Second to city councils in Orange County banning registered sex offenders from parks–Costa Mesa enacted such a prohibition last night–is the issue of nixing the sale of dogs and cats within city limits.
The San Clemente City Council has not yet passed a pervs-in-parks ban, but Tuesday night the panel did reject a proposal to prohibit pet sales.
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Like police and prosecutors pressing city councils in Orange County to enact child safety zones, animal rights activists have been urging local cities to prohibit pet sales, contending that kittens and puppies sold in stores come from so-called puppy mills.
But the San Clemente council voted 4-1 against that idea, with Councilwoman Lori Donchak dissenting. The majority, noting there are no pet stores in San Clemente, argued that if there were the council would be better off enacting an ordinance that prohibits the sale of felines and canines imported from mills.
The night before San Clemente's vote, the council in Huntington Beach delayed enacting a prohibition of its own as it explores moves to encourage pet adoption. Meanwhile, the pet sale ban bandwagon is headed next to Dana Point and Laguna Beach. Make sure you have your papers.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.