S.F. considers banning sale of pets except fish

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Sell a guinea pig, go to jail.

That's the law under consideration by San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare. If the commission approves the ordinance at its meeting tonight, San Francisco could soon have what is believed to be the country's first ban on the sale of all pets except fish.

That includes dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and nearly every other critter, or, as the commission calls them, companion animals.

"People buy small animals all the time as an impulse buy, don't know what they're getting into, and the animals end up at the shelter and often are euthanized," said commission Chairwoman Sally Stephens. "That's what we'd like to stop."

San Francisco residents who want a pet would have to go to another city, adopt one from a shelter or rescue group, or find one through the classifieds.

The Board of Supervisors would have final say on the matter. But not before pet store owners unleash a cacophony of howling, squeaking and squawking.

"It's terrible. A pet store that can't sell pets? It's ridiculous," said John Chan, manager of Pet Central on Broadway, which has been in business 30 years. "We'd have to close."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/08/MN9L1EAT90.DTL#ixzz0t9ItiauF

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

oh jeesh!

[natty bumppo 297]

gerbiling now cums to an end ....

[IncorrectPolitics 26]

Ridiculous....what is to stop them from going to the next closest city to buy one?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

ah, perhaps liberals should be now sold as pets?

As this story shows, they are amusing creatures.

[trillium13 84]

Such a bass-ackwards way to approach a problem.

[slim 1,525]

Maybe the city would pay for them to become sugary drink sales shops.