Off the side of Miami-Dade roads, illegal dog sales thrive. The county may ban them.

The makeshift pet shop set up business on the grassy shoulder of Southwest 137th Avenue two days before Christmas, a bed sheet spray painted in green advertising “Doberman’s Puppy’s.”

Behind the sign was a white van attached to a trailer with a pen holding 11 puppies, available for any impulse pet purchaser who might have been driving by that day in late 2013.

When a county inspector stopped to check the dogs’ veterinary certifications, the seller had other ideas. “He refused to provide identification to me,” Animal Services employee Kathleen Labrada wrote in a recent description of the incident, “and drove away with his vehicle plate obstructed from view.”

Legislation up for a final vote Tuesday would ban the kind of roadside animal sales that county regulators say frequently allow illegal, unregistered breeders to skirt enforcement actions. The ordinance before the Miami-Dade County Commission would make it illegal to sell animals on any public road or roadside, with violators subject to a $500 fine.

Miami-Dade’s Animal Services Department, which enforces county rules for pet sales and breeding, said roadside sales usually come from “backyard breeders,” the term for people who raise animals for sale without adhering to state and local rules regulating the industry.

Labrada, an assistant director at Animal Services, said enforcement teams from the agency typically see roadside pet sellers several times a week.

County inspectors do cite sellers if they can’t produce the required veterinary certifications for animals they’re selling. Changing the law to ban roadside sales will make enforcement easier, Labrada said, and allow code enforcers and police to issue citations as well.

“Despite years of enforcement, these roadside sales continue to be a pervasive issue [and] difficult to enforce,” Labrada said.

Michael Rosenberg, head of the Pets Trust advocacy group, said he was glad to see Miami-Dade moving to outlaw roadside pet sales. But he said the county also needs to invest in staff to produce an effective crackdown.

“It’s a good thing to ban it,” he said. “But without enforcement, it’s worthless.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 7:14 PM.