Orlando, Florida Jun 10, 2021 (Issuewire.com) - May 11, 2021, Orange County Commissioners met to discuss a potential pet store ban in Orange County. Commissioners Emily Bonilla and Nicole Wilson made claims that many sick puppies come out of pet stores because of the breeders the stores purchase from, sometimes referred to as Puppy Mills. Both Commissioners made points about how this is straining consumers financially and emotionally.
In the May 11 Board of Commissioner Meeting, Orange County Health Services Director Dr. Martinez presented a collaborative presentation to the Board of Commissioner pertaining to the potential Pet Store Ban. She was accompanied by John Goodrich, Deputy Director of Health Services, and Diane Summers, Manager of the Orange County Animal Shelter.
This joint effort presentation offered citizens some interesting details about the 7 local operating Pet Stores that sell puppies. The first piece of information provided was that there are currently 7 Pet Stores that offer puppies for sale currently operating in Orange County, with number 8 just opening.
Dr. Martinez presented information she obtained, that the 7 Pet Stores sold approximately 8,000 Puppies from Jan 1, 2020, to about March of this year.
Dr. Martinez went on to explain that they collected and compiled complaints against the 7 Pet Stores, totaling 149 complaints. The date range for these complaints was unclear and can only be assumed that they are in line with the date range for the number of puppies sold. The 149 complaints were for various reasons and included multiple sources including reviews left by consumers on Google, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau. Other sources of complaints were collected from the Humane Society of the United States, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Orange County Animal Services, which licenses and inspects the 7 Pet Stores.
149 Complaints equates to approximately 1.8% of consumers making a complaint against the Pet Stores. A number is so low that locals will be shocked. Orange County made a bold point by including reviews from review sites such as Google and Yelp, which was not explained at the May 11 Commissioners meeting if they had verified that these reviews were from real customers of the Pet Store. The argument can no longer be that consumers don’t know where to make a complaint.
Furthermore, Dr. Martinez gave a breakdown of the 149 complaints, 106 of those complaints were pertaining to the health of the puppies. That means approximately 1.3% of the 8,000 Puppies sold had some sort of health issue. You can only assume that anyone who purchased a sick pet from a Pet Store would be the first ones to make a complaint, at the very least write a bad review on Google or Yelp.
The other 43 complaints were pertaining to issues not related to the Health of the Puppies according to Dr. Martinez.
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