NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — The North Kingstown Town Council voted unanimously Monday night to ban the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in town, a measure aimed at the Fishbowl pet store that drew nearly 30 speakers on both sides and accounts from store employees of harassment.

The council voted 5-0 to amend the ordinance and then 5-0 to adopt it, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027, added at the suggestion of Councilor Matthew McCoy, who introduced the proposal. The ordinance has no grandfather clause for existing stores. A town official who walked the council through the changes said the amended text also bars hobby breeders from operating inside pet stores and prohibits selling pets from dog training, grooming and daycare businesses.

Council President Gregory Mancini said the most persuasive testimony came from Dawn Taylor Church, who said two online petitions had drawn more than 1,600 and more than 1,700 signatures. "I certainly apologize to the owners for the harassment that they have received from our community," Mancini said, adding that a transition period was appropriate.

Supporters, many of them animal welfare advocates, said the stores are an outlet for commercial breeders they described as puppy mills. A letter from the president of the Rhode Island SPCA, read aloud by a supporter, said a ban "helps prevent the supply chain that irresponsible commercial breeders profit from." Kimberly Rose, of the group Harley's Dream, said East Providence, Warwick, Providence and several other Rhode Island communities have passed similar rules. Several supporters said they did not want the store to close, only to stop selling puppies. "Nobody wants fishbowl closed," said Christine Mangan Ulf.

Opponents, including the Pet Advocacy Network and bird-keeping groups, said the ban would push buyers elsewhere and called for tougher standards instead. "An animal's welfare isn't determined by whether someone earns a profit," said Alisa Clements, the network's director of government affairs, who urged a transition period for animals already in the store.

Store employees told the council they had been targeted. "No one should be subjected to harassment or mistreatment simply because of something they are passionate in or opinions they hold," said Savannah Glenn, a Fishbowl employee from North Smithfield. Asked by a council member whether anyone had tried to intimidate her, she said, "Yes, all the time at the store," and the council member apologized to her on behalf of the town.

Another employee, a college student, said a 17-year-old co-worker was berated so badly that she quit.

Shauna Marabello, who said her family has run the business for nearly 27 years, said she had been labeled an animal abuser on social media. "We have lost eight employees because of the verbal harassment," she said. She said a 17-year-old employee was "not only verbally harassed, but she was physically pushed," and that she has had to call North Kingstown police "on at least two occasions." Marabello said the store has worked with 46 breeders this year and that inspections since the dispute began found no violations.

Mangan Ulf said supporters were not the ones harassing workers. "We don't know who these people may be that they're saying are harassing them," she said. Another supporter said the hostility "goes both ways," describing an owner as aggressive toward her at the store.