(Original Post on Care 2 blog, "Breaking News: L.A. Passes Puppy Mill Law" by Sharon Seltzer)
It looks like Los Angeles County didn’t want to wait for a national or statewide puppy mill law to go into effect. On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to protect animals raised by breeders or kept in pet stores.
According to Daily News Wire Services, the law was introduced by Supervisor Michael Antonovich, “an animal lover who presents a dog or cat for adoption at virtually every board meeting he attends.”
The ordinance is an amendment to Title 10 – the code relating to the licensing of animals and animal facilities, and the care and breeding of animals.
The new ordinance will require breeders to:
- Only breed dogs that are at least 12 months old.
- Keep puppies in their possession until they are at least 8 weeks old.
- Place pregnant dogs in separate living quarters at least three days before they give birth.
- Provide nesting boxes for mother dogs and their puppies.
The new rules also make sure all puppies are microchipped or tattooed when they turn four months old.
And pet shops will be required to inform potential pet owners where the puppies in their store come from.
The Board of Supervisors apparently had some disagreements about limiting the number of dogs a breeder could own, so they came up with this compromise.
Breeders will be limited to housing 50 unspayed or unneutered dogs unless they can prove to county officials they can properly care for more.
Those breeders will be mandated to keep stricter medical records, have staff at the facility 18 hours a day and be subject to more frequent inspections, at their own cost.
Title 10 currently requires breeders to provide “structurally sound” housing that is clean and sanitary, enclosures with solid bottoms, wholesome food, accessible clean water and proper grooming for the dogs.
It also states no animal shall be left unattended for more than 12 consecutive hours, requires veterinary care, humane treatment and exercise.
Even with the amendments L.A.’s Title 10 is far from perfect. However it covers most of the same regulations as Missouri’s Proposition B that was passed by the voters last November.
That law is being hacked apart by legislators and breeder associations’ who complain how its restrictions will inhibit their livelihood.
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