How Frisco animal advocates are working to end retail pet sales after failure of Texas House bill

The organizers of the Frisco Pet Project are calling on local leaders to take action after an animal rights bill they tabled during this year’s legislature failed.

House Bill 1818 would have banned the retail sale of commercially raised dogs and cats nationwide and required pet stores to only accept pets from shelters and rescues. The biller, Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Frisco Group has been campaigning for this law since 2019 when an undercover investigation by the United States’ Humane Society found that many of the pups at a location in Petland in the city were sick, malnourished, or underweight, some without adequate veterinary care.

The results of the investigation prompted Frisco City Council to update its Animal Control Ordinance to include stricter regulations.

Petland denied any allegation in the 2019 investigation, stating that it was propaganda driven by political motives and did not respond to a Dallas Morning News interview request for the story.

Marla Fields and Terri Palleschi of the Frisco Pet Project said after the bill failed in May, they had face-to-face meetings with council members and emailed their concerns about Petland’s Frisco location but took no action. The organizers are also calling on other community members to speak to the council and stress the need for a local animal rescue and adoption center, as well as a ban on animal sales in Frisco.

Councilor John Keating said Palleschi in an email dated 17. Keating did not respond to a request for comment.

Fields said she was disappointed the topic was not a priority at the city council’s annual summer workshop in mid-June. She was hoping it would be included because councilors told her they would discuss the issue if the bill failed, she said.

“We don’t understand why animal protection had to be so political, but Frisco residents are not going to give up their pets, and the city will see more of that,” Fields said. “And we will continue to monitor all Texas cities with a petland even more closely with the attention it received from the 1818 House Bill.”

Petland is the only major pet chain that sells dogs for a profit, according to the Humane Society, but the company has stated that it does not buy dogs from puppy factories.

Palleschi said that while Frisco Petland is not breaking the law, she is concerned about the animals receiving adequate veterinary care, and said the store’s purchase of commercially bred animals supports the “puppy mill pipeline.”

Animals are often neglected in mills before they are transported – often without food and water – to retail stores across the country where they are sold for a profit, Palleschi said.

“They all have one goal in mind: more profit,” she said of puppy factories, transporters and retail stores. “It’s like the underground dog mafia.”

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