Petland Buys Puppies From Puppy Mills
An investigation by the Humane Society has discovered some disturbing facts about the puppies sold at Petland stores. While the pet giant claims to only get puppies from reputable breeders the facts show otherwise. The Humane Society goes so far as to allege that Petland supports puppy mills.
According to a report by the Humane Society of the United States, many stores of the Ohio-based Petland Inc. pet store chain support puppy mills while telling customers the dogs come only from good breeders.
The animal protection group made the charge at a Washington, D.C. news conference, saying it conducted an eight-month investigation of the chain headquartered in Chillicothe in southwest Ohio.
Petland Inc. did not return repeated calls from CBS News seeking comment on the report. But in a message posted on the company Web site, Petland said the company does not support substandard breeding facilities and provides each store with humane care guidelines developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
While Petland has stated prior that the Humane Society reports surface every year around holiday time, the same time as their fundraisers. Implying they are using “sensationalism” to help raise funds for their cause.
If you look at the facts found in the investigation it’s very hard to dispute the allegations. The Humane Society said investigators visited 35 breeders and brokers that sold puppies to Petland stores.
As well as reviewing hundreds of additional interstate import records from other breeders.
“We found very classic puppy mill condition,” the Humane Society’s Stephanie Shain told CBS News. “Dogs in small cages. These animals were living in those cages 24 hours a day, 365 days out of the year.”
In puppy mills, hundreds of breeding dogs are packed into cramped, barren cages with no socialization, exercise or human interaction, she said.
The stores investigated are perpetuating an abusive industry where dogs are treated like a cash crop instead of as pets, said Shain, director of the Humane Society’s campaign against puppy mills.
“They know that consumers won’t stand for the cruelty inherent in mass-breeding facilities, so they make outrageous claims to hide the reality that the dogs came from puppy mills,” Shain said.
Shain is right, now that consumers are aware of what goes on behind closed doors we will do anything in our power to stop it. We, as dog lovers, have banded together to sign petitions and help change legislation. The voice of 60 million dog owners can no longer be ignored, we will not allow it.
We are their voice, the only one they have. Take action by going to the Humane Society site where you can learn how to contact Petland’s corporate headquarters to express your concern for puppy mills and ask them to stop selling puppies.
Petland responds http://petland.com/PetlandInformation/HSUS.htm to the HSUS report with an apparent attack on HSUS.
The first two paragraphs are Petland’s statement that they do indeed follow humane care guidelines.
The remainder of the response attacks HSUS as an organization. Before they wrote this attack, perhaps they should have informed themselves about the mission of HSUS.
I find it more than a little suspicious that they do nothing more than make a vague reference to an organizational policy on humane care guidelines, do not outline their policy for acquiring pets, and that they make no mention about puppy mills at all.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
“HSUS has a history of publicizing false information in an effort to raise money. They do not operate a single pet shelter or pet adoption facility anywhere in the U.S. To the contrary, over the last 10 years, Petland has adopted out more than 270,000 homeless puppies and kittens nationwide.” (From Petland’s response).
YES they are homeless. YES you found them homes. But WHY are they homeless? Because you bought them from puppymills for cheap. HOW did you find homes for them? You SOLD these puppies and you claim you “adopt them out”. I would bet any amount of money those puppies were never in shelters and are not ‘homeless’ pets. They come from puppymills. So, you SOLD them to uneducated people for substantial amounts of money. SHAME ON YOU PETLAND.
Oh, and FYI, the picture on response looks stupid. The woman is happier than the dog is.
…Sorry Dogster, it’s just that these things make me very uneasy and upset.
Petland isn’t the only one. No GOOD breeder would sell to ANY pet store because they want to make sure that the dogs get good homes themselves. They don’t want to leave it to an employee who will let the first person who shows the money have the puppy.
one sure way to PROVE they don’t buy from puppy mills, display all registration papers that way folks can actually CHECK where the puppies came from. They can also find out if there was a puppy broker involved. If there are more than 100-200 puppies coming from a “breeder” in a year, you can BET that that breeder is in truth a puppy mill. even with ten LARGE breeding bitches that would be a litter of ten pups for each bitch each year for just 100 pups.
