Quillman Loses Bid To Regulate Joliet's Pet Stores

JOLIET, IL - Several Will County animal activists and dog lovers have implored the Joliet City Council for months to follow the lead of Chicago. They wanted Joliet to prohibit local pet stores from obtaining their puppies from breeding operations. They want these businesses, namely Furry Babies, which is located at the Louis Joliet Mall, to get their puppies from animal shelters, pounds and other pet-rescue operations. The grassroots movement had strong support from Joliet City Councilwoman Jan Quillman. And that's about it.

On Tuesday night, after much back and forth discussion on the topic, the Joliet City Council voted 7-1 to adopt a measure that was more sympathetic to businesses selling puppies such as Furry Babies. There were two different resolutions on the council's plate. They were dubbed version A and version B.

According to a council memo, Version A, the more drastic measure, mirrored legislation previously adopted by the city of Chicago. "In very basic terms, it requires pet stores to acquire dogs which they intend to sell from rescue operations, public pounds, human societies and similar operations," the memo read.

The other measure, Version B, became the one adopted by the council in a 7-1 vote Tuesday night.

This version bans the existence of so-called puppy mills and it bans unlicensed dog and cat breeders. "In very basic terms, it requires pet stores to only obtain dogs from a USDA licensed breeder, a humane society or rescue or a hobby breeder who is not required to be licensed by the USDA," the ordinance stated.

On Wednesday, Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said that he received feedback from some people and groups urging the city to pass Version A and others wanting Version B. The version that was passed had the support of the American Kennel Club, the mayor told Patch.

"There were very strong opinions on both sides," said O'Dekirk, who did not have to vote on the issue. "This issue has been kicked around for a while. I'm glad we're able to finally address it. I'm glad we're finally able to get something on the books."

About two dozen people showed up for Tuesday night's meeting to hear the debate and see what their Joliet elected officials would do.

"I had hoped that the council would have gone with Version A like our neighbors did in Romeoville, Crest Hill and Chicago," Quillman declared during the meeting. "I'm very disappointed that this council is only going with Version B so I have to vote no."

Before the vote, one woman held up pictures of her dogs and told the Joliet City Council how they needed to ban the pet stores from obtaining their puppies through breeders. She told them how there were once times in our country's history when child labor was acceptable, when slavery was legal, when women could not participate in the Democratic process.

"You have a lot of passionate people as constituents and that's a fact you should be proud of, and we deserve brave leaders ... act on our behalf," she said.

While many audience members who addressed the council were in Quillman's camp, not everyone was.

Robert Hernandez told the council how and his brother have had pet dogs since the early 1980s.

"Every pet that we purchased from a pet store had no issues, had no psychological issues and that's from 1983 to today," Hernandez said.

"I just believe it's everybody's right to have a pro-choice of where they acquire their animal, whether it's a shelter, the humane society or a pet store," he continued. "That is our Constitutional right to make that decision."

Main image via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak

Secondary image via city of Joliet