California Animal Shelter Introduces Policy Requiring Support of Gun Control for Pet Adoption – PEOPLE

Vanessa Etienne is an Emerging Content Writer-Reporter for PEOPLE. Prior to joining in April 2021, she served as a reporter for Men's Health Magazine and BET Digital after freelancing for publications such as The New York Times and Everyday Health. Originally from northern Virginia, Vanessa is a proud Haitian American with a love for R&B music and mental health topics. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor's in Communication and Public Relations before earning her master's degree in Journalism from the City University of New York.
A California animal shelter is adding a new question to its standard interviews for those interested in pet adoption: Where do you stand on gun control?
The Shelter Hope Pet Shop in Thousand Oaks, California, released a statement supporting gun control following the Uvalde school shooting and several other mass shootings in the U.S. Additionally, the shelter announced that they would stop adopting out animals to those who oppose certain restrictions on gun ownership.
“We do not support those who believe that the 2nd amendment gives them the right to buy assault weapons,” Kim Sill, owner of the shelter, wrote on the organization’s website, per The Hill. “If your beliefs are not in line with ours, we will not adopt a pet to you.”
"If you lie about being a [National Rifle Association] supporter, make no mistake, we will sue you for fraud," Sill added.
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In addition to supporting gun control, pet adoption candidates must be 25 years old with a driver's license. A home visit is also required before the shelter offers adoption approval.
Sill explained that the shelter put the new policy in place as a response to the many cities that have been “scarred” by mass shootings, sharing condolences to those in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers with an AR-15-style rifle at Robb Elementary School.
"We will continue to support our community, but if you are pro-guns and believe that no background check is necessary, then do not come to us to adopt," she said. "We will grill you before you even get an appointment and visit our rescue. If we ask you, 'Do you care about children being gunned down in our schools?' If you hesitate, because your core belief is that you believe teachers need to carry firearms, then you will not get approved to adopt from us."
"If you foster for us and believe in guns, please bring our dogs and/or cats back, or we will arrange to have them picked up," the statement continued. "Shelter Hope Pet Shop in no way will continue to operate if we are even remotely part of the problem."
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On Thursday, NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter responded to the shelter's decision, calling the policy "asinine."
“Having this asinine political litmus test comes at the expense of needy and homeless dogs and cats,” Hunter said, per NBC News.
Sill told the outlet that many donors for The Shelter Hope Pet Shop are Republicans and have threatened to end financial support if the organization's new policy regarding gun control remains.
"I say, fine, keep your money," she said. "If I go out of business, as a result, I go out of business. But I have to do something. And this is the only thing I can do to make the point that mass killings by people armed with guns have to stop."
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Sill added to NBC News that she was also inspired by Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey‘s speech calling on Congress to take “reasonable” and “practical” steps toward protecting Americans by introducing gun legislation.
She added that the actor’s wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, previously adopted two dogs from her shelter when they lived in Malibu.
"I know he's a gun owner, and when he went before Congress and said we've got to do something about this, well, my heart went out to him," Sill said. "I hope other gun owners do the same. Because this is killing all of us."
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