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Home My WebLink AboutMemo - Mail Packet - 07/09/2024 - Memorandum from Ginny Sawyer re: Other Business: Ordinance Prohibiting Retail Sale of Puppies/Kittens City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com MEMORANDUM Date: June 27, 2024 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager From: Ginny Sawyer, Project and Policy Manager Subject: Other Business: Ordinance Prohibiting Retail Sale of Puppies/Kittens Purpose: This memorandum addresses a recent request under Other Business to bring an Ordinance prohibiting the retail sale of puppies and kittens and to highlight information provided in previous memos on this topic. Bottom Line: A discussion item has been added to the August 20, 2024 meeting for Council to consider an ordinance that would ban the retail sale of puppies and kittens within the City of Fort Collins boundary. As previously mentioned, there are 14 municipalities in Colorado that have passed similar ordinances. The City of Fountain was the only community that had an existing pet store that was actively selling dogs and cats at the time its ordinance was passed and they ultimately created an exception for the business. The City of Colorado Springs considered an ordinance in March 2023, but the measure failed. Some Councilmembers cited the existence of two retail stores being the reason for their “no” votes. https://gazette.com/news/local/colorado-springs-council-rejects-resurrected-measure-on- commercially-bred-pet-sales/article_ae62cc00-c2c5-11ed-942c-a34268d0cc3c.html Durango also considered an ordinance in 2023 that ultimately failed. https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/ordinance-banning-retail-pet-sales-in-durango-fails- with-scant-support-from-city-council/ Local residents who support a ban have provided information to Council and staff over the last many months. Staff did reach out to the Aurora Councilmember recommended and that email is included here. Finding neutral research and sources for data related to the effectiveness of retail sale bans, violation data, and effective tools for ensuring animal welfare in breeding is challenging. Limited information that has been found speaks to:  Rescue organizations, typically with not-for-profit status, are often minimally regulated if they are regulated at all. Colorado has stronger rules than many states. DocuSign Envelope ID: 43C7D900-BC9B-4C4A-A462-497EECAEACD6  Rescue animals are not bred or sourced for animal health and behavioral characteristics leading to uptick in pet behavior issues.  In 2021, Federal health officials suspended—for at least one year—importation of dogs from 113 countries in response to a sharp rise in the number of dogs that arrived from high-risk countries with fraudulent or incomplete documentation of rabies vaccination.  Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA) data for 2 shelters in Fort Collins show 1062 dogs transferred in from out of state/124 transferred in from within the state in 2023. Unrelated to the requested ordinance, the City is working to ensure compliance with a SB24- 045 that addresses exemptions to required sterilization outlined under PACFA. This work will come to Council as a separate code update. SB-045 Summary: The Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act prohibits any animal shelter or pet animal rescue (facility) from releasing a dog or cat to a prospective owner unless the animal has been sterilized, except in cases in which sterilization would jeopardize the life or health of the dog or cat. A facility in an area with limited access to licensed veterinarians may be granted an exemption from the sterilization requirement by the commissioner of agriculture (commissioner). The bill: • Removes the exemption from the sterilization requirement due to the health of the animal; and • Prohibits facilities that import unsterilized dogs or cats into the state of Colorado from receiving an exemption from the commissioner. cc: Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, Senior Project Manager Marcy Yoder, Senior Manager, Neighborhood Services DocuSign Envelope ID: 43C7D900-BC9B-4C4A-A462-497EECAEACD6 From: Jurinsky, Danielle <djurinsk@auroragov.org> Sent: Friday, June 21, 2024 2:34 PM To: Ginny Sawyer <GSawyer@fcgov.com> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Pet Stores Ginny, Thanks for reaching out. There were several different animal rights/protection groups that came forward with this and provided a lot of different information. I can go back and try to look for some of it. We had at least 100 people show up to speak on supporting this ordinance and only 1 person spoke against it. It is important to note that at the time we passed the ordinance we did not have even 1 business that would be impacted in the city of Aurora. If we would have, the ordinance may not have passed. For your situation your council could look at wording it as something like "shall not allow any new business licenses" for these types of pet stores. Just a thought. In Liberty, Danielle Jurinsky At Large Council Member | City of Aurora Office | Fax 303.739.7594 From: Ginny Sawyer <GSawyer@fcgov.com> Sent: Friday, June 21, 2024 1:17:50 PM To: Jurinsky, Danielle <djurinsk@auroragov.org> Subject: Pet Stores Hi Danielle, Our Council is considering a ban on retail sale of puppies and kittens. Local resident, Cara Thorsen, provided your contact info and suggested that we reach out. We currently have one local business that would be impacted by such Hi Danielle, Our Council is considering a ban on retail sale of puppies and kittens. Local resident, Cara Thorsen, provided your contact info and suggested that we reach out. We currently have one local business that would be impacted by such an ordinance. I’m curious if there was any specific data or information that you or your fellow councilmembers found especially helpful in this discussion or if there is anything you would have done differently? Thank you. ginny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ginny Sawyer Project and Policy Manager City Manager’s Office City of Fort Collins 300 LaPorte Ave 970-224-6094 office DocuSign Envelope ID: 43C7D900-BC9B-4C4A-A462-497EECAEACD6