DENVER — Denver and Westminster's city councils are considering ordinances that would ban the sale of dogs and cats at retail stores.
Twenty-four municipalities in Colorado currently have ordinances prohibiting pet sales. The Westminster City Council will cast its final vote on the ban Monday night, while the Denver City Council will have its first reading of the ordinance.
According to Roland Halpern, executive director for Colorado Voters for Animals, there are no pet stores presently in the city of Denver that sell puppies or kittens. He described this ordinance as a "preemptive strike" to prohibit any stores from coming in.
"Well, in some instances, because there are no pet stores selling animals in those cities, it doesn't get on everybody's radar," said Halpern. "We're specifically targeting cities and townships that don't presently have pet stores that sell dogs and cats, because then you don't have an argument that you're putting somebody out of business, that you're decreasing the tax revenues to the city or whatever."
Halpern said he reached out to Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds to get this pet ban in Denver and take "the motivation out of an out-of-state operation coming in."
Doggie Delights has been a family business on Broadway since 2006, selling dog food, toys, and treats. Owner Tom Rompies said he is in support of the ban, and hopes it will encourage more people to adopt from shelters.
"We've had a lot of people that have adopted the dogs that came from backyard breeders, and they have health problems, skin issues, and things like that," Rompies told Denver7. "So the more we can do to keep older dogs happy and cats and rabbits, the better off we are."
In addition to adoption, Rompies said people wanting a specific dog breed can research and find breeders who are "ethical and [do] the right thing for the dogs."
Perfect Pets in Centennial has been selling puppies since 1993. While Denver's ordinance would not impact the store, owner Jens Larsen said it would limit customer choice and send people to "underground backyard breeders who aren't regulated."
Perfect Pets currently has about 90 puppies for sale. Larsen told Denver7 the store "only [deals] with breeders that are licensed and regulated by the state," and all of their puppies are vaccinated.
"I've been in business 31 years. We've never had an outbreak of rabies," Larsen said. "But yet, just last year and on July 15, the state passed a law that we now have to take everybody's name, address, and phone number that walks in to see a puppy in a book. Why? Because a rescue had two outbreaks of rabies last year."
As nearby cities consider a pet ban, Larsen is concerned that Centennial could follow, making his business the next target.
"This is the kind of stuff that they do, and it's just totally wrong in my opinion," Larsen said. "We run a legitimate business. We're licensed by PACFA, full Pet Animal Care Facility Act."
Alyssa Miller-Hurley, vice president of government relations with Pet Advocacy Network, is also against the ban. She said pet stores are held to state and federal guidelines, ensuring they are not "working with those bad actors."
"We've seen firsthand the ban on the sale of cats and dogs, and in some places, including rabbits or guinea pigs, doesn't work," Miller-Hurley said. "We know that the best way to put bad actors out of business is to regulate them out of business, and as an industry, we are in favor of regulation or just in favor of smart regulation."
She hopes Denver and Westminster will consider working with the Pet Advocacy Network to "work towards better regulation" and understand the "unintended consequences."
Supporters of the ordinances, meanwhile, believe the bans would help animals in shelters and "stop that commercial pipeline because of its cruelty."
