Puppy Mill Workshop
Dupage County Animal Services partnered up with the Humane Society of the United States to host its first Puppy Mill Workshop. The event aimed to inform the public why pet stores should not sell dogs that come from puppy mills.
“Why we’ve put the workshop together is because we’ve seen in the last two years a big interest in Dupage County and various villages and towns about banning sale of puppy mill dogs or cats or rabbits at these facilities. And we even had a state law down in Springfield last session joining will county to have a statewide ban,” said Brian Krajewski, chairman of DuPage County Animal Services.
The county is still pushing to get this legislation passed, and hope the workshop will motivate people to take action.
Puppy Mills
Around 100 attendees came out to the Dupage County Administration building to listen to 17 speakers talk about a variety of topics including issues with puppy mills and the impact these facilities have on the animals.
“What happens is the dog does not have enough interaction or socialization, they’re kept in a pen, they’re very skittish, they’re very afraid. Often they are incredibly shy and fearful dogs,” said speaker Gail Diedrichsen.
To help ensure that commercially bred dogs sold at pet stores are not the product of puppy mills, some animal advocates point to a Chicago ordinance put in place in 2015, which restricts pet store sales to only rescued animals.
“What we would like to see is the pet stores in Naperville model what the Dog Patch in Naperville has done so successfully,” said Kerin Smith, founder of Go Humane Naperville.
City Council Discussion
It’s a topic that has come up in Naperville City Council meetings several times, but with no resolution.
Council member Patty Gustin was in attendance and took note of what was shared.
“It’s important to me to be present to actually understand each and every element of it so that when you’re making a decision and you’re voting, you know what you’re voting on,” said Gustin.
The DuPage County Board has listed banning the sale of commercially bred pets as one of their legislative priorities for 2019.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
