HomeMy WebLinkAboutCathleen Powell 8.20.211
Danielle Marshall
From:cathleen powell <powecl1@yahoo.com>
Sent:Thursday, August 19, 2021 11:22 PM
To:Danielle Marshall; Council; Angie Mathias
Subject:Planning Commission Humane Pet Sales Ordinance
Hello, here are my comments from last night, 8/18, would you please forward to the
Planning Commission and all other interested parties. Thank you, Cathleen Powell 201
Union Ave SE #70 Renton WA 98059
8/18/2021
RE: D-194: Retail Pet Sales
To: dmarshall@rentonwa.gov
council@rentonwa.gov
From: Cathleen Powell, 201 Union Ave SE, #70, Renton 98059
Pacific Crest Keeshond Club (PCKC), Rescue Chair, 425-761-0302
Good Evening Commission Members and All Those in Attendance,
My name is Cathleen Powell. I live in Renton City Limits. I am a 14 year volunteer with South County Cats
and Rescue Chair of the Pacific Crest Keeshond Club and long-time companion pet advocate.
Let me ask you....If you are buying a designer purse and found out it is made with child labor, would
you still buy it? You could tell the store you require transparency about where their purses come from.
But what if they buy the purses from a middleman who hides the fact that the purses are made by
children? Could you live with the fact that your expensive purse was made by children?
Likewise, what if you found out that the adorable, expensive puppy came from dogs forced to breed,
often in filthy conditions and without adequate veterinary care or human touch? You could require the
store to provide transparency about where the puppies come from. But what if they buy the puppies from
brokers that then buy puppies from these dismal and heart-breaking puppy mills? Could you live with the
fact that your expensive puppy was bred by caged and uncared for dogs?
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What people don't think about when they buy that adorable puppy is the dogs left behind. The moms
and dads and all the dogs that were not sold when they were cute puppies....left to languish at a puppy
mill.
Let me tell you about one of those caged, uncared for dogs. My dog, Lewis, is a puppy mill survivor. At
1 year of age (we think) when rescued, he had no name – just a number – and he was terrified, no date of
birth, underweight, full of intestinal parasites, stinky and matted, fearful, and had no use for people -
basically he was a feral dog. It several years for Lewis to learn that people are good, gain trust and
confidence knowing he has a safe home and regular meals, he knows the feel of grass under his feet, and
he doesn’t have to sit in his own urine and feces.
He came from Marjorie’s Kennel, which sounds harmless enough. She started as a backyard breeder in
New York State, but eventually had an inventory of over 200 dogs. Initially her puppies were sold via a
local publication, but as more and more litters were born, she began selling to brokers like
JAKS. Marjorie’s Kennel even had the not-so-lofty designation of being 1 of the 100 worst puppy mills in
the United States according to the Humane Society of the United States for many years.
When required by the state to reduce her kennel size, 50 dogs were euthanized due health or
aggression issues and 50 sold at auction to perpetuate the puppy mill industry, and 60 dogs, including my
Lewis, were released to breed rescue.
This is our chance, right here in Renton, to stop the puppy mill pipeline and do the right thing, the moral
thing, the ethical thing for these innocent lives and pass a Humane Retail Pet Sales Ordinance.
Marjorie's Kennel Rescue Report and Photos, Suncoast Keeshond Rescue:
Rescue efforts have resulted in the release of 60 dogs who have been found to be
suffering from the following: 36 dogs with Giardia, 21 dogs with Coccidia, 55 dogs with
roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and/or tapeworms, 12 dogs with bacterial
infections, 11 dogs with fungal or yeast infections, 2 dogs with demodectic mange, 3
dogs with systemic bacterial infections, 27 dogs with bite wounds, 2 dogs with frostbite
injuries, 4 dogs with untreated torn cranial cruciate ligaments and severe patellar
luxations, 41 dogs with patellar luxation of grades 1-4, 29 dogs with abscesses, 2 dogs
with hip dysplasia, 2 dogs with malformed limbs or patellar fusion, 1 dog with mammary
cancer, 1 puppy with a large burn, 2 dogs with sarcoptic mange, 60 dogs frightened of
human beings and completely unsocialized. More than 50 sick dogs were euthanized and
50 more are believed to have been sent to or sold at a dog ‘auction’ in Ohio following
the inspection.
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