Investigation ties pet chain to 'puppy mills' (Petland stores)

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: MSNBC

After an eight-month investigation, the Humane Society of the United States accused Petland, the national pet store chain, of selling dogs bred under appalling conditions at puppy mills around the country.

Many Petland stores are being supplied by large-scale puppy mills, although customers are routinely informed that the dogs come only from regulated breeders, the Humane Society said Thursday.

They are buying from puppy mills where these dogs are not treated like pets," Michael Markarian, an executive vice president with the Humane Society, told a news conference. "They're treated like a cash crop, where mother dogs live in wire cages, sometimes stacked on top of each other in filthy, dirty, cramped conditions, where they receive little socialization or human interaction or exercise."

Dogs from puppy mills are sold at Petland stores for as much as $3,500 each, according to the Humane Society.

Humane Society investigators visited 21 Petland sites and 35 breeders and brokers who sold puppies to Petland stores, according to a release on the group's Web site. Investigators reviewed interstate import records of an additional 322 breeders, U.S. Department of Agriculture reports and more than 17,000 individual puppies linked to Petland stores.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27822309 /

[ogneopasno]

1. Is this a surprise at all to anyone? Not Petland in particular, but any pet store that sells

puppies?

[kestrel91316]

2. Oh, big shock here.

[flvegan]

3. Technically, Petland buys from the Hunte Corporation who buys from mills.

Same difference. Petland knows exactly where their puppies come from and how they're raised.

[bigworld]

4. Their response doesn't explicitly deny the charges

http://petland.com/PetlandInformation/HSUS.htm

just throws accusations back at HSUS.

[hamsterjill]

5. Thankfully the Petland stores here have closed.

There were numerous protests in front of the different stores calling attention to their horrible practices, which included NOT taking care of the animals that they had available for sale in their stores.

It's important to me that people rescue animals from shelters rather than "buy" from stores or breeders.

[LibertyLover]

6. I got my youngest whippet puppy from a Petland store

We were told he was 11 weeks old and had come from a private breeder. Our vet examined him and said he was probably 6 weeks, maybe 7. Too young to be away from his mother. I don't know how long he had been there before my husband and stepdaughter spotted him. We loved on him and our greyhound bitch mothered him and he survived and throve. But the dog is crazy. We can live with it because all of our dogs are crazy, but he is particularly weird. He is 5 years old now and still very spooky. When he comes to the back door he has to be coaxed into the house more often than not. We can't walk him on a least because even with a martingale collar he can and does slip out and has run away. Luckily the times he did he came back when offered a treat. I wondered why he was like that, now I may have my answer. Still I'm glad we got him and not someone else. When he cuddles, he's a love. All of our other dogs are rescues, Djet is the only one we have bought - now I think I can consider him a rescue too.

[GentryDixon]

7. Bear with me, please

This is my first attempt at adding a picture.

I bought my male Pekingese from a local breeder in North Carolina. I did not realize how inbred he was when I first got him. He has problems with his joints (they pop out frequently), and as he aged his lower jaw started protruding beyond what I thought was normal, even for a Peke. He has difficulty chewing food. If something drops on the tile floor, forget it. He cannot pick it up.

I feed him only organic food & treats, but he is still eating his poop if I don't catch him. I pick up his waste as he deposits it, but on occasion he will poop when I am not expecting it. He licks it up like it is candy. Yuck.

He loves everyone and every dog he sees. I use sign language on him to control his barking (saying hello) and he seems to respond well. He is really rather smart, just a little deformed. Cheese is the magic word for total control. He loves it.




That link didn't work. Darn

[TrogL]

10. Adding a picture

Bring up the picture by itself in another brower window. Copy its URL (including the http:/ /) and paste it into your post.

[GentryDixon]

12. Here goes

[ozymandius]

13. add pineapple to his food

I've heard that makes poo intolerable to poo-eating dogs. No joke.

[GentryDixon]

14. I'll try it. Thanks

[WriteDown]

8. I am inclined to disbelieve ANYTHING...

that HSUS says due to their ridiculous stance on reptiles, but always support the elimination of puppy mills.

