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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAshly Dale 8.5.211 Danielle Marshall From:Ashly Dale <adale@bailingoutbenji.com> Sent:Thursday, August 5, 2021 10:38 AM To:Danielle Marshall; Angie Mathias Subject:Docket # 194 Attachments:2021 CO State Bill.pdf; 2021 IL State Bill.pdf; USDA BROKER-PET STORE PIPELINE.pdf; JAKS 7-12-21 (Renton).pdf; Puppyland Financing Redacted.pdf; Sales Receipt Redacted.pdf; Puppyland Contract 5-2021 REDACTED.pdf Hi Danielle & Angie Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you and the entire Planning Commission yesterday. I know it ended up being a long evening for you all but I greatly appreciate you allowing everyone to speak. I wanted to inquire if the recorded meeting will be available on the City of Renton website, like the City Council meetings are. If so, where would I find that? I also wanted to follow up about the public hearing on 8/18. Will it take place at the same time as the Planning Commissions meetings, at 6pm and will people want to go to the Planning Commission page to access the Zoom link? Can you please share this email with the Planning Commission members? I understand the city of Renton does not want to shut down small businesses, however Puppyland is anything but a small business. They are a chain of puppy selling stores with locations in Puyallup WA, Renton WA, Meridian Idaho, and soon to be New Braunfels Texas, once they relocate from San Antonio due to a humane ordinance being passed. Puppyland sells puppies for as much as $6,300. With over 650 puppies imported so far this year, they are turning over a huge profit on the suffering of animals. Humane ordinances are not meant to shut down businesses. Our organization would love nothing more than for puppy selling stores to go humane and tap into the multi million dollar pet supply industry, where they can gain lifelong customers instead of one time puppy buyers. There are over 140 pet stores across Washington that do not sell puppies or kittens and do very well within their communities by selling supplies or offering other services such as grooming. Regulating pet sales will be incredibly challenging for a number of reasons and does not address the root issue, which is that puppy selling stores are funding the cruel puppy mill industry.  The city of Renton cannot regulate out of state breeders. The USDA has no limit to the number of dogs a breeder can have, no breeding age restrictions, and minimal survival standards. As long as they are USDA licensed, the city of Renton cannot require that these out of state breeders adhere to a higher standard like we have here in Washington with RCW 16.52.310  The city of Renton cannot require that puppy selling stores purchase from Washington breeders only due to commerce clause laws. This would also allow unlicensed breeders to sell puppies to unsuspecting customers as we have no dog breeder program in Washington.  It does not stop the importation of puppy mill dogs. Reputable breeders do not sell to pet stores. Over 90% of all National breed clubs state in their Code of Ethics that their breeders will not sell their dogs/puppies to pet stores, puppy mills, auctions, brokers, or offer them as part of a raffle. While I truly hope the Commission decides that puppy sales have no place in Renton, if not, I would like to share some information that I think would make these regulations even more beneficial.  CAUTION: This email originated from outside the City of Renton. Do not click links, reply or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. 2  Require breeder name and USDA number to be listed on the cage within the store, on the store's website, and on their social media platforms. The state of Colorado recently passed a state bill with these requirements. I have attached the language for your review. Currently Puppyland requires that you allow them to take a picture of your ID before entering the store. I can't help but feel like this, along with their contract containing an NDA, is a form of intimidation and that people do not feel comfortable asking questions. By providing transparency online, this would allow customers to research the breeder before they even consider visiting the store.  End high interest pet loans. Puppyland Renton recently sold a puppy on a loan with an interest rate of 98.98% interest. This is absurd and is setting up families to be paying on a puppy for many years. A puppy that may not even live as long as the loan term. The state of Illinois recently passed a state bill that ends pet financing. I have attached that language so you can review it and see if this is something the city of Renton can add into their code.  Require that puppy selling stores only source from USDA breeders, not USDA brokers. USDA brokers exist to serve as a 'middleman' from puppy mill to pet store. As you can see from the attached CVI, if customers were to request CVIs indicating where Puppyland sources their puppies from, it will always say JAKS Puppies Inc, who is a USDA broker. This does not allow for customers to do their research and provides zero transparency. Everyone should have the opportunity to know where their puppy was born and make an informed decision prior to purchase. Thank you for all of your time and effort you have put into this issue. I look forward to continuing this conversation and I'm happy to answer questions you may have. Ashly Dale Director of Operations | Washington Team Leader www.bailingoutbenji.com  To help protect your privacy, Microsoft Office prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.