City Council Kicking The Can Down The Road Again

Dogs may be “man’s best friend”, but it appears the Naperville city council is not a best friend to a dog. When the Naperville city council had an opportunity to help make dogs’ lives safer and happier, they stepped back into the shadows and decided to do nothing, other than kicking the can down the road. Ask a Naperville city council member what their favorite sport is, and chances are you will hear a deafening scream for soccer.

Council members can’t bring themselves to take any action in favor of pet protection. The council decided to table a vote on an ordinance banning pet stores from selling dogs and cats from any source other than rescue organizations or animal shelters. The city council meeting lasted ten minutes short of four hours with 75% of the meeting being devoted to the issue of puppy mills.

Thirty-eight people spoke totaling almost two hours with over 90% favoring pet protection from puppy mills, but when it came time for the council to take a stand one way or another, all but Mayor Steve Chirico chose to do nothing and wait again for something magical to happen at the State level or elsewhere.

Decision-making has not been a strength of council members Becky Anderson, Judy Brodhead, Patty Gustin, and John Krummen. For them to kick the can down the road is no surprise, however it is a surprise that Kevin Coyne, Paul Hinterlong, Rebecca Obarski, and Benny White joined in the delay. The eight council members kicked the decision 60 days into the future, and chances are they will kick it again in 60 days.

The other option was for the council to approve city enforcement of the State of Illinois Animal Act which restricts pet stores from buying from commercial breeders with five or more breeding dogs that have been cited for violations during inspections from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

Mayor Chirico stated that “it’s time for (some type of) action” and that even short steps in the “in the right direction” would be prudent. He finished by saying, “We need to move forward”. At which time, the other members of council moved backward.

To councilman Paul Hinterlong’s credit, before moving backward, he expressed his frustration at both the State and Federal level for not taking action, and leaving it for local government.

In the meantime dogs and cats will have to endure with the status quo. No doubt, that if those eight council members could trade places for one day with a puppy mill dog, they absolutely would be able to finally make a timely decision.

Show 9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Dogone it

    Naperville city council didn’t wait for the feds or state when it came to the smoking ban, they stood loud and proud as 1st to ban indoor and near doors smoking. But then again, Mike Isaacs; friend, possible city councilman, and donor, didn’t have a business based on smoking. His business is based on the suffering of puppymill dogs. Maybe if the puppymill breeders were also smokers the council would step up and ban them.

    • Jim Haselhorst

      Mike Issac does not own Petland any more. If you were paying attention at the last council meeting in November you would have seen the new owner of Petland address city council in favor of a city ordinance that duplicates the state ordinance (option 1). Mr. Isaac does work with the American Kennel Club and other such groups but that is his only remaining link to the Pet industry.

  2. John

    Council is a helpless entity . The new members did not help to streamline the approval process .

  3. Dogone it

    Isaac owns 3 separate businesses that all help pupy mill breeders. Petland was never even mentioned.

    • Jim Haselhorst

      Oh really. So what are these supposed businesses that help puppy mills and how exactly do the help them?

      Previously the only business the puppy mill spokespersons mentioned was Petland and when he sold it before joining the the Financial Advisor Board, these same individuals vehemently denied he sold it and insisted he still owned it, which as we all now know was wrong. So I would say this group’s track record is questionable when it comes to getting information able Mr Isaac right.

      • Dogone it

        He may not sell puppymill puppies any more, but his companies, PAWSITIVE SOLUTIONS, THIRD PARTY PET, and SOLUTIONS.PET, teaches, insures and protects the ones who do. Easy look up on Il business website.

        • Jim Haselhorst

          Pawsitive Solutions is a pet registry service that works with pet owners. Third Party Pets is a consulting firm that helps owners of companies like Pets Etc, Dog Patch, and other pet related businesses streamline their operations. Solutions.pet is a company that again works with pet owners not companies. If you have some information proving that any of these companies have a commercial breeder as a client please provide it.

  4. John

    When one is a friend of the top dog any concerns are swept underneath the rug .

    • Jim Haselhorst

      If by this you mean to imply that Mr Isaac has been given special treatment because he is a friend of Mayor Chiro, then you clearly have no familiarity or knowledge about the nature of their interactions / relationship.

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