Hazel Park poised to ban sale of animals at pet shops

HAZEL PARK — The Hazel Park City Council is on the cusp of passing an ordinance that will prohibit pet shops in the city from selling dogs, cats and other animals. Pet shops will instead be encouraged to work with rescues and shelters to showcase and adopt out pets on a nonprofit basis.

The goal is to stop pet shops from using puppy mills and similar businesses that add to the homeless pet population, and in turn reduce issues caused by overbreeding, such as genetic health problems. The city of Hazel Park already prohibits private breeders in part by restricting animal ownership to three pets per household.

There are currently no pet shops in Hazel Park.

At press time, the ordinance had been unanimously approved by the Hazel Park City Council on first reading Aug. 13. The second reading is expected to take place Sept. 24.

The ordinance was proposed by Hazel Park Mayor Pro Tem Alissa Sullivan. City Councilman Luke Londo seconded the motion. Sullivan noted that Royal Oak passed a similar ordinance roughly a decade ago. More recently, Berkley adopted one, but it was after a pet shop had already opened there, and not retroactive to it.

She said it’s important to get ahead of pet shops buying from breeders.

“Puppy mills don’t care about the outcome. They don’t have a vested interest in the pet’s well-being or health care, or even the quality of the pets that they’re breeding,” Sullivan said. “And often, people buy puppies from these mills thinking they’re getting a cute pet, but as (the animal) gets older, they discover it has a variety of health issues they can’t afford, and that puts them in a very difficult financial position. For puppy mills, it’s quantity over quality.”

Inhumane housing at pet shops is another concern, she said, including wire-floored kennels that can injure pets, and overcrowding in unsanitary spaces.

Laura Mikulski, mayor pro tem of Ferndale, worked on the ordinance language with Sullivan. Their starting point was a similar ordinance proposed by the Humane Society of the United States, but Sullivan and Mikulski localized it for Hazel Park and its neighbors.

So what’s in the measure, and how is it tailored to the community? The ordinance language specifically bans pet shops from selling dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, frogs, reptiles, rabbits, or rodents — a list that goes beyond the dogs and cats usually protected by such measures.

Sullivan said this is because there are rescues in the city that focus on other species, such as Wild Wings, which rehabilitates songbirds, and Motor City Ferrets. Allowing pet shops to sell those types of animals would undercut rescue efforts, she said.

However, pet shops will still be able to sell pet-related items, and they will also be allowed to partner with local groups to showcase animals up for adoption on a nonprofit basis.

“Most rescues require spaying or neutering of the pets they adopt out, which is another benefit of this ordinance,” Sullivan said.

Another benefit will be to the taxpayers’ bottom line, she said, since there will be fewer homeless animals for the city’s shelter to manage.

Sullivan noted that the proposal is an amendment to the city’s animal control ordinances that she spent more than two years overhauling with the city’s animal control division and city attorney.

“That effort took our antiquated practices and brought them up to best practices with more enforcement criteria, so if people have neighbors with issues such as inhumane housing, then our animal protection officers can do more,” Sullivan said, using the updated title for the animal control officers in Hazel Park.

“We also made the ordinance more enforceable through our court system,” she said. “The goal is to keep animals safe. That’s done through protection, education and outreach. It affects how our neighbors and community members see their pets, and their place as the pets’ guardians. Safe communities start with safe pet ownership.”

A similar bill is currently in the works at the state level. House Bill 4838, now in committee, would restrict pet shops in Michigan from selling certain species such as dogs, cats and rabbits.

Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park, serving District 8, is the former mayor pro tem of Hazel Park and a co-sponsor of the bill.

“I’m very supportive of eliminating puppy mills,” McFall said. “This will be just one of the ways we work towards doing that.”