MILLSTONE – Municipal officials are considering regulating the potential sale of cats and dogs in Millstone Township to ensure that only animals received from animal care facilities and animal rescue organizations could be sold in pet stores.
The possibility of imposing such regulations on pet stores through the adoption of an ordinance was discussed during the June 21 Township Committee meeting. At present, there are no pet stores in Millstone.
Municipal officials indicated they had been contacted by representatives of animal rights organizations who seek to prevent pet stores from selling animals that have been bred at facilities commonly referred to as puppy mills or kitten mills.
The animal rights representatives have suggested adopting an ordinance that would permit the operator of a pet store to only sell dogs and cats the store has obtained from or displays in cooperation with an animal care facility or an animal rescue organization. The ordinance would prohibit the pet store from selling dogs and cats that are younger than 8 weeks of age.
In recent years, a number of governing bodies throughout New Jersey, including those in Manalapan and Marlboro in Monmouth County, have enacted such an ordinance.
Mayor Michael Kuczinski spoke in favor of such an ordinance.
“I think we should move forward with [the ordinance],” Kuczinski said. “I see no harm in putting that in place. It’s just simply endorsing and creating something here that says if you own some sort of pet store, you are going to have to be a responsible pet store owner. You cannot abuse animals.”
Township Attorney Duane Davison said the committee could define a pet store and take any necessary action through Millstone’s zoning ordinance.
Committeewoman Nancy Grbelja acknowledged being opposed to pet stores in general.
“I am a true animal lover,” Grbelja said. “I like private breeders, people who do not have 15 litters a year, but basically have one or two litters a year. I don’t like pet shops and I don’t particularly care for puppies being in pet shops because to me, it’s almost like they are lost. … All [a buyer] has to do is come in with cash. You don’t know what’s going to happen to the animal.”
Grbelja suggested that an ordinance such as the one being discussed regarding the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores be reviewed by the township’s planning and zoning boards, and by the boards’ professional planner.
“Are we encouraging something that maybe we wouldn’t necessarily have and opening a door we don’t want to open” with the proposed ordinance, the committeewoman asked her fellow officials. “If we do have something, are we going to be able to control it?”
Deputy Mayor Fiore Masci said he believed such an ordinance would help control pet stores that might one day operate in the township.
“This is a proposed ordinance that will follow all the protocols we have in place before anything ever happens,” Masci said.