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Why shouldn't we buy from pet stores?
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You can't stop the cycle if you buy one, they simply replace it with another. If you don't buy a pet from a pet store - there is no need for mills to continue breeding, as they have no one to sell the puppies to, as you aren't buying them from the stores.
The "only" way I would "buy" a kitty or dog from a petstore is when the local PetsMart has their adoption days. That is when the local amimal shelters bring in the animals that they are adopting out.
I dont know if this has been asked yet or not but...What would your average pet store say if you were asking about a certain dog or cat.. And you asked "Can I get this breeder's contact info?"
I wonder what kind of lie they would have to come up with to cover that one...
I think a lot of the locally owned and smaller petstores are the ones that operate from puppy mills.
It seems that stores like Petsmart and Petco only adopt out rescued animals. But I could be wrong... There's some sad stories written on the kitty cages at petsmart.
All that aside.... You may be a person who prefers to adopt from a petstore but why? Why not adopt from a shelter that is already overcrowded with animals? I have never seen a petstore as overcrowded as a pound is. They want their animals looking clean and pristine so they can sell them to the highest bidder.
It's a terrible tragedy that ignorance fuels puppy mills. It's a terrible thing for people to feed on that ignorance and well-meaning in order to make a quick buck.
Personally, I'd never pay 800 dollars for a mutt (and that's all you'll get at a pet store). An 800+ dollar animal should be pure bred and papered.
I wonder what kind of lie they would have to come up with to cover that one...
I think a lot of the locally owned and smaller petstores are the ones that operate from puppy mills.
It seems that stores like Petsmart and Petco only adopt out rescued animals. But I could be wrong... There's some sad stories written on the kitty cages at petsmart.
All that aside.... You may be a person who prefers to adopt from a petstore but why? Why not adopt from a shelter that is already overcrowded with animals? I have never seen a petstore as overcrowded as a pound is. They want their animals looking clean and pristine so they can sell them to the highest bidder.
It's a terrible tragedy that ignorance fuels puppy mills. It's a terrible thing for people to feed on that ignorance and well-meaning in order to make a quick buck.
Personally, I'd never pay 800 dollars for a mutt (and that's all you'll get at a pet store). An 800+ dollar animal should be pure bred and papered.
I have asked, they told me that per their contract with teh breeders they are not allowed to give out that information... what kind of breeder would want that?Originally Posted by Nekomania
I dont know if this has been asked yet or not but...What would your average pet store say if you were asking about a certain dog or cat.. And you asked "Can I get this breeder's contact info?"
I wonder what kind of lie they would have to come up with to cover that one...
Are we talking about pet stores like Petsmart and Petco, or those smaller chains and/or independent stores? Because Petsmart and Petco sell/adopt out cats and dogs from shelters and rescue groups. I wouldn't think there would be an issue with that.
On the other hand, I think that can be bad because of impulse buyers. My aunt and uncle recently adopted two cats from Petsmart. They knew they didn't need anymore because of costs (they already had three) but they fell in love with those two cats. They had seen the cats in there for several weeks. Then one day they just decided to adopt them.
On the other hand, I think that can be bad because of impulse buyers. My aunt and uncle recently adopted two cats from Petsmart. They knew they didn't need anymore because of costs (they already had three) but they fell in love with those two cats. They had seen the cats in there for several weeks. Then one day they just decided to adopt them.
Petsmart/Petco may adopt out dogs and cats from shelters, but where do you think their herps, birds and small animals come from?
Rabbits and birds are dumped at shelters nearly as much as cats and dogs.
Rabbits and birds are dumped at shelters nearly as much as cats and dogs.
Good breeders do not like to sell to pet stores.
I would say at least 95% of kittens/puppies in the pet stores come from bad breeders.
The pet stores even charge more then the breeders do for the kittens/puppies.
I was careful when I was looking for a sphynx and got a good breeder thanks to Nial.
