to see the council wait until public input could be obtained in person. Miller, while stressing his strong objection to puppy mills, said that 24 of the nation’s top 25 pet-store chains have already stopped selling puppy-mill animals, suggesting a market-based solution has occurred.