Littleton City Council bans retail sale of cats and dogs

Littleton recently passed a law banning the retail sale of cats and dogs, joining 15 other Colorado cities in a bid to decrease commercial breeding operations, according to the Best Friends group.

The ordinance, which passed the Littleton City Council with a unanimous vote on March 5, was first introduced in January and follows a slew of similar attempts to increase animal welfare in Colorado after the state’s “puppy mill” bill, or Humane Pet Act, failed to pass in 2020. The bill would have established standards for the care and treatment of dogs and cats by breeders and prohibited the sale of dogs and cats in public places and pet stores.

The term “puppy mill” refers to facilities within the commercial pet industry that keep dogs in cramped conditions and force them to breed before abandoning or killing them when they are no longer capable of reproducing, according to the United States Humane Society. Profits are prioritized over the health of animals, which often results in puppies with lifelong health issues.

The Humane Society estimates that there are at least 10,000 puppy mills in the United States and that fewer than 3,000 are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Littleton ordinance provides exceptions for dogs and cats sold in pet stores that were obtained from animal rescue organizations, kennels or fosters, and for breeders who breed and rear animals on their property.

Andra Sheppard, a retail assistant at Zoey’s Place, a natural pet market in Littleton, wholeheartedly supports the ban.

“I think [puppy mills] are horrible. They’re not treating the animals properly,” she says. “They are not going to be healthy in the long run. A lot of animals from puppy mills pass very quickly after they’re purchased, so it causes trauma for families, but most importantly, so many animals are being brought into the world without care.”

Aurora banned retail cat and dog sales in 2022, the same year Colorado Springs voted down a similar measure. A statewide effort in 2020 failed to pass.