LEXINGTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 )— Starting Nov. 1, pet stores in Fayette County will no longer be able to sell cats and dogs .
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted to approve the pet sale ban earlier this summer, despite pushback from certain stores like Petland .
Now, a former employee of Petland told FOX 56 the ban is a good thing.
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When Perry Lusby began working at Petland, she said it started off well but ended up being a bad culture mixed with a bad environment.
“The people taking care of the puppies—they’re not prioritized,” said Lusby. “They’re working 12-hour shifts. There’s not enough coverage. The puppies aren’t being taken care of properly. They’re just profit, basically.”
During her employment, she and others were able to visit what she called “basically a puppy mill.”
She said that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Petland says they don’t get their puppies from puppy mills, but that’s it; it’s a puppy mill. There are hundreds of dogs in one small area; there are six dogs in one tiny area; it’s just not fair.”
She said puppies were caged up everywhere and the mom dogs were breeding over and over.
“It’s not humane to have a mass breeding operation like that. It’s not fair to the adult dogs; it’s not fair to the puppies; they’re being thrown around from place to place; it’s not moral.”
FOX 56 reached out to Petland for comment.
“Petland strongly opposes puppy mills and has always been committed to ensuring that our stores source from breeders who are fully licensed, regulated, and inspected by both federal and state authorities. Puppy mills, by contrast, operate out of sight, unregulated, often targeting unsuspecting consumers. We offer a safe, trusted experience, giving families a way to purchase pets from reputable community stores. Unfortunately, with the pet sale ordinance now in place, more consumers will be vulnerable to unregulated puppy mill sellers and anonymous transactions. This ordinance, rather than addressing the issue, has made it worse by eliminating a safe, regulated option for consumers. We believe the problem could have been effectively managed if the city council had worked with Petland to develop enhanced regulations that applied to all businesses. Petland remains committed to advocating for consumer rights and ensuring families can bring home healthy, well-cared-for pets.”
Petland
“I don’t think stores like that should be open. I don’t think they should be able to operate the way they are. I think that should be left to the humane society. But Petland does get their puppies from puppy mills; that’s a given. They can deny it all they want, but they don’t deserve to be open,” added Lusby. “You don’t see people breeding babies and mass producing them and adopting them out to people, or basically forcing people to buy them. So why would we do that with puppies, cats, and stuff like that. It’s just not right.”
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The ban goes into effect Nov. 1.
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