San Francisco Considers Ban On All Pet Sales 733
Hugh Pickens writes "The LA Times reports that the Humane Pet Acquisition Proposal is on its way to the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco. It would ban the sale of any animal that walks, flies, swims, crawls or slithers — unless you plan to eat it. Representatives of the $45-billion to $50-billion-a-year pet industry call the San Francisco proposal 'by far the most radical ban we've seen' nationwide and argue that it would force small operators to close. Animal activists say it will save small but important lives, along with taxpayer money, and end needless suffering. 'From Descartes on up, in the Western mindset, fish and other nonhuman animals don't have feelings, they don't have emotions, we can do whatever we want to them,' says Philip Gerrie, coauthor of the proposal. 'If we considered them living beings, we would deal with them differently.'"
Re:Save important pet lives...? (Score:4, Informative)
What lives will it save? Without the pet industry, these animals would never be born.
If you read the article before rushing to get first post you'll see the problem. Most shop-animals are bred in horrible conditions and spend the first part of their lives in cages in shop windows. Not nice.
This way you'll have to get them from friends/neighbors/shelters. Hopefully the lives it saves will be the ones which would be put down when nobody takes them at the shelter.
Re:Dear animal activists (Score:5, Informative)
Thank PETA. If you've ever been stupid enough to support PETA you need to understand they want to ban pet ownership. Yes Ban it. It's one of their top priorities.
There are plenty of good organizations out there that try to stop animal abuse, but PETA gets all the attention and I'd be 90% of the people that support PETA fail to realize just how radical the beliefs of their founder. PETA believe pet ownership is slavery and they want it gone. Honestly if you want to stop animal abuse you are far better off sending your money to ASPCA or Humane Society.
Re:Just odd. (Score:4, Informative)
"Without the Death Penalty there can be no justice."
Without the death penalty, there can be no innocent person murdered by the State.
Re:Save important pet lives...? (Score:4, Informative)
That said, I know that this is aimed at the pet stores that are stocked with puppy mill puppies. While I like the idea of discouraging that practice, that will also discourage (or outlaw) legitimate breeders that use humane practices and breed responsibly.
Re:Dear Angry Idiot (Score:4, Informative)
Here's an idea. If you want to do that you could, you know, like, dude, ban factory farming of pets.
As a city legislature, you can only ban puppy mills within the city limits. That doesn't stop a pet store within your city limits from importing animals from out of state puppy mills (and in fact I'm reasonably certain there are no puppy mills within the 49 square miles of San Francisco, except perhaps pit bull breeding for illegal dog fighting). Most puppy mills are located in the Midwest -- Missouri, I'm looking at you. Similarly, a city can't pass laws regulating interstate commerce; in other words, there's nothing it can do to stop a pet store from buying from out of state puppy mills. The only thing the city can do that will prevent stores from buying from puppy mills is to ban pet stores, which is what the law proposes.
In my experience, few pet lovers in San Francisco buy purebred dogs as it is. There is a strong SPCA culture here, where I would say the majority of people adopt dogs and cats from shelters (or get kittens or puppies from friends).
If you really must have a specific breed, however, there's nothing stopping you from driving 20 minutes across the Bay Bridge to buy one. Hopefully, however, the law will make you think twice about whom you buy from, and that you'll be reminded to deal with breeders whose operations you've personally inspected and whose bona fides are sound.
PETA kills pets (Score:4, Informative)
Thank PETA. If you've ever been stupid enough to support PETA you need to understand they want to ban pet ownership. Yes Ban it. It's one of their top priorities.
PETA collects unwanted pets from owners and immediately kills them in the van they drove up in. This first came to light when someone found PETA illegally dumping lots of dead animals in someone's dumpster.
The Truth about PETA [thisistrue.com]
PETA Trial Day 5: Deception and Tears [petakillsanimals.com]
Shocking New Crime-Scene Photos [petakillsanimals.com]
PETA's Shame [nokillnow.com]
PETA Kills Pets | Seattle Dogspot [seattledogspot.com]