ORLANDO (CN) - Volusia County discriminates against people who breed dogs for a hobby by subjecting them to regulations it does not impose on pet dealers, the NAIA Trust and two hobby breeders claim in Federal Court. Hobbyists say the county is trying to drive them out of the county, to the advantage of pet dealers.
Hobby breeders raise a single breed of dog. The NAIA Trust - a nonprofit animal protection group - claims the county ordinance is unconstitutional: "The ordinance impermissibly targets plaintiff and members of NAIAT hobby breeders for regulation with the improper motive of driving them out of the county, thereby interfering with their legitimate exercise of constitutional rights, while not imposing similar requirement and regulations for the pet dealers, impounding or holding facilities, or individual pet owners within the county."
Plaintiffs want the ordinance enjoined, and costs. They are represented by Edmund Loos III with Greenspoon Marder.
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