Puppies stolen from Chicago area pet store
My question is this: Why are puppies still sold out of pet stores? I pass a store every day on my way home from work that sells adorable, pure-bred puppies out of tiny cages. It makes me sick. Shouldn't a pure-bred puppy be acquired from a proper breeder?
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17 pricey puppies stolen from store
Experts say dogs are likely headed for lucrative black market
By Josh Noel | Tribune staff reporter
November 5, 2007
Whoever made off with 17 puppies at the Pet Luv Pet Center apparently knew what they were doing.
After smashing the store's front window late Saturday or early Sunday, the burglar bypassed the $24.95 guinea pigs, the $49.99 bunnies and even the $499 Shetland sheepdog and headed straight for the gold mine: a collection of frisky, tail-wagging puppies that retail for as much as $1,000 apiece.
The burglar is believed to have filled one of the store's plastic garbage cans with golden retrievers, boxers, beagles and huskies, plus a Shih Tzu, a puggle and a Pekingese before escaping out the back door.
Animal advocates say the puppies undoubtedly are headed toward the pet black market, a highly mobile and unorganized racket that can be found in urban parking lots and rural bazaars across the nation. Sellers typically offer the animals for less than one-third of the store price, and sometimes for as little as $50.
"The person who can't afford the $500 puppy in the window now can get one," said Martin Mersereau, supervisor of the cruelty casework division for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "But the animal has everything to risk because someone who can't afford a $500 dog won't have the money for a vet bill that will easily add up to that in the first year."
The animals, taken from glass-walled pens on the main floor and unlocked cages in the storage room, are estimated to be worth between $10,000 and $15,000.
"They were definitely being selective," said employee Doug Gallian, 24, who discovered the burglary at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday. "Anyone who does any kind of research knows there is a big range in what they sell for."
Police also found four puppies in the alley, some of which were limping after spending a night in the cold.
"Whoever did it wasn't too gentle with them, I think," store owner Cindy Groenewold said. "We assume they're at a flea market or being sold out of someone's car."
Experts say reports of dog theft appear to be rising, particularly the teacup hounds that actresses and celebutantes are seen vamping with in the pages of celebrity magazines.
Locally, there have been a handful of such thefts this year: In March, a Bolingbrook family's 12-pound pug was taken along with jewelry and other valuables. In April, a Lombard store twice had silky terriers, worth up to $1,000, stolen during business hours.
Groenewold said her store has had several puppies stolen in a similar manner during its 30 years in a Southwest Side strip mall in the 8000 block of South Cicero Avenue. Most recently, she said, a man got away with a bulldog by approaching the counter as if to buy it, then sprinting past the cash register to a waiting car.
Experts said a nighttime theft involving so many puppies is rare.
"They could be going a thousand places: sold for research or used as bait to train pit bulls, but most likely it's for resale," said Wayne Pacelle, president of The Humane Society of the United States. "It's a lucrative industry because the demand for dogs has been increasing."
Groenewold said that her daughter, who manages Pet Luv Pet Center, set the store's alarm before closing at 7 p.m. Saturday, but that the alarm apparently wasn't activated during the burglary.
"We don't know why it didn't go off," she said. "We haven't been very careful with that or paying too much attention."
The store also has about 10 video cameras trained on the sales floor, but they stopped recording about 9:30 p.m. Saturday for an unknown reason, she said.
The burglary did little to slow business Sunday as families flooded in and children squealed and cooed over exuberant puppies. Still, Groenewold said changes are needed, including bars on the windows and perhaps a move from the store's only home.
"It's getting rougher around here," she said. "We're thinking it's time to look for another neighborhood."
One thing the burglars didn't take, Groenewold almost wishes they had: dog food.
"You just hope they take good care of them," she said. "But you know they're not going to."
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