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Sometimes writing politicians does actually get results. I got this email back from city Councillor Glen De Baeremaeker in response to an email I sent him previous to the unanimous council vote banning the sale of puppy mill dogs in retail outlets in Toronto.

A big thanks to everyone who wrote their councillors or otherwise publicly supported the ban on puppy mill pups. This is all your good work.

A Victory For All Animals

Dear Friends:

Yesterday was an extremely victorious day for animals everywhere!

As you may know, Toronto City Council UNANIMOUSLY voted to ban the sale of cats and dogs at pet stores in Toronto, thereby curtailing puppy mills. This is a glorious win and sets a precedent for other municipalities to do the same.

Thank you very much for writing in and showing your support for the ban!

Your councillors have listened to you and now Toronto is a better place for all those who love animals and want to ensure that our feline and canine friends are treated humanely.

I am grateful for your dedication and am thrilled that Toronto is such a leader. I will continue to advocate for animal rights and conservation efforts (whether it is protecting our pets, banning shark fins or creating a Rouge Valley National Park) and look forward to achieving more victories with your support.

Cheers,

Glenn De Baeremaeker
Councillor, Ward 38
Scarborough Centre



4 Comments to “"A Victory for All Animals"”

  1. Flossy says:

    Thanks for posting this. It is so good to know that our letters helped.

  2. GoLightly says:

    That's so great! Hurray for Toronto, c'mon, rest of Canada! Okay, Ontario. Applause!

  3. NK says:

    Now we have to concentrate on internet sales; my daughter's friend just bought a puppy off the internet and was horrified to think it was from a puppy mill - public beware!

  4. Woo hoo! With each victory we'll beat down more and more mills. Thanks for posting this!

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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