photo by Eric Tegethoff
More than 100 people showed up to voice their strong opposition to a suspected puppy mill proposed for east Orlando.
Hell hath no fury like a dog lover scorned.
A public upswell defeated a proposed commercial kennel at an Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment meeting on Thursday. After a week of organizing, more than 100 people arrived at the normally low-key zoning meeting to voice their strong opposition to a suspected puppy mill slated for east Orlando near a town called Taintsville.
To recap: David Valencia, a dog breeder from Canada, wanted to build a 4,800-square-foot facility for up to 100 dogs — although he underscores that he has only 64 dogs at the moment. Valencia classified the project as a commercial kennel, saying he would sell dogs, mostly small breeds, from this kennel. Valencia said the facility would be “state of the art,” with 44 dog runs and a 1,250-square-foot indoor playground. The dogs would be let out once a day for 30 minutes, reducing their exposure to the intense Florida heat and keeping noise to a minimum.
But neighbors and the public at large were concerned that the now-infamous Taintsville kennel shared all the hallmarks of a puppy mill. Residents are especially sensitive to the issue because Orange County commissioners voted to ban retail stores that sell pets in 2021. So opponents showed up at county headquarters on Thursday in matching red shirts to insist the zoning adjustment board stop the project.
Inside the meeting the outrage was palpable, the crowd buzzing like a swarm of hornets someone has royally pissed off. In a staff presentation, the board revealed that it had received 662 letters in opposition in the days leading up to the meeting — and none in favor.
Valencia, who was there with his wife, gave his own presentation, mostly reading through the legal definition of commercial kennels to distinguish the project from a retail shop. But he digressed at one point to address the flood of opposition that had been sent to the board. “Those false indications are not competent facts. Rather, they are misinformation intended to speak ill will,” he said in defense of his proposal, sounding a bit Trumpian.
Then began the three-plus hours of testimony. Many of the public commenters were from pet rescue organizations in central Florida who lamented the number of dogs in the area already without homes. A dog breeder of this scale simply wasn’t necessary, they said. Others pointed out that Valencia’s kennel wouldn’t have enough staff to manage the dogs, according to a description of the project.
“We typically have eight to 10 dogs, but two or three people working. More than that and we see their behaviors deteriorate,” said Aaron Stein, an intake coordinator for a Howey-in-the-Hills rescue called Polka Dogz. “A hundred dogs and one person? It’s horrific and insane.”
Dr. Michelle Dally, a veterinarian from Melbourne and the Florida state representative of the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, said the project was a public health nuisance and would breed diseases. She also compared the operation to torture, saying:
“You can put all the sound buffering on Abu Ghraib that you want to, but this is not something anyone wants in their neighborhood.”
Potential neighbors to the project had initially sounded the alarm about the kennel.
“I’m a realtor,” said Jeanne McKnight, who lives nearby. “But you don’t need to be a realtor to know that allowing this metal monstrosity to be built will decrease all of our property values.”
Others pointed out that Valencia’s defense that he was appointment-only and didn’t advertise was not enough to differentiate the business from a retail shop, especially since many of his sales, like a growing number of online retailers, came from social media.
As the hearing progressed, the speakers became more heated, attacked Valencia more personally, and offered stranger metaphors. A man in a Hawaiian shirt who identified himself as Scott Paxton said Valencia hadn’t made a compelling argument that his commercial kennel was distinct from an online business.
“I can take a pile of dog doo-doo. I shape it into the Taj Mahal. Guess what? You get closer, it’s not the Taj Mahal.”
Valencia was offered the chance for a rebuttal after the public comment period and continued his pugnacious stance.
“I don’t breed just to watch a dog humping,” Valencia said. “As you applaud the lady who says she’s a reputable breeder, one day you’re going to applaud me as well. Because I know who I am and you’re wrong. We are not a puppy mill.”
For the Board of Zoning Adjustment’s commissioners, the wheels had come off this proposal. Not only was public sentiment obvious, but the issues the proposal presented to locals were clear as well. For instance, the kennel was zoned in an agricultural production area.
“I don’t find a commercial kennel to be related to agribusiness,” commissioner Roberta Walton Johnson said. Other members pointed out the lack of central water and sewer systems for the area and the “detrimental intrusion” the project presented to the neighborhood.
Commissioner John Drago bluntly laid out the issue of breeding dogs as Valencia has presented. He describes a scenario in which a family wants to buy a Yorkshire Terrier puppy. Valencia breeds the terriers, which have more than one puppy. “So now the question is what happens to the other puppies? And there’s only four options. You either sell them, you keep them, you give them away or you euthanize them. That’s the four options. And it’s not clear what options are available to the applicant relative to the puppies that are being born.”
In the end, all of the board members voted against a special exception in zoning for the commercial kennel. Valencia has until May 19 to appeal the decision to the Orange County commissioners, but members there are likely to be even less sympathetic to the proposal.
So for now it’s so long, Taintsville puppy mill. We hardly knew ye.