UPDATE: The North Kingstown Town Council unanimously passed the pet shop ordinance banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits, on 11/9/26. Fish Bowl Aquarium & Pet Mart must close by January.
Testimony of: Deborah A. Howard, Founder/President, Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS)
Submitted to: North Kingstown, Rhode Island Town Council and City Manager
Regarding: Pet shop ordinance to ban the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits
Date: November 9, 2026
City Manager and Honorable Members of the North Kingstown Town Council, on behalf of CAPS and its supporters in Rhode Island, I thank you for considering my testimony on behalf of the pet shop ordinance to ban the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits. I drafted the ordinance you are considering today. Town Solicitor James Callaghan changed some of the definitions to be consistent with state law, and I made some additions and minor changes last night. I will discuss the ordinance language below in the last section.
Mission
Founded in 1992, the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) is the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals from cruelty in pet shops and puppy/kitten mills. CAPS addresses animal suffering through investigations, outreach, legislation, legal advocacy, consumer assistance, rescue, and shelter reform.
Background
When consumers buy puppies and kittens from pet shops, they condemn the parents to further inhumane treatment in mills – large commercial breeding facilities, most of which are USDA-licensed, that mass-produce puppies and kittens for resale in pet shops and online. By its very nature, the pet shop and puppy/kitten mill industry creates an endless cycle of animal overpopulation, mistreatment, and consumer deceit, causing needless shelter euthanasia and costing defrauded consumers millions of dollars each year.
CAPS’ Expertise
With decades of experience focusing exclusively on all aspects of the pet shop and puppy/kitten mill industry, CAPS is uniquely qualified to provide expert testimony and investigative evidence. We have strong relationships with key players in all levels of government, other nonprofits, and the media. CAPS is the only national organization that investigates inside USDA-licensed dog and cat breeding facilities (more than 1,000 to date). Our investigators have worked undercover at the largest USDA dog broker in the country and at the most notorious dog broker/breeder, who had a facility with 900 adult dogs and 400 puppies and was convicted and lost her USDA license based on our evidence.
Ordinance Work
CAPS has generated and worked on municipal ordinances banning the retail sale of pet shop puppies, kittens and IB in cities and states across the country. Times and Newsweek have covered CAPS’ work as the national leader in the pet shop ordinance movement. Since our West Hollywood ordinance passed in 2010 – the genesis for the ordinance movement in the United States and Canada – municipalities and states in the United States and Canada have passed more than 500 ordinances and state laws.
Pet Shop Investigations
CAPS is well-versed in pet shops that sell puppies and kittens. Two of our investigators worked undercover at Petland franchises. “Dateline” featured some of our Petland evidence in the hour-long segment, “A Dog’s Life,” which took 13 months of close work between the producer and CAPS. The exposé, which examined every aspect of the pet shop/puppy mill industry, won a Genesis award. CAPS has conducted undercover investigations of every pet shop selling puppies/kittens in New York, California. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington and Oregon, and around half of the pet shops in Florida. We have also investigated pet shops in numerous other states. After investigating the pet shops, we investigate the puppy and kitten mills selling to them.
CAPS Investigation of Fish Bowl Aquarium & Pet Mart
CAPS has investigated Fish Bowl Aquarium & Pet Mart in Fall River, MA three times, with two investigation reports on our website. I personally have been to the West Warwick store. The Massachusetts location is relevant because almost all the puppies in the two Rhode Island stores are being initially shipped to Fall River. The puppies are then driven to the Rhode Island stores without Certificates of Veterinary Inspections (interstate health certificates) being filed with Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It does not matter that the breeders and brokers selling to Fish Bowl submitted CVIs to Massachusetts. When the puppies are transported across the state line into RI, additional CVIs must be filed with the states of origin and destination.
https://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/title-4/chapter-4-19/section-4-19-4-1
(iv) The total number of dogs and cats on the premises of the breeder at the time the dog or cat offered for sale by the pet shop left the breeder’s premises.
Please note that no store in Rhode Island complies with this requirement because when breeders sell their dogs to brokers, they do not know where they are going to end up. The statute clearly says breeder’s premises, not brokers, so even if the broker were to provide the number of animals, that would not comply with the law.
Brokers that sell to Fish Bowl include Pinnacle Pet in Missouri the largest dog broker in the country, and Becky Busboom in Nebraska, who was the broker for cat miller Claudia Obermiller and puppy miller Gary Felts. Due to CAPS’ investigative efforts, USDA shut down both atrocious facilities. Fish Bowl also sources puppies from breeders CAPS has investigated, like Lizzie and Clemens Borntreger in Kansas, who have a long history of federal and state violations, and Perry Petersheim in Missouri, who has had state violations. In our 2026 investigation report, you can also read about the many USDA and/or state violations for breeders in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri who sell puppies to Fish Bowl.
A CAPS Investigation of Fish Bowl Aquarium & Pet Mart
Ordinance Language
My recent changes on the attached ordinance draft are in orange. Most of the changes in red are from the ordinance I drafted, except that Mr. Callaghan said state definitions had to be used. Because the state’s definitions for breeder and broker don’t apply for pet shops, I added definitions for commercial breeder and commercial broker, which are necessary for a pet shop ordinance, especially to prevent the use of fraudulent rescues created by pet shops, brokers and employees of these entities, Sixteen California pet shops investigated by CAPS after enactment of the state’s retail ban law were using fraudulent rescues. In addition, I removed all the additional businesses except for grooming salons. CAPS has investigated a fair number of grooming businesses that sell puppies sourced from mills, including those that use special order.
I added the section about animals from breeders who breed and sell on premises back into the prohibition section. For the sake of clarity and readability, I would create a separate entry for each exemption.
Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
