August 27, 2015

Pet Store Doublespeak: How They Dodge The Puppy Mill Question

pet store protest no more puppy mills

Since I've been protesting weekly in front of a local pet store that sells puppies with a group of wonderful, dedicated women, I've done some of my own research on the store and puppy mills in general so that I am an educated advocate. I'm learning about all the tricks that the proprietors of these kind of stores use to dodge questions about where their puppies come from.

Reputable Breeders
Breeders that care about their dogs do not sell them to a third party and a fate unknown. Period. Breeders that care about their dogs interview potential families and ensure a perfect match is made, very often with a contract to return the dogs to them if it doesn't work out and a lifetime promise of commitment to the dog they brought into the world. They don't pack them in crates and ship them across state lines to be unloaded in the parking lot of a strip mall and sold to people they will never meet. When a pet store employee says "reputable breeder" they are just telling customers what they want to hear in order feel better about buying a pet store dog. Don't buy the lie.

USDA Licensed Breeders
The USDA governs the agricultural industry, and in their eyes, the dogs housed by large-scale commercial dog breeding operations are nothing more than livestock. Their regulations are absolutely minimal, the numbers they allow are mind-boggling. What does a USDA licensed breeder look like? I looked up the inspection reports for a breeder known to supply dogs to the pet store we have been protesting. Their most recent report was not completed due to "no responsible adult on premises." In years past, they had violations for dangerously sharp chewed water receptacles, improper shelter and too many dogs in one enclosure. Their recorded number of adult dogs and puppies was over 300. How can 300 dogs possibly be given the individual care and attention they need? It's simple - they can't.

AKC Registered Animals
For a dog to be registered with The American Kennel Club, it needs to be the product of two AKC registered parents. That's it. The AKC does nothing to ensure that the dogs are healthy, that the facilities are satisfactory, or that the puppies and their parents are treated humanely. While they claim to inspect high-volume breeders, some who have passed AKC inspections have later been convicted of animal cruelty. In fact, as explained in the documentary Dog By Dog, the AKC regularly fights legislation to improve conditions and increase oversight of commercial breeders.

When I was in college, I traveled with my mom and aunt to the home of an Airedale breeder near Santa Fe, New Mexico. We'd just lost our German Shepherd mix to a rare form of canine leukemia at the tragic age of 2 1/2 and our family had always had Airedales so she was interested in getting another. It's shocking that the woman allowed us to come to her home - while not a puppy mill per se, the AKC registered dogs were kept in cramped, dirty kennels outside, the puppies had runny eyes and crusty noses and all the dogs were miserable in the desert heat. It was heartbreaking to leave them there, but we walked away. My mom was not about to buy a sick puppy after recently losing our last dog. She adopted our heeler mix, Scout, from the Santa Fe Humane Society instead. My mother later reported the breeder to the AKC and was told there was nothing they could do.

Health Guarantees
Pet stores often offer a limited health guarantee for puppies purchased from them. Why? Because they know there is a good chance the dogs they sell will have parasites, respiratory infections or other viruses due to the cramped, unsanitary conditions they are coming from. Many of the reviews for the local pet store we are protesting spoke of health issues. Much to my surprise, some of these reviews were positive overall. The customers were satisfied that the store had paid their vet bills, instead of questioning why their expensive eight-week old puppy was already sick. One reviewer even described the hypoglycemic seizures her new puppy suffered because they did not properly follow the store's instructions to feed Karo syrup to the dog. Are you angry yet?

If you want to do something about it, spread the word. As part of the dog obsessed community, it's easy to forget that the general public are easily swayed by the pet shop double-talk. Join or form a local protest group, speak out when and where you can. I was so happy to learn of the group in my area, and seeing the documentary Dog By Dog was the impetus I needed to get my feet on the ground. Some days people talk to us, other days they ignore us, but changing just one person's mind makes it all worthwhile. Keep an eye on local legislation for regulating dog breeding and pet store sales. Phoenix, Arizona, recently banned pet store sales of dogs and cats from commercial breeders. I hope that it's only a matter of time before this touching video is the reality in every pet store, and dogs are no longer stacked, stored and shipped like merchandise, but instead cherished and cared for like the treasures they are.

