WESTWOOD— Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance on Wednesday, October 31, to ban the sale of pets that come from puppy mills. Elizabeth Oreck, the National Manager for Puppy Mills Initiative shared with Canyon News her role in the campaign and its purpose. She has been working on this matter for approximately 2 ½ years with the purpose of addressing the crisis of over-bred pets through advocacy, legislation and adoption.

She mentioned that there was an initiative three years ago regarding puppy mills in Los Angeles.  Although there are none in the city, the plan was to stop breeders from selling their puppies and/or other animals to pet shops. The city council, attorney's office, welfare communities, amongst other groups came together and took a look at what plan of action would be best at halting commercial breeders from being the first source for the shops to acquire their pets. 

Oreck also explained that last week an ordinance was placed on commercially bred labs (which are some of the most cruelly reproduced) that allowed businesses to have rescued animals in their stores to allow pets to have a safe home to live in. It is also in the best interest of the stores to modify their operations systems in order to survive the harsh economy. Oreck indicated that it’s more difficult for people to afford a pet that costs thousands of dollars. A number of people are becoming more understanding and supportive of providing rescued animals with safe homes. The new regulation provides the opportunity for businesses to stay afloat, and for people to take home a pet in need.

The ordinance will be signed and is expected to take effect in six months. In one year, it will be re-evaluated on the changes that have occurred since it was put into action. Even though Los Angeles has just adopted the new regulation, there are 10 other cities across California that have done the same thing. In addition to California, New Jersey, Texas, Florida and Canada have an ordinance with the same kind of effect.