After three hours of debate, Ocoee opted Tuesday night to delay a decision on an ordinance regulating retail pet sales.
City commissioners were poised to override an Orange County rule forbidding pet stores throughout the county from selling puppies, kittens and bunnies — and essentially grant a monopoly without any local oversight to Chews A Puppy, the only pet shop in the city that sells puppies.
But the board fretted about how to police the family-owned store, which has been tagged with an F-rating by the Better Business Bureau.
The commission asked city attorney Scott Cookson to rework the measure to allow the city to have some regulating authority.
Animal-welfare advocates had pleaded with city commissioners to keep the county ban, saying the pet shop gets its puppies from puppy mills.
But Chews A Puppy advocates — including a dozen current or former employees — said the pet shop on Colonial Drive works hard to make customers and puppies happy. Supporters wore teal t-shirts with the slogan “I (heart emoji) Chews A Puppy” and several said they were satisfied customers.
Co-owner Crystal Grastara defended her family-owned operation, saying the store has sold 6,300 puppies over the past three years.
“Are we perfect? No, not by any means,” she said. “But every day we strive for excellence and we strive to do better than the day before.”
Grastara said her store’s critics are pushing an “anti-pet, anti-agriculture agenda.”
Among those appealing for Ocoee to respect the county ban was Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson, who had voted for it.
She said stores like Chews A Puppy often charge exorbitant prices and sell sick puppies bred by unscrupulous and inhumane profiteers.
“I want to express to commissioners and the mayor that the [county] ordinance was not passed as a knee-jerk reaction,” she said. “There’s very, very clear data that pet retailers in Orange County including the pet retail retailer here in Ocoee import from the major puppy mills in the Midwest.”
In June, county commissioners voted, 4-3, to ban the sale of puppies, kittens and bunnies despite objections from pet-shop owners and their employees who said the board’s decision will put the mom-and-pop stores out of business. Three stores have sued in circuit, hoping to overturn it.
The ban is scheduled to go into effect June 22, 2022.
A dozen other counties also have bans on retail pet sales including neighboring Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties.
Several critics noted Chews A Puppy customers also have filed complaints in court, with animal services and the Florida Attorney General.
Nanette Parratto-Wagner, a veterinarian and a member of animal services’ advisory board, said the consumer complaints are troubling. “Please explain to your constituents…how exempting Chews A Puppy benefits the safety, health and welfare of anyone except the owners of Chews A Puppy,” she said.
