Spay Austin Coalition Urges Boycott of Petland (Southpark Meadows, Georgetown)

You may know purebred dogs are sold at auction. You may not know these dogs are bred as though they are livestock, a cash crop, except livestock are treated better than the dogs. Commercial dogs are sold through pet stores to homes who expect them to live long lives as companion pets. Instead, many commercially bred dogs turn out to be genetic nightmares. Puppy mills are commercial breeders, in business to make a profit. Many are licensed by the USDA, the same agency that certifies meat. Pet store puppies come from puppy mills and the cottage industry.

The "cottage industry" breeds dogs for brokers. These are the “local breeders” Petland refers to when asked where they get their dogs. They whelp litters, then give them to USDA licensed breeders who consign them to auction or send them to pet stores including Petland. Names you will see on registration papers from "commercial breeders" owned by Hunte Corporation (one of Petland's primary suppliers and the largest puppy mill in the U.S.) are:
HONEY DEW/ I LOVE MY PUPPY/ DOBOTRI/BEST FRIENDS. They are ALL "commercial breeders" for THE HUNTE CORP or H & H Pets of Elkland, MO

You may also be surprised to learn that Petland has a history of “partnering” with local animal shelters through Petland's in-store 'Adopt a Pet' program. This gives just enough reputability to satisfy the animal welfare activists who don't see the big picture. Others, including the Spay Austin Coalition, remain outraged at the perpetual cycle of abuse, neglect, and infusion of intact animals into the community.

"Here's a national pet store that has a reputation for not doing what's right for the animals that threw out a bone and the Town Lake Animal Center bit,” said Julia Hilder, President of the Spay Austin Coalition. "We urge a complete boycott of Petland until they make a positive impact in the community by spaying and neutering the animals they sell. Until then, they will only add to the problem by selling animals to anyone with a credit card who thinks their new, expensive Petland animal should have puppies or kittens."

Now, after years of refusing requests from individuals and animal rescue groups offering to transport and showcase animals at PetsMart and PetCo, the Town Lake Animal Center has decided to partner with Petland.

The Spay Austin Coalition strongly opposes this partnership, believing it will not benefit animals in the long term. Petland and their puppy and kitten mill suppliers will continue to profit while intact animals, many with congenital defects, will flood into Austin.

Other cities have faced the same problem Austin faces now with the opening of a new Petland in their community.

McHenry County, Illinois:

McHenry County Animal Control staff have spoken with representatives at the Crystal Lake Petland about hanging a bulletin board featuring photographs of adoptable animals inside the store. Animal advocates who work at nonprofit shelters in the county are strongly opposed because they say Petland buys its animals from disreputable sources and sells them to people who are not sufficiently screened.

Winnebago County, Illinois:

Petland directly contributes to the homeless pet crisis and the overflow of animal at Winnebago County Animal Services.

Athens, Ohio:

What Petland doesn't tell you and doesn't want you to know speaks volumes and includes the following:

• Petland says, "Puppies are checked by at least two veterinarians before being offered to customers." What Petland doesn't disclose is what the veterinarian checks, and this is not the same as a written health guarantee. Many congenital problems are not apparent before the dog is 2 years old, so there may be nothing for the veterinarian to find.

• Petland is being boycotted nationally by In Defense of Animals and the American Dog Owners Association for its sale of puppies and kittens. According to Petland, "Our registerable puppies come from professional and hobby breeders as well as licensed professional pet distributors."

• What Petland doesn't want you to know is that no reputable breeder would ever consider selling an animal to a pet store. The term "pet distributor" is a euphemism for a puppy or kitten mill. In fact, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that more than 90 percent of all pet store animals originate from puppy or kitten mills.

In recent years, following some high-profile investigations by national news organizations, the terms "puppy mill" and "kitten mill" have become increasingly recognizable. Gut-wrenching scenes of malnourishment, filth, overcrowding and inadequate medical care are common to these factories, whose sole purpose is to maximize profits from mass-produced, tailor-made animals. Mothers are forced to breed every heat cycle, which for dogs usually makes for a life span of about five years. After five to eight weeks, her puppies are sold to brokers who pack them into crates to be sold (or killed, should they outgrow their cuteness and marketability) in pet stores all over the country. Many of the dogs back at the puppy factory watch silently as they are often "de-barked" by a steel rod, which is shoved down their throats to rupture their vocal cords.

Each time a customer enters a Petland store and thinks he or she is saving the life of a poor puppy or kitten in a cage, that customer has unintentionally condemned another animal to a cruel existence of mass production.

• * Petland labels its "merchandise" as "AKC registerable." What they don't tell you is that this is no guarantee of a purebred animal. These papers simply record what the breeder has told the AKC. By the AKC's own admission, the club's seal has never been intended as a guarantee of the animal's health and quality of upbringing. Many puppy mills have been suspended from AKC registration, so they resort to using labels such as Canadian Kennel Club, America's Pet Registry, and American Canine Association.

• Since most of Petland's puppies are from puppy mills, they are ineligible for AKC registration. APRI (America's Pet Registry) is usually the the registry of choice.

For those determined to seek a purebred dog, the HSUS reports that approximately 25 percent of dogs in rescue shelters are purebred animals.

From a former Petland employee Jan 27, 2008:

(excerpted, not edited)

Iapplied and was hired at Petland, and after only one day on the job, I wouldnt go back for a million dollars. Okay folks, lemme fill ya in on my first day of training and how petland trains its employees and how to treat the customer.

