COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus has approved banning pet shops from selling cats, dogs and rabbits.
Columbus City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve, on second reading, an ordinance that institutes the ban. Republican councilmen Frank Miller and Tim Shuffett voted against the ordinance. They also did so at the first reading of the ordinance in March.
The ordinance states that no pet shop “shall sell, deliver, offer for sale, barter, auction, give away or otherwise transfer or dispose of cats, rabbits, or dogs.”
Pet shops are allowed to collaborate with Animal Care Services or rescue groups and provide space for those groups to “showcase adoptable dogs, rabbits and cats,” according to the ordinance. However, the pet shop will not have any ownership interest in the animals offered and will not receive a fee for providing the space.
Animal Care Services general manager Nicohl Birdwell Goodin said that the ordinance is a suggested best practice and stated that 375 localities across the country have passed similar legislation.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
