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ORDINANCE NO. 2019- 014 <br />AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF <br />INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 302 OF THE <br />CODE OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, ENTITLED "RETAIL <br />SALE OF DOGS AND CATS"; AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, <br />SEVERABILITY, A GENERAL REPEALER AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. <br />WHEREAS, "puppy mills" and "kitten factories" are facilities that often house <br />multiple breeds of animals in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate <br />veterinary care, food, water, and socialization; and <br />WHEREAS, these facilities do not use the breeding dogs and cats as pets, rather <br />their only purpose is to produce puppies and kittens to be sold at retail stores across the <br />country; and <br />WHEREAS, the puppy mills and kitty factories often sell the puppies and kittens to <br />brokers who ship the animals, regardless of their condition, in cages without regard for <br />sanitary conditions, food or water; and <br />WHEREAS, due to the conditions in "puppy mills" and "kitten factories" animals <br />are put up for sale at retail facilities with undiagnosed and/or untreated heritable and <br />congenital disorders, infectious diseases, and environmental contamination, any of which <br />may be present immediately after a sale or shortly after the sale; and <br />WHEREAS, the Indian River County Board of County Commissioners (the <br />"Board") has heard testimony from local residents who purchased puppies from retail <br />stores who spent large sums of money on veterinary care for health problems for puppies <br />that came from puppy mills and therefore finds it reasonable and necessary to provide <br />minimum standards governing the sale of cats and dogs to protect the health, safety, and <br />welfare of both animals and pet owners; and <br />WHEREAS, the Board also finds that such regulation constitutes a legitimate <br />purpose, and will encourage pet consumers to obtain dogs and cats from shelters, animal <br />rescue organizations, or hobby breeders thereby saving animals lives and reducing the <br />cost to the public of sheltering and euthanizing animals; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY <br />COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA THAT: <br />SECTION 1. AMENDMENT <br />Section 302.02. — Definitions. <br />8. Certificate of Source. A document from the Humane Society, animal control <br />agency, animal rescue organization, pet dealer, or hobby breeder declaring the source of <br />Coding: Words underscored are additions to text; words in strikethFo urrh format are <br />deletions to text. <br />1 _ <br />