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By: Kaitlyn Goodall 1/26/2023
Yes, it is Illegal to sell cats and dogs in Bloomington! But why would they make a law against such a normal, harmless thing? There is one main reason, but not everybody agrees with this decision to make it illegal to sell cats and dogs. The main reason is to prevent cats and dogs from coming from mills.
But what is a mill? Well, according to paws.org “Puppy mills are commercial breeding facilities that mass-produce dogs (and cats in cat mills) for sale through pet stores, or directly to consumers through classified ads or the Internet. Roughly 90 percent of puppies in pet stores come from puppy mills. So basically mills are just huge animal breeding facilities where almost most of the cats and dogs being sold come from.
They may seem harmless but they are actually very harmful to animals. Humanesociety.org says, “Due to poor sanitation, overbreeding and a lack of preventive veterinary care, the puppies from puppy mills frequently suffer from a variety of health issues, creating heartbreaking challenges for families who should be enjoying the delights of adopting a new family member.” This applies to cats as well. As you can see the mills are horrible for animals' health and overall wellbeing.
The new law made by the Bloomington City Council was put into effect on January 1st 2023. The entire council agreed to pass this law, it was a 8-0 vote. This new law will affect two retail pet stores in Bloomington, Delilah’s Pet Shop and Anthony’s Pets. Anthony’s Pets will be closing for good due to this, however Delilah’s Pet Shop might be staying open, just not selling cats or dogs. I could not find anywhere that Delilah’s Pet Shop will be closing, so it may or may not close. Anthony’s Pets however will be, they already have no dogs in their store but haven’t closed quiet yet. They will be closed very soon though. The puppies and cats from these stores will most likely be given away.
Here is what Poppy Bishop has to say about the new law banning the sale of cats and dogs, “I don't think you should be able to sell cats or dogs because a lot of times they end up selling for lots and lots of money, which I dont think should be happening. I also think it is kind of sad because not being able to sell cats or dogs in Bloomington, means it would be harder to find a pet to adopt close to you since Bloomington is a very big city. To me it just seems like it would be hard to find a cat or dog to adopt since you can't do that in bloomington. Cameron Sessions also says, “ This is so sad, that means I can’t buy a puppy any more. This should have never happened, I guess I can see where they were coming from though because the law is to protect the dogs and cats. I still think this shouldn’t be a law, it’s just too sad that I can’t buy a puppy anymore.”
This will affect people, small businesses, and dogs and cats. In conclusion, this will have bad effects on those small businesses that are closing. The new law was in the best interest of dogs and cats because it was to prevent them from being bred in mills, and to prevent the horrible treatment of those cats and dogs in mills.
Sources-WRTV.com, humanesociety.org, and paws.org.
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