Photo: James Rojas / WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The City of Boston is considering a proposal to ban the sale of some small, furry friends.
City Councilor Liz Breadon will introduce a proposed ordinance change at Wednesday's council meeting that would ban guinea pigs from being sold at pet stores in Boston.
The proposed guinea pig sale ban is an amendment to an ordinance put in place in 2016 which banned the sale of cats, dogs, or rabbits in the city except from shelters and rescue organizations.
"We are hearing from rescue organizations that there was an increased number of guinea pigs being surrendered because the families, the people who had bought them, didn’t want to have them anymore," Breadon told WBZ NewsRadio Tuesday. "So we realized that there was this sort of loophole in the legislation that guinea pigs weren’t included, so that’s when we had to take corrective action."
"I think it's a great idea," said Allison Blanck, Director of Advocacy at Animal Rescue League of Boston. "I think it reflects a trend that we’ve seen across the state. Most recently, Attleboro just passed a similar ordinance."
Blanck also pointed to a guinea pig population problem as a good reason for a sale ban.
"Oftentimes with these animals, they are not appropriately sexed, and you may buy two guinea pigs and end up with six," Blanck said.
"I’m not anticipating a huge [...] resistance to this," said Breadon of her fellow Boston City Council members. "It’s a humane way to advance this issue and try to reduce the number of guinea pigs that are surrendered or let loose in the neighborhood because the owners can’t take care of them anymore. So I’m hoping that my colleagues will support this."
The council will also discuss another ban proposal at Wednesday's meeting over the sale of "nips"—tiny bottles of alcohol—in the city.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasNews) reports.
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