LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – One year ago, Clark County passed its humane pet store ordinance, banning the sale of small animals in retail settings. Now, the grace period is coming to an end, and pet stores must stop selling dogs, cats, rabbits, and pot-belly pigs by December 20th.
“We’re doing a sale just because of holidays, but also because of the deadline. We need to get these puppies out of here, as many as we can,” said Viviana Duarte, receptionist at Spoiled Pup in Las Vegas.
Commissioner Michael Naft said officials have been communicating closely with each pet store business in unincorporated Clark County, providing instructions on how to move forward.
“We also nearly a year ago put out a grant opportunity for those looking to transition their business to increase maybe the grooming side of the business that they do whilst they decrease any revenue from pet sales,” said Naft.
Many pet stores FOX5 spoke to said they’re doing exactly that — increasing the grooming and retail side of the business to make up for the loss of pet sales.
“It’ll probably impact us a bit, but we’ll definitely be able to keep pushing through versus other places that are probably going to sink faster than we will just because we do have a lot of the money income coming from grooming,” said Duarte.
As for the animals left unadopted after the deadline, Naft said the county is ready to help and will call on the Animal Foundation, NSPCA, or other rescues to take in the animals if necessary.
“Bottom line, the goal here is to make sure that every animal is treated in a positive way,“ said Naft, “and if that means getting involved to make sure that they’re fostered and adopted and well taken care of during this transition, that’s, of course, what we’ll do.”
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