Not just puppymills...boycott Cabelas!!

Not sure if you all are familiar with Cabelas?? It is considered to be (was!) a very reputable, quality retail chain, dealing in the sale of sporting goods; not unlike L.L. Bean. I received this email from one of my Lab Yahoo groups. But, it applys to all breeds! Now THIS is a responsible breeder who is outraged at the sale of "pedigree" puppies at "tent" sales held by Cabelas on weekends in the parking lots!!!!!!

Please, do not shop/order from Cabelas and encourage others not to as well. If you can, please just drop a short email to their customer service dept. (link below) to voice your outrage or just to say you will not be shopping there until this practice is stopped. Permission to cross post has been granted.

Why on earth a HUGE retail chain such as Cabelas would have to resort to selling puppies in their parking lot is incomprehensible!!:mad:

Here's the email...
----- Original Message -----

To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2003 1:42 PM
Subject: Puppy Sales


Dear Cabelas Marketing Staff, I am a labrador breeder in Michigan for the
past 18 years and have just learned with horror and disappointment that your
store has started promoting the sale of puppies on certain weekends right in
your parking lot. As a long time breeder and member and officer of the
Huron River Labrador Retriever Club for the past many years, I have worked
very deligently all these years to promote the responsible sale of puppies.
Selling puppies from a parking lot, wherever that parking lot may be,
certainly doesn't fall under that catagory of responsible breeding. I make
a point of screening my buyers very carefully to insure that they will be
loving responsible pet owners. Pet owners who will love, feed, house and do
the necessary veterinary care when their pet should need it. In other
words, I have at least two and many times more meetings with prospective
puppy buyers to get to know them and feel comfortable that they will provide
the kind of home my puppies deserve. I also want to insure that they
understand that if for any reason this puppy, or dog as the case may be,
needs to be placed, then that pet is to be returned to me.

Puppies are living things and as such, can't just be sold off as you would
an item of clothing or gifts or hunting equipment. Promoting the sale of
live animals from your parking lot is promoting the sale of living things in
a careless and irresponsible manner. You are giving the "backyard" breeder
and "puppy mills" an outlet for sales their animals which many times have
been raised in deplorable conditions. The requirement of "papers" is
precious little when selling animals that possibly have not had the
necessary health care, have been raised in a filthy kennel and just
"cleaned-up" for the day to make a good showing at the sale. As
responsible breeders, we have been working hard for years to eliminate the
backyard breeder and especially the puppy mills where puppies are churned
out in unbelievably horrible conditions to be marketed on an unsuspecting
public.

A very important step in the sale of puppies is being left out in this
parking lot tent sale. That is the step when prospective buyers come to
visit the kennel where this puppy has been raised. It is at this step that
the public gets to see the houseing for the dogs, many times at least the
mother of the puppies, other animals living at the same facility and they
get to spend time with the breeders themselves and get a feel for what these
people are like. They also have the opportunity to go home and reflect on
what they have seen and decide if this is the right place to buy a puppy
from. These are VERY important parts in the puppy buying decision that
parking lot sales can not possibly afford the unsuspecting buyer. In the
parking lot, buyers are forced to make quick decisions and to impulse buy
when they had come to Cabelas to shop for clothing, gifts or hunting and
fishing gear, not even thinking of purchasing a puppy.

We all know that puppies are adorable and that alone makes them a very
saleable item. But our question to you, from responsible breeders, is what
happens when this puppy goes home, to a wife that had no idea that her
husband was going to impulse buy a dog? She has a fit, says you're not
bringing that "dog" into my house... so the puppy is put out in a kennel
where he gets little of the attention and love he deserves. These "outdoor"
puppies often get none of the early simple obedience training that make them
good "doggie citizens", so in a matter of months, there is an unruly,
barking dog in that kennel that irritates everyone... especially the
neighbors, who eventually start to complain about all that racket.
Inevitably, this dog ends up in a pound to be destroyed through no fault of
it's own, because you, yes you, Cabelas, and the breeder of this animal were
more interested in the money you could make than the welfare of these
animals.

On behalf of the concerned breeders of labrador retrievers and other breeds
of dogs, we implore you to cease and desist this inhumane and deplorable
method of selling unsuspecting animals, who deserve better. I for one will
not shop in your store until these "puppy sale" weekends have ben
discontinued. And I will tell everyone who will listen what you are doing
and ask them not to shop in your establishment either. Just so you are
aware, this news of your newfound money maker, yes we are aware of the $50
Cabela gift certificates, that must accompany each puppy sale.... this news
is spreading like wildfire across the internet and I would imagine you will
be birraged with emails and letters from angry breeders who are as unhappy
about these puppy sales tactics as I am.

Sincerely,

Annie Cogo
Windfall Labradors
517)546-7722

I have never heard of Cabelas, but if there was one around I definately wouldn't be shopping there.
I can't belive a big chain store would allow the sale of puppies from their parking lot:mad:

Sandra, here is what I received on one of my boards too.

Hello Everyone,
I received a very alarming email today. Evidently the Cabela Stores are selling hunting dog puppies from the front lawn of their stores on scheduled weekends and with each puppy that is sold the breeder needs to give the new owner a $50 Cabela's gift certificate.

