Do El Paso’s New Pet Ordinance Rules Apply In Cyberspace?

Questions remain over El Paso’s new pet ordinance that went into effect on January first. The issue at hand? How to regulate and enforce online pet sales and advertisements.

As we’ve reported, pet owners have to abide by new rules concernings puppies and kittens that are under a year old. They must obtain a $75 litter license to sell or give away the animals. Only one litter is allowed per animal per year. Breeders must purchase an additional $100 breeder’s license that’s good for three years.

Unregistered breeders are not allowed to sell their pets for profit. The city puts a price cap on their pets: $50 for puppies and kittens that are not spayed or neutered. The amount goes up to $150 if the animals are spayed or neutered. The only exception? The owner must prove he or she made an extra investment on the animals by providing receipts.

But in today’s online marketplace, how effective can the city’s efforts really be?

“Do people find loopholes? Yes, there are always people who are going to look for loopholes,” said Eduardo De Castro from El Paso Animal Services. De Castro said anyone who owns a litter in the city must get a litter license, but the rules become a bit more murky when it comes to the price caps.

Do sellers still have to abide by the price caps even though they’re completing a pet sale transaction online and will be shipping the puppy or kitten outside city limits? De Castro told ABC-7 that’s an issue that the city has not yet confronted, but could certainly face.

“There may be some disputes, we may have to go to court, and fight my interpretation versus your interpretation,” he said.

Meanwhile, animal services investigators said they would try any means necessary to enforce the litter license number requirement on online ads. When ads don’t have the seller’s direct contact information, De Castro said investigators could reply to the ads themselves and pose as interested buyers to nab sellers suspected of breaking the rules.