All across the country, people were protesting in front of Petland stores this weekend. It happens every year during the Holiday season as, The Humane Society of the United States, a private not for profit advocacy group, works to raise awareness about deplorable conditions in puppy mills. Complaints include charges that animals are kept in unsanitary cages, are unsocialized, poorly bred, have numerous health problems, and breeding bitches are kept in cages and impregnated every time they come into heat until they are not longer viable, and then are killed.
I came across one of the protest groups as I was doing my holiday shopping in Lewis Center, OH. A group of people gathered in front of the mall braving frigid temperatures for the sake of abused pups. A spokeswoman for the group, Mary O'Connor-Shaver of Columbus Top Dogs provided a press release which states:
"The goal of this event is to raise awareness of Petland and its relationship to puppy mill breeders and to solicit support from the community asking that Petland stop selling puppies while Central Ohio homeless dogs and puppies wait to be adopted."
She wants the public to understand "There is a difference between reputable breeders and commercial breeders...Pet stores should be more regulated. We are finding these [pet store] dogs are very sick."
She said "Lisa Wahoff, director of the Franklin County Animal Shelter pulled data in 2006 showing that as many as 7 out of every ten dogs coming into the shelter each day could be traced back to Petland sales."
After speaking to the protesters, I took the time to talk with the folks at the Lewis center Petland store. Danny, the manager, brought out the Petland mascot Safari Sam to greet me and pose for pictures. He said Safari Sam was on his way out to the roadside to wave at the cars, and had been out earlier that morning standing side by side with the protest group. "The protesters show up every year during the holidays, but as you can see, it does not affect businesses at all." He said with a wave of his hand, indicating the packed crowd of customers in the store. He was very good natured about the protest and adamantly stated that "all Petland puppies come from U.S.D.A. approved breeders."
A report from the website bestfriends.org provides a comprehensive .pdf report outlining the definition of a puppy mill. One point of note in the reports states:
• Puppy mills are often USDA-licensed so they can sell puppies to pet stores. A USDA license is a red flag that breeders are in the business to make money.
The Petland manager went on to say "Petland does not approve of inhumane animal conditions." "We think of Petland like a pre-school. We sanitize several times a day, and have customers use anti bacterial hand cleaner in between every pup they handle. Sanitation is a number one priority."
In addition, the Petland website provides a comprehensive and scathing retort to the HSUS charges claiming this organization falsified video footage, fools the public, and uses a large percentage of donated monies for salaries and operating costs instead of the intended purpose of saving dogs.
I looked at the puppies and the condition of the cages and could only describe the Petland environment as impeccable. The puppies were handled by many customers who would go into a designated play area and get down on the floor with the pups while a staff member supervised. The staff was very attentive and helpful as they explained various breed traits. Clearly the workers were well informed, and dedicated to matching the right breeds with the families needs. Issues of size, temperament allergies and shedding were all topics I overheard during my visit. If these puppies came from disreputable puppy mills where poor kennel conditions and lack of socialization are a problem, the pups certainly do not live under those conditions once they are in Petland's hands.
The Petland manager also talked about Petland's Adopt-A-Pet program, which connects families who have a litter of puppies or kittens to families looking to adopt. He said "When someone finds a box of abandoned kittens and brings them in to us, we take them in, get them vaccinated, feed them, and provide them with good homes." He want on to add, "Every Petland animal finds a home." Implying Petland does not ever euthanize unwanted animals.
O'Connor-Shaver scoffed at that claim saying "no rescue organization in town has ever been contacted by Petland in regard to developing a partnership for their Adopt-A-Pet program."
I asked Petland what they do when a puppy is growing and no one is buying. "We mark down the price, several times if we have to. Eventually they all find a home."
While that may be true, one anti puppy mill website has posted an interview with a former Petland manager who tells of dogs being brought to the stores by the truckload, and those that do not pass muster are returned to the breeder. What happens to those puppies is unknown.
Petland claims the animal advocacy groups tie their annual protests to year end fundraising drives and prey on the sympathies of consumers to increase donations. The flip side of that argument is the protesters say this is the third year in a row the Ohio legislature has allowed the Puppy Mill bill to die in committee. They claim the commercial pet industry has 'a strong lobby at the statehouse", and "several powerful members of the committee make sure the bill never reaches the floor."
