The Dunwoody City Council discussed a proposed ordinance that would ban the transient sale of pets, but the panel deferred it and suggested that it could go further – even to the point of banning pet sales at retail facilities.
A staff memo presented at the meeting on Nov. 25 said Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch proposed the measure to “combat transient sales of dogs, cats, and domestic rabbits.”
“Animals sold in informal settings are often bred in unsupervised environments such as ‘puppy mills’ or ‘backyard breeding,’” the memo said. “Conditions can be cruel and animals can end up in animal shelters that are already over capacity.”
The proposed ordinance would provide police and code enforcement staff the ability to investigate pet sales, which may be well advertised and easier to locate, and to cite the sellers and impound any affected pets.
During the presentation, Paul Leonhardt showed a recently taken picture of a dog-selling operation at the corner of North Peachtree near the I-285 exit.
The move to establish an ordinance was initiated after similar measures were recently implemented in Roswell and DeKalb County.
“The staff fears that activity could spill over into Dunwoody,” the memo said. “Adopting a similar ordinance ensures that Dunwoody will not become a safe haven for unsafe and unhealthy breeding practices and the sale of such pets.”
Deutsch said she saw a similar migration after the city of Sandy Springs banned party houses and “within 60 days, there was a party house in Dunwoody.”
During the meeting, Council Members Catherine Lautenbacher and Rob Price questioned whether the ordinance should be expanded beyond cats, dogs and rabbits.
Councilman Joe Seconder took the issue one step further, suggesting an ordinance to ban all animal sales from city pet stores.
“In 2017, Sandy Springs banned all retail pet sales,” Seconder said. “Canton did it. Woodstock did it. I’m just posing the question.”
The ordinance may affect the one pet store left in Dunwoody, PetSmart on Perimeter Center West.
The council instructed city staff to research the matter further and deferred the matter until at a later meeting.
The council also discussed the next step in its multi-use trail in the Perimeter Center area, obtaining right of way and easements for a trail from Perimeter Center West and Ashford Center Parkway.
The $5.1 million project cost will be split evenly between the city and Perimeter Center Improvement District, with the city’s share coming from hotel/motel tax revenue.
The panel also passed a resolution to support an appeal made by the city of Milton regarding a $30 million award to the family of Joshua Chang, who died in 2016 after hitting a masonry planter on a city-owned right of way. The planter had been in place since 1992.
Recently, an appeals court upheld the award.
“The city believes the court of appeals decision is inconsistent with existing legal precedent and should be overturned,” the resolution said. “The city believes the financial implications of the Court of Appeals decision could be devastating for Georgia municipalities.”
In other action, the council:
- Congratulated Dunwoody Planning and Zoning Director Paul Leonhardt, who was recently awarded U.S. citizenship. Leonhardt led the pledge of allegiance to kick off the meeting;
- Swore in four new Dunwoody Police officers – Collice Acoff, James Harding, Jason Holcombe and Jahron Mendoza;
- Reappointed Jim Cramer, Bob Lavender, and Mary Michael, to three-year terms on the Dunwoody Art Commission Board;
- Appointed Stephanie Cantwell as the District 2 representative of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Dunwoody to a three-year term of office;
- Reappointed Susan Mitchell, Cheryl Strickland, Jonathan Sangster to the Dunwoody Development Authority for 4-year terms.