I do not know the folks personally, but I DO know there is a “breeder” about 60 miles south of where I live that has a “kennel” of six HUNDRED breeding dogs. Now even if they are smaller breeds how can those dogs or their pups be properly cared for? Just one person for every 30 dogs (8 hour shift, 10 minutes per dog, feed clean the cage wash dishes, water ) would require a staff of twenty. For a MINIMUM amount of care, not even allowing for walking or even time for a pat. How can ANYONE think keeping dogs in facilities like this is okay is beyond me. This “facility”
sells to puppy brokers who then sell to pet stores.
This response from petland:
really seems pretty absurd when I doubt they know any of the breeders “personally”.
“We do not support substandard breeding facilities and we provide each Petland store with “Humane Care Guidelines,” that were developed in conjunction with the U.S.D.A. to assist with breeder facility inspections as it pertains to pet selectionWe do not support substandard breeding facilities and we provide each Petland store with “Humane Care Guidelines,” that were developed in conjunction with the U.S.D.A. to assist with breeder facility inspections as it pertains to pet selection.”
Maybe the AKC really needs to monitor it’s registrations more carefully. It is an AKC violation, punishable be revocation of membership for ANYONE to sell or in any way dispose of a pup without the registration papers being fully filled out. That includes sales to puppy brokers. Therefore, buyers of puppies from pet stores would logically be the fourth registration to be ligit. the breeder registers the litter (individually of course) 1st registration…if the breeder sells to a puppy broker, well, registration #2, when that puppy broker sells to a pet store, registration# 3, when that puppy is sold to it’s final owner registration#4. Breeders are also required to keep copies registration papers for all litters for ten years, report deaths of animals that are registered to them. I wonder how anyone with 600 breeding dogs can POSSIBLY keep up with just the paperwork. Maybe we’re fighting the battle against puppy mills in the wrong arena…maybe the answer is in searching out AKC violations and pulling membership (the right to register kennels and dogs) from violators might help eliminate some of the worst puppy mills.
PETLAND IS SICK! Who EVERY SUPPORTS puppymills should DIE!! I shop at petland All the time!! NOT any More I am telling EveryONe i know about this, and ALL my FRIENDS are ANIMAL LOVERS so am i so. PetLand can go Die!!!
HELLO!!!
NO “reputable breeder” would EVER sell pups to a “pet store”
I have bred and placed pups and the buyers know the history of the pups, parents, and that if they ever have to re- home the dog -it comes back to it’s Breeder!!!
We have PetPlus in Virginia, and they are a puppy mill outlet as well!
(we also have a private seller in Ashland, VA “Pauley’s Pups…..puppy mill….)
I say it again people who breed dogs should have training for breeding ( for the appropiate amount of litters a dog should have, how to prepare for emergencies when delivering puppies (if any) and how pprovide care for these dogs ( they need very good nutrition). I support very strongly that if you are a good breeder meet the person who is going to buy the dog and make them return them if for any reason they cant care for them to the breeder. They should require to have a license and ONLY ALLOW THEM TO BREED A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF DOGS AT A SPECIFIC PRIZE. There was a case in which a bulldog had a litter the owners were an older couple they were selling each one for $1800.00 some cruel robbers went into the house stole the puppies, the mom dog ran behind them and she got ran over. These shows us what people would do for money and that is what these puppy mills do. If they were only allowed to sell for a specific amount and they would not make a profit I am sure they would get out the bussines. The stores that sell animals and know that they have been treated wrong should DIE…. Everybody knows that dogs that are bought as Xmas presents might end end up in shelters by march….it is better to be a hero rescuing a dog from the shelter…..This Xmas GIVE A DOG FROM THE SHELTER to someone you love IT WOULD BE THE BEST GIFT OF ALL FOR THE DOG AND THE RECIPIENT…….
Yes, Ang, the Xmas present thing. How I HATE that. What is WRONG with people. What do you want to bet there is a big Xmas photo op at the White House for a Xmas pup. Know what that means…many MORE Xmas pet store pups that will be discarded come NEXT fall.
They won’t be house trained, soon as it’s warm enough they’ll be tied outside or put in an outdoor kennel 24/7 with no care other than food and water.
Yup, the good ‘ol pet store Xmas pup.
Dear fricknfarms, unfortunately pets are purchased by emotion and abandoned by CONVENIENCE. The most wonderful thing to pass around was that the President elect has a BEAUTIFUL PICTURE with a dog that unfourtunately lost a leg due to a puppy mill abuser, it is a white little poodle rescued by someone with a big heart that now goes around SPEAKING PUBLIC ABOUT THE HORRORS OF PUPPY MILLS. I pray everyday that this is the choice he makes to rescue a shelter dog if you know the story behind that dog your heart goes to all of them……..
