San Antonio Pet Stores Can Only Sell Shelter Pets

San Antonio’s City Council has approved an ordinance that will prohibit pet stores from selling dogs and cats that come from breeders. Instead, they will only be able to sell cats and dogs that come from shelters. Supporters of the ordinance hope that it will give shelter pets a chance at a new life. (1, 2)

Katie Jarl Coyle, the southwest regional director for the Humane Society of the United States, commented to the San Antonio Express News, “This ordinance will help drive the pet market toward more humane sources and encourage pet stores to be part of the pet overpopulation solution.” (1)

Proponents of the ordinance hope that it will help to limit sales from large, commercial dog-breeding businesses, which are also known as “puppy mills.” This type of breeder is not allowed to operate within San Antonio city limits. But Jarl Coyle says that puppies from these breeders still end up in San Antonio pet stores. (2)

Shelter Pets Overpopulation

There are also concerns about how lockdowns related to COVID-19 will affect San Antonio’s already overwhelming dog and cat overpopulation problem. Some fear that people will abandon their pets when they are unable to afford their upkeep. There’s also the possibility that people will use their dogs to breed and sell puppies to make extra money. This could also worsen overpopulation. (1)

The overpopulation issue is so bad that more than 17,000 bodies of deceased dogs and cats were removed from San Antonio’s streets between October 2019 and September 2020. When Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran learned this news, she moved the date that the ordinance would come into effect six months earlier. It will now begin January 2021 instead of July 2021. (1)

Issues with the Ordinance

But not everyone supports the shelter pets ordinance. Some people don’t believe it will actually fix the city’s dog and cat overpopulation issue. (1)

Councilwoman Shirley Gonzalez did not support the ordinance. “I just don’t see how the ordinance really gets to the source of the problems that we have here in San Antonio,” she said in an interview with UNILAD. “We know we have overpopulation, there’s no doubt. We know that we have problems with loose dogs. We have a severe problem with pet ownership responsibility.” (1)

Of the 51 pet stores in San Antonio, only three sell purebred dogs and cats. Jessica Loven is the owner of one of them. Puppy sales are a big part of the revenue for her store, Royal Pet Palace. Loven says that she only uses quality breeders and that her puppies come from several different states. She doesn’t plan to change her business model to sell shelter pets instead of purebred ones. (2)

Instead, cutting off Loven’s ability to sell purebred puppies could lead her to move her business out of San Antonio. “So it’s not necessarily going to get rid of us, but it’s just going to move us outside of the city limit,” Loven told KSAT. (2)

Private licensed breeders will still be allowed to breed dogs and cats. Heber Lefgren is the Director of Animal Care Services. He told KSAT, “Breeders will still continue to breed, but they must follow the humane breeding practices and obtain the required sellers permit and breeding permit that’s associated with that.” (2)