19 comments:

  1. They are so misleading, I agree. Leaving with a puppy that's registered, has a health "guarantee," and comes with paperwork with it's parents names certainly looks legit. The health guarantee part is really heartbreaking - some stores offer an exchange program, but how on earth could anyone trade a pup they've spent living with for another regardless of how sick theirs is.

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  2. Petstores like that make me sick.
    I remember the interviews, vet checks, reference checks, contracts, and such I went through with all my dogs. A lengthy processes, but having well bred and healthy dogs is completely worth it.

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    1. I agree! I will probably always adopt, but I respect good breeders.

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  3. It's really sad the lies they tell. I was once being recruited to work for a pet store. They were going to make me "kennel manager" with twice the pay I was already making as a groomer and I was going to be caring for the puppies. Right then and there, I was like where do you get these dogs? "Oh, they come from reputable breeders." Yeah, right... I did not take the job. I don't understand how puppy mills can still happen. It's so depressing.

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    1. It really is, Lauren. I hope we are on the precipice of big changes.

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  4. Ugh...

    I was once walking around a pet store with my dog on a leash. A person who spoke very little English wanted to buy my dog. She thought that my dog was a pet store dog and was for sale. I couldn't get the message across that "NO - my dog is not for sale" so I just fled the store as fast as I could.

    That showed me how clueless some pet buyers are. Just based on how my dog looked, this random person wanted to buy her. No research, no questions. Crazy.

    Thanks for trying to educate people.

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    1. Pet stores encourage those kinds of impulse buys and discourage real research - how very strange that someone thought they could buy your dog from you!

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  5. I am ashamed to admit that I bought my dog Nelly at a pet store 8 years ago. I asked specifically where she came from and was told a local breeder-that she was the last of the litter. I was devastated when I got her papers and saw she was from Arizona. She had kennel cough and later had to have part of her femur removed due to a congenital condition. It makes me sick to think that even though I knew better to a degree, I supported a puppy mill and a store that sold puppy mill puppies.

    Of course I have learned a lot since then, but I wish I knew better (except I'm really glad I have Nelly in my life.)

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    1. All we can do is keep learning and growing once we have the knowledge, Beth. My grandparents bought a Shih-Tzu puppy from a pet store - they were real pioneers that long ago and knew better even then, but they felt terrible for her that she was so sick. They rescued many dogs over the years and I believe my love for dogs is genetic.

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  6. We have a big problem here with lots of stores selling dogs. They all make those same claims. I wish people would stop falling for it.

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  7. This is such important information. You've done some really thorough research. I haven't (thankfully) seen a pet store selling puppies here in AZ in forever, but I know the stores are still out there. Such a shame. Keep up the good work!

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    1. It's great you haven't seen any, and Phoenix just passed legislation that pet stores can only sell puppies and kittens from shelters!

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  8. Great information - da bestest fing anyone can do when dey want a fuzzy family member: go to a shelter or rescue! Your post is so very important - I'm sharing; and 'lub' da fact dat you wrote about dis super duper important topic!

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  9. Important information to know. I believe my mom's dog came from a puppy mill because of the health issues he has. He is well loved and taken care of.

    My girls did come from a breeder. I went to her house and all of the cats were inside the house and treated like members of the family. The house was designed to keep the males away from the females and there was also a special place for the queens and their kittens. I did my research and found a very reputable breeder and have two wonderful Persian cats.

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    1. I'm glad your kitties got a great home with you!

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  10. Great work -- I love it when bloggers write about who the "bad guys" really are. It takes entirely too much time to get the public educated. I remember years ago when the AKC was fighting HSUS in the courts on opposing sides of a puppymill bill meant to require certain standards of living, yearly vet visits, that kind of thing...and AKC wanted nothing to do with regulating puppymills or mandating care. It was sad. Thanks for the post =)

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    1. It's really given me a new perspective on the AKC. I usually go to the big dog show here in Denver every spring but I'm debating if I want to support them in any way now.

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  11. IT's not just puppies either. Look at bird mills. Anywhere there is money to be made, there are mills making it.

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