Brick Council to Decide: Should Existing Puppy Stores Be Shut Down?

When the Brick Township council considers enacting an ordinance that will ban puppy stores in town, council members will have the option to delete a section in the law that grandfathers in businesses already in existence.

The council is set to consider an ordinance on first reading next Tuesday.

An effort to ban stores that sell puppies gained momentum following the of Puppies Galore, a pet store on Hooper Avenue. The owner and manager of that store have since been with animal cruelty.

The ordinance, by Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, would ban the establishment of any new stores that sell dogs or cats or any breeder that sells more than 10 puppies in a calendar year.

The law, as proposed, would not apply to any establishment operating prior to January 1, 2012, however Township Attorney Jean Cipriani said this week that the council may elect to remove that grandfathering clause. Doing so would disallow businesses that are already operating from selling dogs and cats.

"Those facilities would be able to function, but not sell any cats or dogs," Cipriani said.

An exception would be added to the ordinance to allow shelter or rescue facilities to continue operating, however, Cipriani said.

Council members gave no indication as to which way they would decide to go with the ordinance at a caucus meeting Tuesday.

No one from Breeders Association of America, Inc., the formal name of the puppy store located at 588 Route 70, would comment to a reporter.

The store was busy on Thursday, with customers looking at and playing with a number of puppies kept there. The brightly-lit store had about 25 cages in view of a reporter, and cordoned-off play areas to the side where customers interacted with dogs.

The store, in the past, has been the site of frequent protests by those who rally against the sale of puppies.

Cipriani said that in addition to the grandfathering section of the ordinance, the council may wish to change the language that limits small, local breeders to ten puppies per year, as some dog breeds may give birth to more than ten dogs in a single litter.

The council is expected to take up the ordinance at its regular meeting March 13, scheduled for 7 p.m. in the township .