My sister got a very bad Devon Rex breeder and she is going to file a compliant soon with CFA.
Most the cats I have no one would want.
Meeko ahs herpes and a heart murmur.
Oreo has fcks and hr heart is tilted and Coco has asthma and CRF.
The CRF is because she is old but the asthma she has had for years.
I would say at least 95% of kittens/puppies in the pet stores come from bad breeders.
The pet stores even charge more then the breeders do for the kittens/puppies.
I was careful when I was looking for a sphynx and got a good breeder thanks to Nial.
My sister got a very bad Devon Rex breeder and she is going to file a compliant soon with CFA.
Most the cats I have no one would want.
Meeko ahs herpes and a heart murmur.
Oreo has fcks and hr heart is tilted and Coco has asthma and CRF.
The CRF is because she is old but the asthma she has had for years.
That's a good point. But aren't small animals a little different then cats and dogs? I mean, animal shelters are full of cats and dogs. I can't imagine shelters being overcrowded from gerbils and fish. I don't know how the pet stores get those animals but I guess I could see why they'd get the from someplace other than a shelter.
Interestingly, there used to be a pet store around here in the early to mid 90's that had Piranhas in it. They weren't for sale, but it was the only pet store I ever saw them in.
One heavy reason Why not, is
by buing them from a shop = a mill, you dont buy the alternative, ie from a shelter if it is a moggie
or if the cat is purebreed - a real breeder.
Thus in case one: The "fabricated" kitten gets a home, but another kitten who could be saved, will die instead.
And in case two: A kitten from a verry low ranked breeder will be sold, and a kitten from a very good, responsible breeder - will probably not be sold.
The one little innocent individual will be saved, yes. The mills owner will get money, and the shop owner does OK.
But almost everyone else will be losers, including other innocent lives who could get a good home and thus be saved.
by buing them from a shop = a mill, you dont buy the alternative, ie from a shelter if it is a moggie
or if the cat is purebreed - a real breeder.
Thus in case one: The "fabricated" kitten gets a home, but another kitten who could be saved, will die instead.
And in case two: A kitten from a verry low ranked breeder will be sold, and a kitten from a very good, responsible breeder - will probably not be sold.
The one little innocent individual will be saved, yes. The mills owner will get money, and the shop owner does OK.
But almost everyone else will be losers, including other innocent lives who could get a good home and thus be saved.
No, they are not really different. It's just that most shelters do not accept small animals. The ones that do are full of them, and the ones they don't have room for.. well, we all know someone who "let their guinea pigs go" or something along those lines. The plight for small animals is the same as for cats and dogs. Birds too! If there is no shelter near you that accepts small animals, the best thing to do is to look into a reputable breeder, or look for a rescue that specializes in just the one animal you are interested in. Trust me, they are out there!
This, however, is a wonderful thing! The Petsmarts and Petcos around here also have agreements with local shelters and adopt out cats and dogs, and do not sell any. The more exposure animals that need rescue can get, the better! It is just as good to adopt from Petsmart as from the shelter directly -- if they don't get adopted from Petsmart, they go back to the shelter they came from anyway.
As far as I know, PetLand is the only major pet chain that sells puppies (maybe kittens too? I'm not sure). I am 100% sure that Petland has been linked to puppy mills. For the most part, however, the stores selling puppies and kittens (rather than adopting out ones from shelters) are small, local stores.
Trout came from a pet store. If I ever got another cat though, I would adopt one that was about a year old I think.
When I got Trout, I was not a member of this site and had no idea about anything cat-like. I have learned alot in the last 3 years though. (I would have also declawed Trout had I not been a member here and learned about the dangers)
Thank god for TCS!
When I got Trout, I was not a member of this site and had no idea about anything cat-like. I have learned alot in the last 3 years though. (I would have also declawed Trout had I not been a member here and learned about the dangers)
Thank god for TCS!
