Animal Planet Investigates PETLAND

[wolfy-hound]

Oh yes!! The "mom and pop" store local to me is horrid when it comes to the puppies.. but their reptiles and fish are actually set up well. And they DO get most(I can't confirm ALL of the pups origins) of the puppies from local breeders, they just mark the price up to make a profit. But the pups are always not groomed, with matted fur and such. I haven't heard anyone say the puppies were sick there, and trust me, around here they'd gripe loudly.

The Petland I do remember being local(no idea if it's still there, I moved from that city) was always very clean, the animals were always clean and healthy looking, including the puppies, which the staff took to a small room to play with a few times a day so they didn't stay in kennels all the time. They had a display play area set up with tons of shredded paper to play in, and it was over-all a good looking store(with typically high petstore prices on everything).

I don't know where that particular Petland got their pups, but they were healthy good looking pups. This was a few(cough several cough) years ago, and it might have been only one store, but it was a good petstore.

Just goes to show you, not all chains are bad, not all small independants are good. Not all large scale breeders are "puppy mills" and not all small breeders care for their dogs. It's better to prosecute those that are breaking laws and abusing the animals, rather than making labels of "puppy mill" or "stock breeder" and accusing ALL of them of being abusive neglectful evil people.

There used to be tons of breeders that owned large scale places. HAving a 100 dachunds or 200 german shepards wasn't unheard of. Kept in proper space, cleaned and fed and watered... there's nothing wrong with a place that keeps a lot of animals. If someone has ONE dog chained in the backyard starving, hit THEM. If they have 100 dogs all clean and well cared for, leave them alone.

Labeling people with terms like "puppy mill" is ridiculous. What definition is puppy mill referring to? A place that makes money by breeding dogs? Or a place that neglects dogs? Any place with over XX dogs? A lot of people want to say things like "Oh, a puppy mill is a place where they breed dogs for profit without caring for the dogs!" but then you'll see places labeled a puppy mill because they breed dogs as a business, whether or not they care for the dogs properly... while "no kill" shelters are touted as wonderful places, even if they are full of dogs that should be humanely euthanized so they won't be suffering from chronic painful ailments or locked into a kennel for years due to un-resolvable behavioral problems.

Similiar to people who shout "It's the Deed, not the Breed" about not blaming all pit bulls for the actions of a few, don't try to villify all dog breeders just because they breed dogs.

[Shyshoos]

Just goes to show you, not all chains are bad, not all small independants are good. Not all large scale breeders are "puppy mills" and not all small breeders care for their dogs. It's better to prosecute those that are breaking laws and abusing the animals, rather than making labels of "puppy mill" or "stock breeder" and accusing ALL of them of being abusive neglectful evil people.

There used to be tons of breeders that owned large scale places. HAving a 100 dachunds or 200 german shepards wasn't unheard of. Kept in proper space, cleaned and fed and watered... there's nothing wrong with a place that keeps a lot of animals. If someone has ONE dog chained in the backyard starving, hit THEM. If they have 100 dogs all clean and well cared for, leave them alone.

Labeling people with terms like "puppy mill" is ridiculous. What definition is puppy mill referring to? A place that makes money by breeding dogs? Or a place that neglects dogs? Any place with over XX dogs? A lot of people want to say things like "Oh, a puppy mill is a place where they breed dogs for profit without caring for the dogs!" but then you'll see places labeled a puppy mill because they breed dogs as a business, whether or not they care for the dogs properly... while "no kill" shelters are touted as wonderful places, even if they are full of dogs that should be humanely euthanized so they won't be suffering from chronic painful ailments or locked into a kennel for years due to un-resolvable behavioral problems.

The reason why Petland is being spotlighted and not these 'mom and pop stores' is because it doesn't take much work to shut down a mom and pop store for neglecting animals. It just takes a rally of people to stand out front and expose them, and likely their business will go down the drain.

