Vista Bans 'Puppy Mill' Sales

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published September 23, 2015 at 12:12 PM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Vista has become the sixth city in San Diego County to ban retail pet stores from selling dogs and cats bred in out-of-state “puppy mills.”

The City Council vote was 3-2.

Vista Councilman Cody Campbell initiated the item and supported it, along with Mayor Judy Ritter and Deputy Mayor John Aguilera. Campbell said no such retail pet stores exist in Vista currently, but the vote prevents store owners from relocating to Vista as neighboring cities ban their business.

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“The Vista community isn’t going to stand for retail pet stores moving in and selling dogs that are bred in inhumane conditions,” Campbell said. “It’s important that we join the growing number of cities in San Diego County that recognize that animal welfare is an import issue to their constituents.”

Vista joins the cities of Oceanside, San Marcos, San Diego, Chula Vista and Encinitas in banning puppy mill sales.

Oceanside and San Marcos have allowed exemptions for puppy breeders who breed fewer than 20 animals a year and sell the pets in the same town where they were born.

Oceanside is still working to enforce its law on the “Oceanside Puppy” store, which owner David Salinas moved to North County after San Diego passed its ordinance.

Campbell said the city of Vista subsidizes the Humane Society to the tune of $450,000 a year, and encouraging the purchase and adoption of pets from shelters is a good public investment.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.