BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A newly elected Brevard County commissioner is stirring the pot for Tuesday's county meeting with his intent to approve permission to advertise an ordinance that could potentially close down pet stores in Brevard.

  • Commissioner wants pet stores to use adoption business model
  • Brian Lober says ordinance is in effort to end puppy/cat mills
  • If passed, stores would no longer be able to get puppies from breeders
  • RELATED: Seminole County bans retail sales of dogs, cats

For decades, puppy lovers have been able to walk into pet stores, play, and check out the animals before taking them home.

But a proposed ordinance from Brevard County Commissioner Vice Chair Brian Lober could change the pet store business.

Lober says in an effort to end puppy and cat mills, he is proposing an adoption-based business model for pet stores.

In other words, they would have to obtain those dogs from a shelter or rescue group. But the difficulty would be in finding pure-bred puppies to adopt and then sell to pet store customers. Pet stores would no longer be allowed to get pups from breeders, even ones that are regulated.

“I'm not misleading anyone to think this has a minimum impact. It will have an impact on (pet stores), but for stores that also sell pet supplies, it betters their chances of having a profitable business,” Lober said.

Brevard-area pet store owner Bill Jacobson says not having puppies to sell would mean an uncertain future, and eliminating stores is not the answer.

Jacobson says in his 20 years of being in business, customers like to come see the puppies and play with them to bond before spending hundreds of dollars buying a pet. He thinks the people who spend a lot of money buying pure-bred dogs are responsible and have the means to care for their pets.

“(It's) unfortunate that people think that’s the answer, but the answer is regulation — regulate legitimate pet stores, license them, and shut down the illegitimate pet stores,” Jacobson said.

If the ordinance is passed, you can still buy a pure-bred puppy, but not from a local pet store — you would have to get it from a "hobby breeder," who is a person who allows breeding resulting in 20 or fewer offspring per year. So consumers would need to go directly to the house where the dog or cat is bred and raised.

Lober says he's passionate about shelter dogs because he has a one-eyed rescue poodle mix named Winks.