For additional background information regarding the legal battles on this issue visit The Dog Service Network LLC blog and The Columbus Dog Connection.
These sites list the names of Ohio legislators involved in the committee hearings on The Puppy Mill Bill, but do not provide details on which legislators have received campaign donations from related lobby groups.
Such information would be most helpful to voters wanting a common sense solution to this issue.
For more information, the on line magazine Dog Owners Guide provides a balanced review of Puppy Mills, respectable breeders, and rescue organizations.
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Author Footnote:
Since the publication of this article, I have recieved a number of e-mails from concerned citizens fighting to protect animals, including a plea for help from The Animal law Coalition. Readers interested in joining the fight to stop animal abuse are invited to visit their website, take action and get involved.
http://www.caninechronicle.com/Features/Bernardi_08/bernardi_108.html
The AKC routinely registers dogs from people that have even been cited for animal abuse.
The AKC goal is to help these puppy mills churn out as many cheaply (and abusively) raised dogs as possible to maximize AKC registrations and income.
It's all about the money.
http://network.bestfriends.org/truth/news/24329.html and http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/PostDetail.aspx?bp=3929
And as far as the Animal Welfare Act, the AKC knows full well that this Act is so inadequate it doesn't even address most of the abuse issues that are happening in the mills. (which is why the AKC opposes amending the Animal Welfare Act by falsely claiming it will hurt "responsible" breeders. It won't, but amending the Act may restrict their PUPPY MILL affiliates.)
Thus AKC gets too many breeders to oppose regulations with fanatical claims about "hurting responsible breeders" or similar nonsense.
It's just AKC breeders supporting the puppy mill industry that keeps their AKC in business.
And why people like Norma Woolf, on Dog Owners Guide that you cited, slander groups like HSUS and Peta who actually speak the truth about puppy mills & AKC's role in the puppy mill industry.
The AKC wants us all to think that commercial puppy mill breeders are ok, and want us to look another way and leave them alone & unregulated!
The Dog Owners Guide and canismajor ARE a front group for the breeding industry, AKC related.
The AKC makes most of its income registering puppy mill puppies http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/Bouvier/Bouv_Pages/article-inquire-puppymills-AKC.htm (its worse now!)
The AKC has business relationships with Petland & puppy mill brokers like Hunte Corporation. Without that puppy mill registration money, the AKC would go bankrupt.
The AKC lobbies FOR the puppy mills, & against laws and regulations. They don't want to see a penny of that puppy mill registration money restricted in any way
The AKC has been opposing ALL puppy mill regulations in Ohio, and lobbying heavily with legislators.
The woman who wrote the page on the Dog Owners Guide, Norma Bennett Woolf, is associated w/ this puppy mill lobbyist in a group NAIA started by this AKC board member http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patti_Strand
Patti Strand works with the AKC to DO BUSINESS WITH THE PUPPY MILLS.
Norma Woolf & NAIA have been lobbying FOR the puppy mills (commercial breeders) for years. They pretend to oppose cruelty, but routinely oppose any regulation, & they lobby WITH Center For Consumer Freedom!
This is the problem. There is much money to be made by many in the under-regulated breeding industry, and these various groups are very deceptive about the problem and the role they play in it.
And Petland has a mountain of consumer complaints about its puppies stretching back years and ongoing! http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/petland.htm and http://www.petstorecruelty.org/boycottpetland.htm
These Petland managers feed the propaganda to people who just aren't aware of these issues. This is how Petland has gotten by, built on a base of deceit.
And even if those puppies you saw at the store are ok, their parents are NOT. Their parents are literally caged for life, in inhumane conditions, bred until their bodies literally fall apart, and get killed or allowed to die (no humane euthanasia- the puppy miller doesn't want to spend the money)
The buyers would be horrified if they saw the kennels these puppies come from, which is why they are trucked in and you can't visit the breeder.
Petland hires MILLION DOLLAR LOBBYISTS to deceive. This is a wealthy corporation and they use every tactic possible to propagandize away the problems. They hope the listener won't do the research & look behind the words.
