Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Hopewell Borough is poised to join the growing list of towns that do not allow pet stores to sell puppies and kittens that were acquired from so-called “puppy mills,” or large-scale commercial breeders.
The borough council introduced an ordinance at its July 6 meeting that would allow a pet store to sell puppies and kittens – but only if they came from an animal shelter or an animal rescue organization.
There are no pet stores in Hopewell Borough.
The pending ordinance, which is based on a model ordinance prepared by NJ Residents Against Puppy Mills, would not allow a pet store to “sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats or dogs.”
The ordinance would not ban consumers from acquiring animals from an animal shelter or animal rescue group, or from hobby breeders where they can see the conditions under which the puppies and kittens are bred.
Although a public hearing and final action on the ordinance will not be held until the council’s August meeting, Hamilton Township resident Ellen Coyote urged the council to approve the ordinance.
Coyote, who has volunteered and sought to save animals for many years, asked the governing body to “please vote for it. I don’t know of any advantage to a store to sell puppies (from a puppy mill).”
“It is an inherently cruel industry,” Coyote said of the puppy mills. Profits take priority over the treatment and welfare of the cats and dogs, she said.
Coyote said more than 100 New Jersey towns have adopted such an ordinance and that none have been challenged in court. This is the opportune time to adopt the ordinance, before any pet stores open in town, she said.
Council member Robert Lewis said he would not want to stop anyone from opening a pet store in Hopewell Borough, but he would expect the store to get the pets from a reputable source.
NJ Residents Against Puppy Mills has been lobbying towns since 2015 to adopt an ordinance that bans pet stores from sourcing puppies and kittens from puppy mills.
NJ Residents Against Puppy Mills believes the ordinance would encourage people to adopt dogs and cats from shelters and non-profit animal rescue groups, thus preventing them from being euthanized.
About 21,000 dogs and cats are killed each year in New Jersey, according to NJ Residents Against Puppy Mills. Nationwide, more than 3 million dogs and cats are euthanized, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
