Clark County may bar pet stores from obtaining animals from puppy mills

Clark County could become the state’s first to ban the retail sale of commercially bred dogs and cats if commissioners favor a new law proposed by Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani.

As written, the local ordinance would require pet stores in unincorporated parts of the county to get their stock from animal shelters, nonprofit humane societies or nonprofit animal rescue organizations.

At their Tuesday meeting, commissioners will discuss bringing the ban back for ratification at a later date.

“We want to make sure that people are buying animals that are not being bred through puppy mills or backyard breeders,” said Giunchigliani, who has been working on the initiative for the last year.

Across the U.S., close to 200 cities have passed similar laws, according to the Best Friends Animal Society nonprofit.

The cities of North Las Vegas and Mesquite enacted such ordinances this year. Las Vegas has also approved the law, which will go into effect in January.

If Clark County enacts the ordinance, it would join a group of less than 10 counties nationwide, said Elizabeth Oreck, national manager for puppy mills initiatives for the Best Friends Animal Society

County staff said there are only three pet stores in unincorporated parts of the county that the ordinance would affect. None of the businesses replied to requests for comment for this story.

But Oreck said the ordinance would have a far-reaching effect by letting commercial breeding facilities, often referred to as puppy mills, know that they don’t have a market in Clark County.

“We have thousands of healthy adoptable animals being killed in shelters every day and meanwhile dogs and cats are being mass produced in mills,” Oreck said. “(The ordinance is) really a win-win for the community because this isn’t just an animal protection issue… it’s a taxpayer issue because taxpayers are subsidizing the shelters.”

Oreck said she’s been working with Commissioner Giunchigliani for the better part of a year and their intent is not to shut down any legitimate pet stores.

“We just want them to adopt a more humane business model and become part of the solution rather than the problem,” Oreck said.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477- 3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.