County Council Approved Both E-Cigarettes and Ban on Pet Stores Bills Today

UPDATED – The Montgomery County council approved both a ban on retail pet stores that sell cats and dogs and the use of electronic cigarettes in public places where traditional tobacco smoking is prohibited.

The bills now go to County Executive Ike Leggett for his approval. It will take effect 91 days after he signs it.

ORIGINAL – The Montgomery County Council is expected to vote on two bills today that have gained a lot of attention lately- e-cigarettes and a ban on pet stores that sell cats and dogs.PuppyCaper-225x300

The final reading of the bills is expected at 10 a.m.

The bill concerning electronic cigarettes would:
• prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes in public places where traditional tobacco smoking
is prohibited;
• restrict the sale of certain liquid nicotine or liquid nicotine containers in retail outlets unless
the nicotine is in a container considered child resistant packaging;
• prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes in any place that is accessible to buyers of the
product without the intervention of the seller (similar to tobacco products); and
• generally amend County law regarding smoking, electronic cigarettes, and health and
sanitation.

The bill concerning puppy sales would prohibit certain retail pet stores from selling certain animals bred in certain breeding facilities. Specifically, Bill 50-14 would prohibit any pet store that operates in the county’s jurisdiction to sell any dog or cat unless the animal was obtained from an animal care facility or a nonprofit rescue organization.

Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal is the chief sponsor of the bill and he says the idea behind it is to ban pet stores from selling “dogs or cats bred in puppy mills.” Just Puppies on Veirs Mill Road is a pet store that sells puppies in Montgomery County but because it is in the city of Rockville it would not be subject to county laws, such as this proposed one.

Related:

Animal Lovers Turn out to Testify For and Against Pet Bill 50-14 (VIDEO & PHOTOS)

pet3

Montgomery County residents love their animals. That was certainly evident at a Jan. 27 public hearing about proposed Bill 50-14 that would ban retail pet stores that sell dogs and cats in Montgomery County. Dozens of residents packed the Council’s chamber, many of them wearing stickers or buttons that read “Animal Lover” or “Stop Puppy […]

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Sonya Burke

About Sonya Burke

Sonya Burke is the Multimedia Manager at Montgomery Community Media (MCM). You can email story ideas at sburke@mymcmedia.org or reach her on Twitter @SonyaNBurke.

Comments

One Response to “County Council Approved Both E-Cigarettes and Ban on Pet Stores Bills Today”

  1. On March 4, 2015 at 11:28 am responded with... #

    What’s next? Ofcourse taxes and more taxes, the county is looking millions in cigarette taxes so they will have to tax e-cigarettes.

    Can you guess what was oxford dictionary’s word of 2014? can you guess?
    http://goo.gl/Pgq8NV

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