Economy

Oceanside Considers Puppy Pet Store Ban

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published September 25, 2013 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 11 years ago.

The Oceanside City Council will consider a proposal Wednesday night to ban the sale of dogs in pet stores.

Oceanside to consider banning the sale of puppies from pet stores.

The ban would be similar to one passed by the San Diego City Council in July.

Leslie Davies opposes the sale of dogs at a store called “Oceanside Puppies.” She said the owner, David Salinas, opened the store in Oceanside after San Diego’s ordinance banned him from doing business there.

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“It’s bad for Oceanside, “she said, “We already have an overcrowded animal shelter. He’s encouraging financing for military families who want to come in and purchase a dog. These are overpriced dogs who often are from puppy mills and often they are sick because of where they are raised. “

The store’s owner, Salinas, said he gets his dogs from licensed breeders. He said he has not closed his store in San Diego, in spite of the ordinance passed by the city council there, and he will fight Oceanside if they try to ban his business.

“There’s legal ramifications for any city that tries to pass an illegal ordinance that is unconstitutional, " he said. “We take great strides in taking care of our customers and making sure that our breeders are legitimate and accountable.”

The San Diego ordinance was supported by the San Diego Humane Society and the SPCA.

Los Angeles and Austin, Texas also passed bans on selling puppies in stores, unless they are obtained through an animal shelter or other nonprofit rescue agency.

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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.