Humane Animal Ordinance in Frisco Update

Dallas Morning News and Journalist Brandi Addison recently looked into the City of Frisco’s actions since House Bill 1818 failed to pass in Texas Legislation this spring. Addison shares, “The Frisco group has lobbied for this bill since 2019, when an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States revealed many of the puppies at a Petland location in the city were sick, malnourished or underweight, some without proper veterinary care.” Read the full article here.

Locally, Frisco’s Pet Project, a grassroots effort comprised of concerned Frisco residents, nearby citizens, and animal advocates, rallied behind Rep. Jared Patterson’s bill in hopes of preventing the sale of puppy mill animals in Frisco, and all of Texas. Addison continues, “Marla Fields and Terri Palleschi of Frisco’s Pet Project said after the bill failed in May, they and others had face-to-face discussions with council members and emailed their concerns about Petland’s Frisco location but no action has been taken. The organizers are also urging other community members to speak to the council and emphasize the need for a local animal rescue and adoption center and a ban on retail animal sales in Frisco.”

We need more Frisco residents to write their Mayor and City Council and ask them to strengthen their animal ordinances to stop the retail sale of commercially raised dogs and cats and require pet stores to only offer the adoption of pets from shelters, rescues, or animal control agencies. Citizens can also speak during Citizen Input during every 1st and 3rd Tuesday’s City Council Meeting at 7:30PM. Frisco, a city of over 200K residents, doesn’t have its own animal rescue and adoption center. It continues to pick up Frisco pets and transport them to the county shelter, Collin County Animal Services, in McKinney.

The article continues, “We don’t understand why protecting animals had to be so political, but Frisco residents are not going to let up on their pets, and this is what the city will be seeing more of,” Fields said. “And we will continue to watch all Texas cities with a Petland even closer with the attention it received from House Bill 1818.”