You either make min. wage or commission, which ever is higher. Most of the dogs there sell for 2,500 or higher so you can make a easy 500 bucks in one day of sales. well when it came to the guy and owner who were supposed to train me, lets just say they were to busy selling dogs then to train me. Everytime theyd start to tell me a policy they would rush over to someone looking at pups. they wouldnt rather no miss a commission then do their jobs training a new employee. first off the owner lauren tells me that, my main goal is to sell a puppy and to make money, this is a commission job.Its not like "hey guys lets find these puppies homes", nope its like "move them out at any cost".

Now about kittens. it seems that people off the street come in with litters of kittens and surreneder them to petland. petland makes a copy or their current drivers license and then keeps the plain off the street joe anybodies kittens and sells them for up to 150 bucks a pop. I have cats and my cats all came from friends or shelters. I couldnt in good faith sell someone a plain ol cat for 150 bucks when i know they can go to a shelter and give one a home or get one for free just about anywhere.theres are not breeds of cats, these are off the street kittens being sold for that price.

When I actually did quit, after one day they were even ruder to me. They asked me why I was quitting, and i told them that i had to much of a conscious to work there. I told them i couldnt stand there and watch person after person stick their hands into cages where i knew they would be hurt and bitten. the owner just said well "if the customer gets bit, they are stupid".Can you believe that??? Its not like their animals might bite, their petter WILL bite.The owner told me "well we figured you wouldnt have lasted"...Ive never been more happy about quitting a job, Id of felt like a sell out and a horrible person to have kept working there. I actually like people, theres no way I could work at a place who has no concern for its customers. Petland doesnt care about its pets, customers or employees.

One last thing I thought about the night before I quit was about their puppies health. Now Ive had tons of puppies in my life time but something they said about their dogs struck me as odd. When you buy a puppy, they give you Hypoglycemia med for the puppy and tell the new puppy parent to limit play for the first four days. The owner told me that after the puppies are taken home, their new owners might play to much with them making the puppy go hypoglycemic from loosing to much blood sugar and then crash and go into shock and maybe death. Now all of the puppies Ive owned over my life time have never crashed and killed over after playing to much. A normal health puppy will simply stop playing and go to sleep when its played to much, not go into shock. maybe their puppies arent as healthy as they say.

Ive got a friend who has a chipmonk from the store and it was a bitter when he got it, and it still is. Their small critters are treated so badly that they will never make good pets and its not even their fault. these poor animals are allowed to be stressed poked and prodded by teens and jerks cus petland doesnt care enough to protect them. Ive had gueina pigs for nearly 25 years and ive never seen pig pigs as agressive as petlands. I couldnt even get my hand in the cage long enough to give water to or pet the *** pigs.

I just want people to know that petland isnt worth your time because they dont consider you worth theirs. Do you wanna visit a store that considers you "F.O.S- FULL OF ***"?

From a former Petland Asst.Manager:

(excerpted, not edited)

I used to be an Assistant Manager for Petland, for 3 years.... That was WAY before I knew what was going on with the "brokers" and puppy mills. Hell My first dog was from there, and she was "AKC" registered.

Here is how her pedigree went... The same male on her Sires side,was her father, her grandfather, her uncle, and that SAME male was on her DAMS side as her grandfather, and great-grandfather. I spent 5800 dollars on her in 5 years, JUST on MEDICAL PROBLEMS. Althoough, she was the best dog I ever owned, the suffering she had to go through was horrible. i finally had to have her put down. Mercedes (her name) was a good dog that fought until the very end.

Puppy choosing at Petland:

• A list of different breeds are faxed to the seperate stores telling us which ones are available, and for how much. SO depending on which breeds are "hot" right now (remember the 101 dalmation thing?) we would choose those first. Then smaller dogs, like min-pins, shitzu, poms, poodle and poomixes, and all the same things that you see on t.v. Like Goldens, labs and My baby (RIP) Huskies. I only saw 2 GSDs (German Shepard) come thru in the 3 year span, Show line, poor quality at that, Severe underbites, cow hocked, HD, soft ears and what not...
• Then we fax it back to Best Friends Broker in MO. (the #1 state for puppy mills BTW)
• They would then pack up those pups (6-7 weeks old) and ship then in a cargo truck, and to our back door.
• I or the Manager would then go back, and look at each pup, if they wernt "cute" enough they went back... To who knows what kind of fate..
• We then brush, spray and stick em in the window, to fast for 24 hrs...
• The dogs were priced by how much we paid, + cuteness, champions in pedigree, and how "hot" that breed was at the time.

So I will tell you how it worked for my Sibe. The store paid 250 for her. She was black/white with BLUE eyes, small, and very quiet. VERY CUTE!! we automatically multiplied the cost by 2.5, and then added on 175 just because... grand total $800.00 for a heavily inbred dog...

MOST of the dogs, have URI, watery stools, coughs, it was so sad. Mercedes was so sick, and would only eat for me, so I sucked it up and bought her for 350. She had an auto immune problem where she was rejecting her teeth, bladder and bowls... SO CHRONIC poops, peeing, and barfing because I had to have so many of her teeth pulled she swallowed her food whole... close to 6000dollars later, and 5 years I helped her stop suffering...

Petland is a SICK place that needs to be stopped, I am SO ashamed at working there I dont even add it into my work history...

Anyone who cares enough about their pets to treat them as a member of the family should be horrified at the lives of puppy mill breeding stock. Once you know the truth, your choice is to contribute to the problem by giving your money to Petland or to buy your pet supplies elsewhere and adopt from a shelter.

For more information on puppy mills and what you can do to get involved, visit the Spay Austin Coalition website.

• Location: Southpark Meadows, Georgetown
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests