This is the WFHB Local News for Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022.

Later in the program, WFHB Correspondent Kai Fitzgerald speaks with Virgil Sauder, the Director of the City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control about a new pet ordinance.

Also coming up in the next half hour, WFHB Correspondent Nathaniel Weinzapfel reports on a fire at a Walmart distribution center in Plainfield, Indiana.

Bloomington Redevelopment Extends Contracts for Hopewell Site and Trades District Tech Center

At the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission meeting on March 21st, commissioners discussed the redevelopment of the old hospital site.

Commission member Randy Cassady proposed to extend a contract with J.S. Held to find adequate developers for the Hopewell neighborhood.

Crowley clarified that this contract would help to ensure that developers propose projects that fit within the city’s master plan for the former hospital site.

The commission voted unanimously to extend the contract with J.S. Held.

The commission also discussed a contract with Axis Architecture for design work on the new Trades District technology center. Crowley, provided some background knowledge on the agreement.

One commission member asked what the timeline looks like for the agreement. Crowley replied that there will be a gap in funding that the commission should prepare for.

The resolution passed unanimously. The next Redevelopment Commission meeting will be held on April 4th.

The Truth About Pet Breeding in Bloomington

By Kai Fitzgerald

Bloomington City Council voted in late December to prohibit the sale of cats and dogs from local pet shops. Ordinance 21-45 to amend Title 7 would fine each store $500 per violation taking effect January 1st of 2023, in a hope to allow local pet shops to adapt to the ordinance, mainly affecting local shops “Anthony’s Pets” and “Delilah’s Pet Shop.”

 Virgil Sauder, Director of City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control, speaks with WFHB News regarding the contents of Bloomington Ordinance 21-45.

One of the complications or concerns with this ordinance was its timing. It was possible if the ordinance was immediate the current animals were going to be dumped or disposed of with haste in order to comply with the sudden policy. To combat this, the City Council voted to postpone the enactment of the policy until January 1st of, 2023. Luckily, this allowed enough time for these businesses to rethink their business and marketing strategies. The owner of Delilah’s Pet Shop has spoken at Bloomington City Council meetings this past year, speaking out against this ordinance. Sauder goes on to discuss the specificities of this issue.

Pet breeding has only been a widespread practice within the last 100 years. In fact, humans created breeds as a means to entertain the wealthy in Victorian England. Beforehand, dog and cat breeds were nonexistent. Pet breeding is the genetic selection for specific characteristics within the animal that are considered desirable. This often leads to breeders -including puppy mills- to breed within the family. This means that most purebred animals are actually a result of inbreeding. This causes these animals to have very little genetic diversity, making it difficult for them to fight off genetic disease or infection. In fact, the average lifespan of a bulldog (a common purebred dog in modern-day) is seven years due to the breed’s inability to combat disease and infection. Now while most animal shelters or humane societies are either required to spay or neuter their animals or to simply prevent more strays, pet shops -at least in Bloomington are not required to do so. Virgil elaborates on this.

This can cause overpopulation in mills and shops, leading to more strays and less available space in shelters.