Would you like to see one of the lobbyists that Petland hires? This person and his group CCF or Center For Consumer Freedom http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom and http://www.consumerdeception.com/
Yes, a TOBACCO INDUSTRY LOBBYIST who comes up with the smear & deceit about the whistleblower groups that have exposed the puppy mills that Petland buys from.
Your Petland manager just passed some of that to you.
USDA licensed MEANS puppy mills. It means factory farmed dogs, usually raised in cages outdoors exposed to the elements with no vet care. It means genetically defective & sick dogs being bred (it's cheap) that result in puppies that have problems. USDA has admitted itself that it can't control the abuses at these commercial puppy mill breeders
Scroll way down here to the excellent exposes by journalist Steve Neavling about the FAILURE of the USDA http://hollywooddog.blogspot.com/2007/12/posh-puppy-of-tarzana-and-beverly-hills.html
Your Petland manager threw around the "USDA licensed" term in hopes of tricking and making you think that USDA meant ok. Quite the opposite.
A woman rushed out of her house with a black puppy in her hands. It's eyes were runny and it had a very distinct odor..like it had not been bathed ever. I demanded to see the parents and she refused. I told her that it was okay with me and I would call the county sheriff. She tried to bluff me out and I called the sheriff. She was arrested for animal cruelty and the dogs were taken to a large American Humane Society group and about half of them lived..even with a lot of veterinarian intervention.
This is in southeastern Oklahoma. This problem is everywhere. Please either buy from a breeder who is well known or better, go to an animal shelter and get a friend for life.
In breeding operations like Petland uses, most mother dogs live for years in wire cages, never let out for exercise, often malnourished and not shielded from weather conditions. They are forced to produce litter after litter of puppies. Calcium and other nutrients in their bodies are sapped and they suffer from broken bones, body sores, fleas, mange, lice, and all manner of other conditions.
USDA rules are pretty lax (for example, breeders aren’t required to exercise the dogs), and USDA inspections are few because there aren’t enough inspectors. In Ohio, most breeders are not even USDA licensed. There are 350 USDA licensed breeders, but over 11,000 registered with county boards.
By selling dogs from puppy mills, which can only be described as factory farms for dogs, Petland contributes to animal abuse and pet overpopulation. Sure, they might adopt out a few homeless animals, but they create many more by keeping puppy mills in business. More than 4 million animals are euthanized in U.S. shelters each year.
For more information, see Jana Kohl's book "A Rare Breed of Love" and websites for Best Friends Animal Society (http://network.bestfriends.org/Communities/About.aspx?g=e79ce3cf85664250a4cabd781f1da8c6) and the ASPCA (http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cruelty_puppymills)
PetSmart and Petco have made decisions to NOT sell dogs and puppies. Rather, they devote store space to legit animal rescue organizations and shelters to come in and offer their homeless dogs for adoption. Petland, on the other hand, SELLS dogs, dogs they get from commercial breeders, many of which are, inevitably, "puppy mills".
The USDA approval is virtually meaningless in this instance. Look at how effective, for example, the USDA has been in preventing food-borne illnesses from both the domestic and overseas food suppliers. The USDA is completely understaffed and incapable of effectively monitoring conditions in these puppy mills.
HSUS continues to uncover, and publicize, the horrific conditions at puppy mills, many of which are USDA "approved", and many of which sell to Petland.
Look at it this way. Because Petland chooses to make dogs a "sales business", rather than a "rescue business" like PetSmart and Petco, every dog they sell, at some level, results in a shelter dog not finding a home, and eventually being euthanized.
Petland should be ashamed.
I have witnessed occasions at local PetCo stores, birds with overgrown beaks, keel bones that are visible because of lack of muscle mass, birds that are sneezing or sitting crouched and fluffed with eyes closed during times when they should be wide awake and lively.
The times I've reported this to the "store manager" the reply I received was that they would have to discuss the problem with the supervisor who was not there at the time. Only the supervisor could authorize veterinary care.
There are numerous stories like this. This is just what I have personally witnessed.
There are just as many birds in rescue and in shelters as there are dogs and cats. People are not aware of this. Pet stores are just as guilty of perpetuating poor or factory breeding of birds.