Mr. Major and all Council members of the City of Oshawa
50 Centre Street South
Oshawa, Ontario L1H3Z7
Dear Madams/Sirs:
I would like to comment on the ban the city of Oshawa is considering on sale of puppies and kittens in stores.
Our society is a society of liberty. What does liberty mean? It means that, as long as no harms to others are caused, the individual can do and say whatever he or she wants to without any restrictions from any sources, including government and society itself. Lest we forget, this liberty is protected by the Charter. Any legislature violating individual liberty is therefore unconstitutional.
It follows that, unless selling puppies and kittens in pet stores are proved to be injurious to the public, people are free to sell and buy them in pet stores. And it is against the constitution to ban such activities. There do not seem to be any damages caused by such activities, for they have been in existence for decades and resulted in no complaints. It is not until recently a small group of animal welfare advocates suddenly voiced their concerns.
The only “damage” of such activities these advocates can produce is that they contribute to the problem of pet overpopulation in Oshawa, for they encourage “impulse purchase” of pets. This sort of reasoning appears laughable. If this is the case, then all sources of pets, including those for adoption, should be eliminated. The opponents of this ban know very well that that is impossible. So they suggested that pets for adoption be still available. Ms. Kelli Polsinelli, one of these advocates, even encourages pet stores to make pets available for adoption. What about “impulse adoption” then? Is it not true that free things are more encouraging for impulse acquisition? What is more laughable is that Ms. Polsinelli indicated that pets can be still sold by registered breeders. How does that prevent impulse purchases? Even if breeders in Oshawa are disallowed to sell pets, people can still buy them from breeders in other areas and other sources such as the internet, as Mr. Wes Mauch pointed out. Apparently, banning the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores is not the solution. On the contrary, it causes huge problems. Not only will pet stores be negatively impacted, but breeders and consumers will also encounter great, unnecessary difficulties. And pets’ welfare will be compromised, for it will become challenging for them to obtain good, professional care of breeders and pet stores.
There are always some people committing impulse actions. They speculate in securities. They gamble crazily. They drink and drive. The list goes on and on. Anything can be added to it. Should we ban all activities? If we should, then animal welfare advocating should be banned, too. For it encourages impulse imposition of ridiculous rules.
If the problem is impulse purchase, then let us go after impulse purchasers, rather than others, just as the police pursue drunk driver, rather than car manufactures and sellers. The solution is simple: requiring impulse purchasers to bear the cost of raising their pets should they choose to surrender them.
It seems some people have lost the sense of the liberty of others. They are inclined to impose their views on others. Those animal welfare advocates who proposed this ban are not concerned the problem of pet overpopulation in Oshawa. They do not even care about pets’ welfare. Otherwise, they would have proposed precisely the same solution as mine. They simply do not like pets to be sold in store. And they are determined to wipe out anything they dislike. Ms. Polsinelli has even gone so far as to tell people how they should live in Oshawa. People who do not share her views must leave, so she declares. People such as Ms. Polsinelli are dangerous. They do not belong to societies of liberty. They should leave for societies of tyranny. But this is only my view and I have no intention whatsoever to impose it. As a lover of liberty, I only advocate what I believe through persuasion, not coercion.
The city of Oshawa should not bend to such an unreasonable demand of the small group of animal welfare advocates. Everybody in Oshawa should stand up against such a ban, even if you have nothing to do with pet. For when it comes to liberty, nothing is too small to pay attention. If you do not stand up for the liberty of others, then nobody will stand up for yours.
Sincerely yours,
Xiaolin Zhong
PS: I can be also reached at wwzz2@rogers.com or 647-800-0875.