LA Votes for Rescued Dogs

I came across this article , (published 7:35 p.m., Thursday, November 1, 2012) in the San Francisco Chronicle. The Los Angeles city council recently voted to require pet stores to sell only rescued animals. It was a vote precipitated by the overpopulation and high euthanasia rate at local area shelters. A group called Best Friends has been working for the last couple of years with interested community and governmental figures to enact this. Yahoo LA!

The article states:

“More than 70,000 animals are euthanized in Los Angeles city and county shelters every year—at taxpayer expense,” said [Elizabeth] Oreck, [national manager of Best Friends puppy mill initiatives]. “To continue importing puppies and kittens from mills in other states while we are killing the surplus that are already filling our shelters simply doesn't make sense. Today, Los Angeles took a reasonable and progressive step to addressing these issues in our city.”

[T]he ordinance will not affect responsible, hobby breeders, who will remain a source of purebred animals for those who are not able to find the purebred of their choice through shelters, purebred rescue groups or online databases such as Petfinder.com.

“We are witnessing a cultural shift that comes from true grassroots advocacy in action. It is only a matter of time before there will be very few places where one will be able to walk into a pet store and purchase an animal from a puppy or kitten mill."

Another step forward for animals! The Best Friends website lists several different ways you can become involved (via donation, volunteering or taking political action) to make positive changes in your community.