Detroit is banning the sale of dogs and cats at retail pet stores in the city, under a new ordinance the city council approved Tuesday.

In a unanimous vote, the council approved the measure, which still allows breeders to still sell dogs and cats directly to the public. Pet stores also could work with animal adoption groups to sell rescued animals.

“This is just one step in the right direction,” said Councilwoman Angela Whitfield Calloway, who introduced the ordinance.

Detroit doesn’t have any retail pet shops that currently sell dogs and cats, but supporters said the measure is preventative in case an operator does want to open in the city. It prevents retail shops from selling dogs and cats that may not be bred by responsible breeders.

“This is not banning breeding,” said Ariel Lefkovits, a public policy specialist who focuses on puppy mills for the Humane Society of the United States, who addressed the council before Tuesday’s vote. “This is not banning the sale of dogs or cats to the public. It’s only affecting pet stores.”

Lefkovits said there’s nothing at the state level that prevents a puppy mill in a Midwestern state from shipping their puppies into a store in Michigan, which is why cities can step in.

“We are working and fighting for regulations at the state level. That also takes time,” she said. “The cities have this power and responsibility to say, ‘We’re going to protect our own community.’”

Detroit is the latest Michigan community to ban the retail sale of dogs and cats. Eastpointe, Royal and 9 other Michigan communities also have bans in place.

Some councilmembers asked questions about enforcement and other ways to make sure pet stores were only selling dogs and cats from responsible breeders or were taking care of animals properly. But in the end, the entire council voted in favor of the ordinance.

“Everyone may not want a rescue dog through the humane society,” said Council President Mary Waters. “They may want to go to a pet shop. But how do we ensure that if a pet shop wanted to open, that those dogs that are sold have come from a licensed breeder?”

Lefkovits said even if a breeder is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, those standards of care are “very minimal” and enforcement isn’t enough. Even when inspectors go in and issue citations, “there’s not meaningful enforcement happening.”

Waters supported the ordinance but said more work needs to be done because the measure doesn’t address the root issues at stake.

Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero called for the creation of a taskforce to address the city’s broader issues with breeders and strays.

“We have organizations that are addressing the issues that we deal with in the city of Detroit every single day and they’re doing it alone. We should be able to help you fill in the gaps,” she said. “…But this highlights the need for us to address the real issues in the city.”

Dajua Blanding from Detroit said she was denied a ride from Lyft due to her weight, which caused her to file a suit.

Blanding captured the incident on video and posted it to her social media page, which has been shared thousands of times.

According to the video, Blanding paid Lyft for a ride from her residence to a party at her cousin’s house.

About 10-15 minutes later, a Lyft driver arrived in a Mercedez Benz sedan.

Blanding walked towards the Lyft driver’s vehicle, and the Lyft driver locked his doors and started to drive away.

She asked the driver what he was doing, and the driver told her that she was too big to get into his car.

“Under the law, refusing someone transportation due to their weight is no different than refusing someone transportation based on their race or religion.” said attorney Jon Marko. “Discrimination of any kind should never be tolerated in our society.”

The driver claimed that Blanding was too big to fit into the backseat of his vehicle and that his tires could not support her weight.

The Lyft driver also said that he had this problem in the past and that overweight people need to order Lyft XLs.

Despite Blanding assuring the Lyft driver that she could fit in the back seat, he kept his doors locked and sped off.

“Refusing someone transportation based on their weight is not only illegal, but dangerous,” said attorney Zach Runyan. “Imagine the consequences if Ms. Blanding were unable to seek shelter after the driver left her stranded. This could have ended even worse than it did.”

Lyft has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

It’s been strange to see Alex Bregman sit on the open market for so long, and while that seemingly has played into the favor of the Detroit Tigers since they were never going to offer him the high-priced contract he was seeking, things are now starting to heat up for the star.

Originally, he appeared destined to leave the Houston Astros when the two sides were far apart in contract negotiations and that front office decided to bring in some other players to address their roster needs.

But, as the offseason continues to roll on and he remains unsigned, momentum has started to pick up for him to return to that franchise.

Where do the Tigers stand when it comes to Bregman?

That’s the question this fan base is trying to figure out.

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY said Detroit made him an offer, but the insider reported that neither they, the Boston Red Sox nor the Toronto Blue Jays went to the $200 million range he wants. The insider also reports two of the three extended a five-year deal, but he didn’t reveal which teams put that offer on the table.

The Tigers, Blue Jays and Red Sox have been the trio most prominently linked to Bregman throughout the winter, but others have been hanging around in the periphery like the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.

After it appeared like the Cubs were no longer interested when it was revealed the two-time World Series champion wouldn’t take a short-term contract, some subsequent reports suggested they were still considering bringing him in.

However, it appears like the high-spending Mets are now out of the sweepstakes.

According to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2, New York is now no longer involved in negotiations for Bregman, something that further opens up the path for Detroit to land their dream target.

Billionaire owner Steve Cohen is a wild card, but after he handed out the record-setting contract to Juan Soto this offseason, it seems like even he is putting a limit on his own spending with them considering moving on from their star slugger Pete Alonso.

That’s good for the Tigers.

While the trio of Detroit, Boston and Toronto seemed to be in lockstep about what they were willing to give Bregman, the Mets could have completely blown that away if Cohen decided to hand out another expensive check.

This is something the Tigers have to take advantage of if they truly want to sign Bregman.

If the finances are equal, then there’s a good chance he’ll return to the Astros, the team that selected him second overall and is the only organization he’s ever known.

Detroit has been measured this winter so far, but to truly transform the state of this franchise, it’s time for them to add someone who would immediately become their best offensive player.