gather general opinion regarding the sale of dogs andcats in pet shops. The consensusofthe groupsindicated a desire to move toward a by-law change,to both better the climate for animal welfare in Windsorandkeepin line with trends set by other municipalities.

With this information in mind, Administration is bringing forward twoplausible options to consider, in line with both other municipalities’ precedent and Windsor’s needs.

Option A — Dogs and Cats Offered by Adoption Only

The growing trend across municipalities is to allow pet shops to offer dogs and cats only as part of adoption programsandnotallow anysales for profit. There are a numberofregistered rescue organizations in Windsorthat already operate a numberof fundraisers and adoption drives with existing stores. These organizations have been shownto be more than willing to provide animals for these types of partnerships. Amendments to Schedule P1 to Business Licensing By-law No. 395-2004 would be required. The changes would berelatively easy to integrate and, due to the lack of dog andcatsales forprofit in stores currently operating, would not impact any existing retailers.

Option B - Status Quo

The Pet Shop Schedule of the Business Licensing by-law is quite thorough in its requirements for the keeping and care ofany animalsfor sale. Regulations include the need to house animals in humanecontainers which are kept clean and are large enough for them to movearoundin,to provide adequate food and waterforcare, to provide areas for exercise and havea veterinarian on call to provide care when necessary. Asdiscussed above, pet shopsare required to keep detailed registers of the purchaseofcats and dogs, and overall, the current by-law provides strong protections to animalsfor sale in pet shops. In Windsorthereis a single store that advertises dogs and cats for profit, though as showninthe store-specific survey results above, they havenotsold cats or dogsatall in the past year.

It should be noted that no matter whatoption is chosen, these actions have no impact on the private breeder market. Private breeders operate in an unregulated marketplace and,as such, would continue their operations. Changing the bylaw may push buyers who are concerned with ‘pure bred’status to this unregulated marketplace and increase those sales. However, as noted, nostores are currently selling dogsorcats forprofit, therefore the amountthatprivate sales may increase as a direct result wouldlikely be negligible.

4.  RISK ANALYSIS:

As this trend is becoming more prevalent in comparator municipalities, Windsor may run the risk of falling behind in the ‘Animal Welfare’ area of governance. Previously, Windsor has been a pioneer in this area so public perception could suffer.

The potential for a higher number of private, unregulated sales to occurs noted, but as described above,is not likely to increase a great deal as the potential change would not impact current retailers.

5. FINANCIAL MATTERS:

No financial impacts.