Digital subscriptions provided by the City of Gulfport THE GABBER.COM No. 2834
October 12, 2023- October 18, 2023
For All The Dogs? SPCA Tampa Bay’s new, unlikely partnership and pilot program with a puppy broker and the owner of two Tampa Bay area puppy stores is raising hackles in the Tampa Bay rescue community. The For All Dogs program currently involves the regional SPCA animal welfare group placing adult dogs from Missouri-based puppy broker Pinnacle Pet in the Largo shelter. It also includes a deal to provide veterinary services to Sunshine Puppies, which operates stores on Ulmerton Road in Largo and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater. The partnership has stirred questions, scrutiny, and emotional opposition in animal rescue circles, where many hold dim views of puppy breeders and retailers. Pinellas County has six such retailers, all grandfathered in under new regulations and restrictions on new stores passed by the county commissioners in 2022. A New Approach SPCA Tampa Bay CEO Martha Boden said the partnership involves helping the welfare of dogs and
JOEY NEILL
By Mike Sunnucks
SPCA Tampa Bay’s new effort has a number of animal welfare and dog rescue advocates upset.
bringing more people to SPCA Tampa Bay to adopt pets. “We are definitely calling it a pilot, because this is all about learning about opening ourselves up to fig-
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uring out opportunities we haven’t learned about before,” Boden said. In an interview with The Gabber Newspaper, Boden said the effort Puppies continued on page 8