Petland does sell kittens, at least they did when I worked there. This was the mid 90's. As well as ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs and other small animals, reptiles, fish, birds, if it can sell, they sold it. And yes, the puppies came from a mill. Usually with fresh spay scars, still with stiches, and far too young.
As employees, we had quotas to meet every month, which were stictly enforced. Our jobs threatned if we did not sell, sell sell! The lives of the animals, or the homes they would go to meant nothing, it was all about making money. We were taught to sell, not care for the animals.
I quit, walked out. The final straw was a puppy that had blood in it's stool, it was pointed out to me by a customer. (I was bird dept) I told the manager immediatly, and was asked "Is it visible from the (sales) floor?"
I could tell many more horror stories about this chain of stores
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puppy mills are sick. They need to be illegal...Their existance offends me as a human being. I am so enraged by them ..
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That is soooo sadOriginally Posted by Trillcat
Petland does sell kittens, at least they did when I worked there. This was the mid 90's. As well as ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs and other small animals, reptiles, fish, birds, if it can sell, they sold it. And yes, the puppies came from a mill. Usually with fresh spay scars, still with stiches, and far too young.
As employees, we had quotas to meet every month, which were stictly enforced. Our jobs threatned if we did not sell, sell sell! The lives of the animals, or the homes they would go to meant nothing, it was all about making money. We were taught to sell, not care for the animals.
I quit, walked out. The final straw was a puppy that had blood in it's stool, it was pointed out to me by a customer. (I was bird dept) I told the manager immediatly, and was asked "Is it visible from the (sales) floor?"This manager hated me, mostly because I did care more about the animals than money. This was on a Friday. I was off the weekend and came back on Monday to find the puppy still with blood, a fever, laying in its cage half dead, and had not been vetted.I told one of the employees to take the dog NOW to the vet (who was a joke, but the only one we could take the animals to) and don't worry about getting in trouble, blame me for it (No managers there at that time) as she left, so did I. Couldn't take it anymore.
I could tell many more horror stories about this chain of stores
I am not surprised though. My local pet supermarket keeps gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits all in one big tank. They don't think about the fact that rabbits could step on the hamsters especially the drwarfs and the rabbits' presence is scaring the hamsters. I used to be enraged by the fact that hamsters were not kept separate but all together- since hamsters are solitary animals and fight to death if they are with others unless they are mating. Oh and forget about sexing them, such thing didn't matter to them. But when I saw all these different species of rodents together I was like this beats everything I've ever seen...And the employees who work there have this attitude like they all love the animals but you can see it's so fake just to sell..Like they may have some love for the animals but they over exaggerate it in front of the customer and that is very noticable.
This is why I hate corporate or retail jobs in general. They ask you to remove all personal beliefs and your individuality from your job and you have to put on this face that is all about selling but there is no one really there. I can see how some of these people may care about the animals outside of the job but once they step in at work they are forced to remove their feelings from the job. It's scary how easy that becomes..
There are actually plenty of laws already on the books that just NEED TO BE ENFORCED. There is a rash of new legislation being written up DAILY all over the country..unfortunately this radical new legislation (which is unnecessary, due, again to those existing laws that simply need to be enforced) is driven by the animal rights movement and is designed to eliminate ALL breeding and ultimately ALL pet ownership. I kid you NOT! I am FAR more concerned about the animal rights movement and its influence on the general public's opinion (such that "all breeders are bad", "pet" is a bad word (NOT!!), "no animal should be in tact", mandatory s/n is good...etc....no no no no NO!) than I am about commercial breeders currently. Support them? No I do not! The way to fight it is to educate others and not support them. More laws...NO!! Animal welfare, not rights.
I personally don't have a problem with the sale of small animals...I just draw the line there and that's just my opinion. Often these same stores (like Petsmart for example) provide space for the local humane societies and rescues and I commend that. I'm not a fan of the radical in any form. There are many shades of grey!
