Columnist Janie Greenspun: New pet standards applauded

Janie Greenspun

Thursday, June 17, 1999 | 9:39 a.m.

Clark County has a very fine board of commissioners. I don't take issue with them over matters concerning who gets what airport concession; frankly it's not my concern. But in quality-of-life issues for residents of this county, my concern runs extremely high. And on those issues, our commissioners are stellar.

A public hearing was held Tuesday to amend Title 10 of the Clark County Code, Chapter 10.04, to add sections and chapters with a whole lot of numbers after them, which basically "define professional animal handlers and set minimum standards for professional facilities which house, care for and offer animals for sale to the public. ..."

The history of these new standards began about a year ago when Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates asked Stephanie Smith, chairman of the Clark County Animal Advisory Committee, to address the issues of substandard conditions for, and irresponsible breeding of, puppies and kittens sold in pet shops and from backyard breeders.

The result of countless hearings and meetings between Smith, Joe Botello of Clark County Animal Control and the public is new, stricter standards for animal care. What is being addressed are simply basic needs. Cage sizes adjusted to the size of the animal, water at all times, and provisions made for sick animals are the bulk of the issues.

Testimony was heard from people who bought pets from pet stores and had horror stories to tell regarding sick animals and genetically inferior puppies, which speaks volumes about the birthplaces of the puppies. Most puppies sold in pet shops come from Midwest puppy mills. As the name suggests, these are nothing more than puppy factories grinding out puppies for profit. Natural selection is hardly the name of the game in these evil places.

The new county standards will not affect responsible breeders doing the right thing. As far as I'm concerned, the standards don't go far enough in completely eliminating backyard breeders who breed dogs and cats to make rent or grocery money. But small steps are the way to go. Amazingly enough, the standards are being called cutting edge and revolutionary.

As chairman of the board of the Animal Foundation, the facility that houses the city of Las Vegas' animals, I see firsthand the tragic consequences from irresponsible breeding and poor housing of puppies in their early lives. Puppies kept in small cages for months at a time lose the ability to be socialized or even obedience trained and make terrible pets for any household not capable of dealing with the stress of a neurotic, badly bred, ill-behaved, often sick animal.

We get our share of these unfortunate animals at the shelter. In fact, 25 percent of the animals we see are purebreds, and they wind up on euthanasia lists just like the others.

So thanks are in order to our Clark County Board of Commissioners for unanimously passing the new standards. It is the beginning of reaching an important goal, which will put an end to an industry which maximizes profits by minimizing care for animals.

And any time standards are raised that affect the quality of life for any members of our society, be they two- or four-legged, the quality of life for all of us improves.