Austin's Animal Advisory Commission held a special meeting and public hearing Wednesday night to debate the banning of retail sales of cats and dogs at stores.
"We're the only pet store in the Austin area that sells puppies, so they're targeting our store specifically which I don't feel is fair," said Ben Guerra, store manager of Petland in south Austin.
The controversy over Petland began with a documentary aired on the Animal Planet by The Humane Society of the United States. The documentary had investigators go undercover and they claimed that thousands of animals sold to Petlands across the country came from puppy mills most of which were in the midwest.
"The customers do get a copy showing that they are not from puppy mills as people think that they are, they all come from registered breeders who have licenses through the U.S.D.A.," added Guerra.
David Lundstedt, a member of the Animal Advisory Commission, told KVUE that banning retail sales of what he called "companion animals," meaning dogs and cats is a move in the right direction in making the Town Lake Animal Shelter a no-kill shelter.
"It's anywhere from eight to 15-thousand animals a year and almost all of them are adoptable animals so why sell animals when we have so many great animals at shelters to adopt?," questioned Nicole Fagerberg, a former volunteer with the Humane Society.
Petland says the Animal Advisory Commissions good intentions could backfire.
"What's going to happen is you're going to have people going to unregulated sources such as Craigslist and the newspaper to try and get puppies and there's no way for the USDA to put regulations or to put standards for the breeding facilities," said Guerra.
The Animal Advisory Commission claims similar ordinances in Alburquerque made for a 35-percent increase in adoptions at the city's animal shelter and a 25-percent reduction in euthanasia.
The Austin City Council will have the final say on the matter.
