By Shereen Siewert

A new pet store in Weston is prompting some residents to call for a ban on selling dogs in a retail setting.

Halo Puppies and Supplies, 4111 Schofield Ave., received a license in June from the Village Board of Trustees to begin July 1. But in late July, several Weston officials were contacted by a resident concerned about the sale of puppies in retail pet stores through brokers, commonly referred to as “puppy mills.”

Season Schmitz, the concerned resident who alerted officials, formally asked Weston to adopt an ordinance prohibiting such sales and asking that breeder license numbers be disclosed for current pet store owners who may already be grandfathered in. Any breeder selling puppies or dogs would be required to post their current state inspection report, and add details about where the animal was born and with which breeder.

Breeders typically produce one to two litters per year and focus on one or two breeds, Schmitz contends. Halo Puppies and Supplies, co-owned by Colleen Halopka, has a supply of “small breed, purebred and designer puppies,” according to the store’s website. Schmitz proposed an ordinance similar to one enacted in six Wisconsin communities including Fort Atkinson, Appleton, Whitewater, Beloit, Wauwatosa and Waukesha.

Many states are passing ordinances to make puppy mills more difficult to open and run. Puppy mills are not illegal in Wisconsin.

Halopka denies that she runs a puppy mill, instead qualifying her business as that of a broker. The store’s website says the family has been raising puppies since 2004 and does not get any puppies from third parties, but also said that “over the years, we have been working with other reputable, high quality breeders that we have hand selected and are in direct contact with.”

This week, she told officials she has been raising dogs for more than 20 years and is “sick to her stomach” over the “lies and untruths” being spread about her business.

Halopka said her dogs do not live in cages and she is “100 percent” in agreement that puppy mill dogs should be kept from Weston.

A woman who claimed to be Halopka’s stepdaughter said otherwise, telling officials that she saw dead puppies in a garbage can and other signs of an operating puppy mill when she was a child living with the family.

“They’re doing it for the money,” the woman said.

During an October 2021 inspection, Halopka, who previously operated stores in other communities, showed she had 58 adult dogs and 37 puppies on her property, Schmitz said.

According to the Humane Society of the U.S., most puppies sold in pet stores are from puppy mills. There are more than 10,000 estimated puppy mills in the U.S. with about 500,000 dogs kept specifically for breeding purposes. About 2.6 million puppies are sold each year after originating from a puppy mill, the organization states.

“Puppy mills are inhumane high-volume dog breeding facilities that churn out puppies for profit, ignoring the needs of the pups and their mothers,” the Humane Society information page reads. “In puppy mills, mother dogs spend their entire lives in cramped cages with little to no personal attention. When the mother and father dogs can no longer breed, they are abandoned or killed. Due to poor sanitation, overbreeding and a lack of preventive veterinary care, the puppies from puppy mills frequently suffer from a variety of health issues, creating heartbreaking challenges for families who should be enjoying the delights of adopting a new family member.”

Halo Puppies & Supplies maintains that all puppies are health checked and subject to a written health guarantee.

The board did not take any action on Monday regarding the proposed ordinance.