The village of Mamaroneck has begun drafting a local law to regulate pet stores, loosely based on the regulatory laws of Suffolk County.
This recent push for legislation surfaced in August when residents began protesting a village pet store, Best Breeds Puppies and Kittens on Mamaroneck Avenue. Residents claimed that the animals at the shop were not properly cared for, and that their breeding origin was questionable, with some protestors believing the dogs came from puppy mills, establishments that breed puppies under inhumane conditions.
The owner of the shop, Richard Doyle of Mahopac, N.Y., has had a series of run-ins with the law, including being charged with three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and one count of selling a diseased animal. One of the storefronts, located in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., has since closed. One of the counts for animal cruelty involved Doyle performing unlicensed eye surgery on a dog.
In December 2015, he was arrested at one of his other storefronts, American Breeders in Danbury, Conn., on two felony counts of witness tampering following an investigation conducted by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Animal Control Division and the Danbury Police Department, according to Danbury Police Lt. Chris Carroccio. Carroccio said that while the Department of Agriculture was interviewing two witnesses in the animal cruelty case, they became suspicious when both witnesses gave identical written statements. Danbury police were able to determine that Doyle had instructed both witnesses how to write their statements, Carrocio said.
Now that New York state allows local governments to enact a local code, village Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, believes it is up to Mamaroneck to ensure that pet stores are operating ethically, which will be a major part of the proposed legislation Another part of the proposed law will include protecting the consumer in the event that a diseased or unhealthy animal is purchased.
“I think it is the business of this village to protect the animals that are here,” the mayor said at a recent Board of Trustees work session.
Local municipalities were previously not allowed to enact local laws regarding pet stores and puppy mills.
Rosenblum said the proposed law would be used to open a public hearing for residents to make suggestions, and that the village’s Board of Trustees would amend the law as they saw fit.
Rosenblum added that the draft of the law should be ready to be discussed at the village board’s next regular meeting scheduled for Monday, Jan. 11.
Rosenblum also wants to ensure that part of the law states that under no circumstance may someone who has been convicted of animal cruelty or anything of the like open a pet shop in the village of Mamaroneck.
