Initiative was spurred after meeting with prominent animal advocate
Palmyra’s Borough Council will soon consider an ordinance banning the sale of animals from puppy and kitten mills.
The issue came up during council’s April 2 work session meeting. Borough Administrator John Gural said an ordinance is being drawn up with the intent to introduce it at the next council meeting on Monday, April 16.
“It was the mayor who initiated it,” Gural said.
He said Mayor Michelle Arnold met with animal advocate Alan Braslow about the proposed ban.
“We had a very nice meeting,” Braslow said.
Braslow, of Cherry Hill, has led a charge in recent years to have municipalities in New Jersey ban the sale of animals from puppy and kitten mills. He was awarded the Camden County Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Medal in 2017 for his work.
“Dogs and cats that are bred commercially — it’s a factory,” Braslow said. “The key is (that) a dog will live its life in extremely horrible conditions.”
Commercial mills keep dogs and cats in small cages with no medical care and no human interaction, Braslow said. He said many of the animals suffer health and genetic problems as they get older.
Gural said the mills carry “no redeeming qualities.”
Braslow advised people to adopt pets from a shelter, rescue group or a quality, independent breeder. Good breeders will interview prospective owners and request references, he added.
Palmyra will join more than 120 other municipalities in the state if Borough Council adopts the ordinance banning the sale of animals from puppy and kitten mills, Braslow said.
Braslow said advocates have found that banning pet stores from selling animals from mills has been an effective tool in fighting commercial breeders.
He said every town in Camden County and about a third of the municipalities in Burlington County have passed similar laws.
In other news:
Borough Council unanimously approved the Palmyra Improvement Association’s outline for a Spring Clean Up Day, according to John Casparro, the organization’s president.
The event is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 21. Participants will meet at the Band Shell and are asked to bring their own gloves, shovels, spades and other gardening equipment. The group will be planting flowers in areas around the Palmyra business district.
Casparro also said the association will be rolling out an “Adopt-a-Plot” program. A person, family or group will be able to adopt a flowerpot or plot to maintain throughout the summer.