This is not news to me. Petland buys from puppy mills? Well of course they do! Where else would they get thousands of puppies to sell??
I knew that a long time ago. Petland gets their puppies from Hunte Corporation, a huge puppy broker corp.
Reputable breeders DO NOT SELL TO PET STORES.
Petland email comes back undeliverable. Must mean that thousands of people are responding to this information! Good, puppie mills are disgusting and so sad.
here you go…puppy/dog heaven on earth. this site sells those palaces puppy mills use to house their dogs. I surely would never by my supplies (I have eight lovable pals here so I buy many items in volume) there.
We have Amish here that build these gruesome things, but I have a feeling that they do not fully comprehend what goes on after the product is sold. They don’t sell these directly, but build them for another company that does market them.
I know many people believe that it is the “Amish way” to abuse animals. It is NOT. Here where I live (outside Jamesport, MO) I have NEVER seen an Amish person abuse an animal. They depend on their animals for food, work, transportation and to earn a living. Amish here don’t raise dogs the way they do in other places. Here the dogs are working members of the farm, maybe a beagle for rabbit hunting, but most Amish dogs are Blue Heelers or Border Collies, maybe an Australian Shepherd. They are robust, hale and hearty, well fed and respected for the help they give with the stock.
I was at a store one day, when I went in I saw the grandson of the owner(Amish) playing with a new puppy. While in the store I heard the pup yelp. The toddler’s mom ran right out and corrected the boy with a swat on the seat and told him in no uncertain terms she’d better not hear that pup yelp again.
I’m sorry there are Amish around that give these guys a bad name. Our families are more of the “old school” I think. Up until the last ten years or so many didn’t even have indoor plumbing.
Many of the Amish that have animal abuse problems are the ones more geared to modern society. I see a lot of folks paint all Amish with the same brush.
Just wanted to put the record straight for our community of Amish.
and I forgot to include the site:http://www.lifetimekennelbuildings.com/
http://www.lifetimekennelbuildings.com/
I can totally believe Petland gets pups from puppy mills!
My family and I go into our local Petland from time to time and notice that many of the puppies seem to have some respiratory issues i.e. drippy noses and yellow crusty noses.
I was also there when we saw what seemed to be (i am not an expert) a sickly puppy. AND i’ve also heard nightmare stories about people buying puppies from there only to have issues such as pneumonia and kennel cough!!!
I hope they crack down on places like this and end puppy mills for good !!!
I adopted my dog from a local animal shelter, through Petland. My Petland places adoptable animal shelter dogs and cats only.
Puppy mills are terrible!
Not all Petland stores are!
Over the last ten years Petland has found homes for over 270,000 homeless dogs and over 200,000 homes for cats. How many has the HSUS rescued and found homes for? Or better yet how many have you rescued? Also, Petland is not a corporate chain. Each one is owned and operated by a different franchisee. I believe maybe one case of a petland actually purchasing from a puppy mill and that was dealt with immediately. Petland buys from USDA approved breeders who have their kennels inspected on a regular basis by the government and petland employees. They do much more good for animals than the HSUS has ever done.. Just getting the facts out there. This has been a one sided story from the beginning and not once has any asked about the othersides argument. If you need any documentation on these facts I would be happy to provide them. Look at the HSUS income taxes for last year and what they spent all their money on. Then tell me how you feel.
The Humane Society exposes Petland being in cahoots with puppy mills….. DUH!
Breeders who care about the homes their puppies go to do not offer their pups up top be sold in stores. So where else would these puppies come from?
Anyone who walks thru the doors of Petland, buys toys or food from them – only promotes their exploitation of dogs. Petland (or any other pet store that sells puppies) = walk away!
If you want the background of your puppy to be a mystery, go to a shelter and adopt. They’ll be happy to acomodate you and whatever the fee, it will help re-home other homeless pets.
If you want a pure breed, do your homework, research and ask questions of the breeder.
And don’t forget breed rescue groups!
Cheers to Governor Rendell for dragging Pennsylvania (kicking and screaming) to address the horrible puppy mills we have allowed to flourish her in our state. Expect the same from your public officials.
Woof!