If a North Shore teenager has her way, a recent ban on the sale of puppy mill dogs, kitten mill cats and rabbit mill rabbits in Chicago and Cook County would spread statewide. Rachel Leadholm has started a petition drive on Change.org to help spread the word and hopefully change the law banning the sale of commercially bred pets in Illinois pet stores.
Rachel started the campaign as part of a school project that encourages students to take action but gives them some leeway to design and create their own campaign. The New Trier Junior has always been passionate about animals, but had been turned down when she tried to volunteer at local shelters because she wasn't old enough. She found inspiration for this project in her own home.
'My family purchased a Wheaton Terrier from a pet store that ended up having lots of health problems,' says Rachel. 'When I started to research, I found out about puppy mills and became very angry that this is going on. Since I have the schools backing for this project, I decided to focus my energies on doing something about puppy mills.'
She didn't need to go far for help. Janie Jenkins, a board member of The Puppy Mill Project, was a former neighbor of Rachel's family. Jenkins sat down with Rachel to give her some guidance and direction. Her goal was to work toward a ban in Chicago, but Chicago's City Council approved a ban on the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits before her proposal was due.
'I thought - there goes my project. Luckily, my teacher had a different idea and I was encouraged to shoot for something bigger,' says Rachel. 'I didn't want to shoot for a Cook County ban just in case and ended up working on the petition ban pet sales in Illinois pet stores. I'm working to see how many signatures I can get before I send in my petition and move to the next step of working toward changing the law.'
The class and assignment are part of New Trier's Global Studies program. Her classmates have found a range of issues to support for their final projects from animal rights to arts in schools to recycling. When you hear so much about young people not being engaged, it's great news to learn that a group of 70 students are doing what they can to make a difference.
'There are many teenagers that are passionate about various causes but many of them ran into the same problem I did - many organizations don't want young volunteers,' she adds. 'Some groups won't return calls or want you to be older or have more resources. It's discouraging when others as passionate about the same issues won't take you seriously.'
She says that since each student now has their own projects, they are diving in headfirst and and getting involved. The project and teachers are giving them the leeway to be creative and come up with their own ideas and plans to have an impact in the area where they are passionate.
'I would really love to get the pet store ban passed on a statewide level,' adds Rachel. 'It's about so much more than puppy mills and the cruelty that goes with them. If the Illinois pet store ban could go statewide it would make such a huge difference for the animals in shelters and rescues that need a home.'
You can sign her petition online and pass this story and her petition along to help drum up more support. Since the Chicago and Cook County pet store bans passed, other communities in Illinois are considering enacting similar laws - some on a countywide level and some locally. An Illinois pet store ban would close loopholes and make the sale of puppy mill dogs, kitten mill cats and rabbit mill rabbits illegal throughout Illinois.
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