Petland however is a huge company who, even if rallied against, won't take my damage from a meager protest outside of ONE of their stores all over the united states. So they are being put into the national spotlight so everyone can see what they have been suspected of. There will be live footage and proof, for the animals sake.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say about the 100 dogs who are healthy with one starved and chained dog in a background statement. Did this happen? That's sad if it did.

A puppy mill is a place where puppies are mass produced, females and males are used just for breeding, and neither adult females, males, and puppies are given any human socialization and ethical treatment. They are generally kept in crates either made of wire or wood, they are given water and food as they need it (sometimes through automatic feeders so the breeders don't even need to interact with them), and it's not uncommon that they are kept to play and sleep in their own feces. Veterinarian care is little to none. This is a puppy mill. And yes, they are usually housing TONS of puppies. And when an adult dog who's being used to breed cannot breed anymore, it is sent to a humane society/shelter/or pound.

No kill shelters are by far a lot better places than puppy mills. You really need to get your facts straight. Shelters have people who take care of the animals in all aspects: cleaning, playing, walking them. Some cannot afford extensive veterinarian care, but most will offer what they can (some a lot more than others, some at a minimum, but they a good shelter will not sell you an animal they know has a disease, like heart worms, without at least informing the person wanting to adopt). It sounds like you're also refering to a pound, not a humane society or shelter. But shelters and humane society's aren't owned by a corporation, so they are all run differently. But if you were to walk into a humane society, and then walk into a puppy mill, you wouldn't be making those claims that there is basically no difference or that a humane society is hardly any better.

[4theSNAKElady]

Just goes to show you, not all chains are bad, not all small independants are good. Not all large scale breeders are "puppy mills" and not all small breeders care for their dogs. It's better to prosecute those that are breaking laws and abusing the animals, rather than making labels of "puppy mill" or "stock breeder" and accusing ALL of them of being abusive neglectful evil people.

There used to be tons of breeders that owned large scale places. HAving a 100 dachunds or 200 german shepards wasn't unheard of. Kept in proper space, cleaned and fed and watered... there's nothing wrong with a place that keeps a lot of animals. If someone has ONE dog chained in the backyard starving, hit THEM. If they have 100 dogs all clean and well cared for, leave them alone.

Labeling people with terms like "puppy mill" is ridiculous. What definition is puppy mill referring to? A place that makes money by breeding dogs? Or a place that neglects dogs? Any place with over XX dogs? A lot of people want to say things like "Oh, a puppy mill is a place where they breed dogs for profit without caring for the dogs!" but then you'll see places labeled a puppy mill because they breed dogs as a business, whether or not they care for the dogs properly... while "no kill" shelters are touted as wonderful places, even if they are full of dogs that should be humanely euthanized so they won't be suffering from chronic painful ailments or locked into a kennel for years due to un-resolvable behavioral problems.

Similiar to people who shout "It's the Deed, not the Breed" about not blaming all pit bulls for the actions of a few, don't try to villify all dog breeders just because they breed dogs.

BEST thing I've heard yet. Wolfy! (for some reason, the system wouldn't let me give you a rep point for this )

[Jeremy78]

I give my local petland all the support I can. I live in Ontario and to be honest the petland by me is amazing. The staff always have everything spotless, everything has food and fresh water. They (the staff) are always taking the puppies out and walking them around the store.
Heck one day when I was in there for feeders they have a backroom for employees only. I wanted to see the sizes so they let me go back. All the feeders were completely spotless with tons of food and water.
Sure they keep there dogs in smaller kennels but comon... A 4x4 cage for one dog is pretty good if you ask me for a retailer. They have two beardies for sale there that have been there since thefirst time I was there (about two years ago) and they keep them in a well furnished probably 100-125 gallon enclosure. The 8 foot burm had a 4x3 foot enclosure. The juvis tegu had the same.
This petland by me will continue to get my money as long as they keep up what they're doing. And to be honest, I would use the advice taken from an employee here and use it on my herps.

Just my two cents...