[ben_meyers]

9. I only wish that this was a new and an isolated incident

25 years ago I was in the pet supply business and learned never to buy an animal from a so called pet shop. The two biggest whores in the "pet industry" are the pet shops and the AKC.

I only acquire my Dachshunds from small breeders and only if both parents and a few siblings are available for viewing.

[WriteDown]

11. Good call, forgot about the AKC....

After they wouldn't accept the Akita Inu as a separate breed, I started to see through them.

[gaspee]

15. Are you

Talking about the split between the Japanese and American Akitas? Because the Akita Inu is an AKC recognized breed. The breed has been split into two distinct "types" by FCI, but the AKC does indeed recognize the Akita Inu.

[WriteDown]

16. I consider the Akita Inu to be the Japanese version....

and the Akita to be the Americanized version, but you have it exactly right.

[gaspee]

17. I have Shiba Inu

I have a whole pack of them and I'm considering importing an Akita from Japan. I show my Shibas in Nippo shows here in the US and I'm a member of Nippo (Society for the preservation of Japanese dogs) in Japan. I'm planning a trip to the National show in Japan (if I can save enough money) for 2009. This year's is happening right about now. I wish I was there.

Here's one of my "kids"



And this is the bitch I'm thinking about importing a puppy from...

[WriteDown]

24. Ha...

So do I. I am trying to figure out how to post a photo of him.

That bitch is beautiful. Brindles are my preference.

[CANDO]

18. We're looking for a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

The pet shop at the local mall has three of them. $999.00! We figured they'd be cheaper by a few hundred bucks directly from a breeder...WRONG! Cheapest yet from a breeder is $1,200. One wanted $2,000! I'm not nuanced to the industry, but holy fucking shit! When I was a kid we'd pick up a stray mutt and have a wonderful pet for years. To hell with the pedigree horse shit. It's a dog, for god's sake.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. You might want to check out Rescue groups.

Google for ( breed) Rescue.
they usually have chapters by state or region.

My cautions with rescue groups is that they take mixes of the breed, as well as what they determine are purebreds, but there is no way to know the history/background or temperament of the animal for sure.
I also support the idea of the local animal shelter, and again find they are often not accurate about breeds in a mixed breed.
Our local shelter is very consistent about calling anything with pit bull type features, \ a" terrier", as in beagle/terrier mix, and the picture shows a long eared or short legged beagle type with a big pit head and a brindle body.
On the other hand, you can find some very unusual "one of a kind" mixes in shelter offerings. My favorite was a daschund/great Dane mix.
Don't even wanna think about how that happened.

[gaspee]

21. That's about right...

1200.00 - that's what I charge for a pet puppy. Of course, I've spent a lot of money getting championships on both parents, I've done health screenings on both parents before I bred them and I guarantee against health issues and I take back a dog at any time in its life that the owner can no longer keep it.

I also rebate 100.00 when the dog/bitch has been neutered/spayed.

I think 1200.00 is a bargain compared to the 1000.00 a pet store wants for their puppy mill puppy.

Also, if you don't have your heart set on a puppy, a lot of breeders will place retired champion showdogs into pet homes from anywhere from free to 500.00 - you get a trained, socialized adult dog who is a champion show dog. No puppy chewing, no housebreaking - no leash training - it's all done for you.

But... just as in everything in life, there are good breeders and bad breeders. Some adult showdogs have been kept in a kennel their entire lives and have to be socialized to life outside the showring. As in everything - buyer beware.

[Mari333]

19. Pound Puppies are the best

my little albert is a purebred mutt.

[Kittycat]

22. My husband has been saying this for years.

It's why he won't buy anything for our cats from there (food, litter, nothing). We go to another store that offers pet adoptions through a local shelter.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

23. I have been in a Petland store, and this doesn't surprise me at all

I have been boycotting them ever since the first time I went in a Petland store and saw the condition of the animals in there.