I went to the Cabela site to see if this was a rumor or true and I was able to chat with someone live and this is NOT a Rumor, it IS true - they are selling hunting puppies!

The original email (that I copied and pasted below) said to contact Customer Service, but I don't think that is good enough. When I went to the Live Chat, he told me the same thing, to contact Customer Service, but THAT goes NO WHERE. I pressed him for a manager to contact and he finally gave me the phone number of (734) 529-4700 which is the Dundee store-I don't know where that is. (Michigan?)

Please take the time to call this number and demand to talk to the person in charge of this program. This has to stop! Please....

__________________________________________________ ______________
Here is the original email that I received today:
Forwarded message:
On our way back from the dogs show in Monroe today, my wife
and I stopped at one of our favorite stores. We are blessed
to have a Cabela's 40 miles from our house. (For those of
you who do not know what Cabela's is--it is the worlds
largest outdoor outfitters store. They have been huge in
mail order for years, have about 8 stores around the
country now. You literally can find anything related to
hunting or camping there.) To appreciate their size,
Cabela's is reported to be the #2 tourist attraction in
Michigan.

On the front door, they had a sign advertising "Puppy
Central". This is apparently a new program, originated in
the MI store where "breeders" can bring their hunting dog
litters on designated days, set up a tent and sell their
puppies right in front of the store. In talking with store
personal, they were bragging that they get 12 to 20 litters
on the weekends that they sponsor this and "almost all of
them get sold- it is really great!" The sign gave at least
4 different weekends this summer that they were doing this.
All that is required of the "breeders" is they have to
provide proof of registration, and give their name, phone
number and address. They are also required to give a $50
gift certificate to Cabela's with each puppy purchase. It
is suggested that they simply tack on $50
extra to the price of the pup to pay for the gift
certificate. I was aghast at the blatant effort on the part
of a quality store to sacrifice puppies in order to draw in
customers.

Cabela's has both outdoor kennel and limited indoor crates
for visitors to place their dogs while shopping. They
sanitize them after each guest and we have frequently
enjoyed letting the dogs rest in air-conditioning, while we
shop. This time, as we took our dogs in the front door,
several people could be heard saying "look how cute they
are- you know they sell dogs here now! I believe Cabela's
has made a serious promotions blunder, that is
irresponsible and will lead to impulse puppy buying, more
dogs in shelters and all the problems that accompany such a
decision. I have written them with my concerns and asked
them to stop this promotion. Apparently the Michigan store
originated this idea, but I was told by one staff person
that other stores will be copying the idea. If you feel
this is a bad idea, I hope you will write them as well.

e-mail address is:
[email protected]

Sounds like the news is really spreading fast! Thanks, Logan. I'm going to call!!!!!! I can tell you, through my experience with Lab rescue, just as the breeder said in her email, a good portion of these dogs are going to end up being unsocialized, unwanted and surrendered!!!:mad:

I sent an e-mail off and also mentioned that I am tossing the Cabelas catalog and using the Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shop catalogs!!

They must be getting a lot of heat on their puppy selling. I got this standardized puppy selling reply only minutes after I sent my e-mail.


Thank you for your recent correspondence concerning the Sporting Dog Seminars recently held at the Cabela's Dundee Showroom location. The seminars are all directed to the sporting dog and include crate training, retrieval training, and what to look for in a puppy when purchasing a hunting dog, to name a few.

There are a limited number of AKC registered sporting dog breeders on-hand as well, which are allowed to attend only after they have met stringent guidelines in place for the protection of each animals welfare.

We respect your position, which appears to parallel our own, and have forwarded your comments and concerns to our Executive Management Team.

Sad that Cabela's decided to do that. :(

I hope they rethink the situation.

Sulidar... sure looks like they are backpedaling.... doesn't look like they mention any kind of selling of puppies at all in that auto- respond.

I thought a few times about going up and checking Cabela's out..Dundee, MI is about 1/2 hr from my house. Guess there is no reason to now :mad:

I don't understand why they would do that. They are huge--they need to resort to irresponsible puppy selling to draw in customers????
I have never shopped there, and won't.
I suppose I'll receive the same response as Sudilar did, but I'll be emailing them also.

You know, education is the key. Several years ago, before I got involved in rescue, I wouldn't have given a second thought to a situation like this. Rather naive of me, but it is the truth! I'm one of those who got my first puppy from a newspaper ad and there she was, out in a pen in freezing cold weather at 6 weeks old, and I bought her! I just didn't know any better (and I'm still happy that we have Honey in our lives).

I'm choosing not to get, but instead take this great opportunity to "spread the message". I just hope that they will listen and learn from this!

I just got an email from my rescue group saying that Cabela's has officially cancelled their "Puppy Central" weekend sales! Thanks to all of those who emailed/called the company. No doubt that did the trick!:)

Woohooo! Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Sandra!!

Great news!!!

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the story!!

Here's the corporate response sent as a mass mailing over the internet:

>>From: [email protected]
>>To:
>>Sent from the Internet (Details)
>>
>>
>>Recently, some people have raised concerns about events surrounding the
>>"Puppy Central" weekends held at Cabela's Dundee, Mich., retail showroom.
>>To set the record straight, Cabela's has not (and never will) participate
>>in a puppy mill or broker service.
>>
>>Admittedly, the choice of "Puppy Central" as a name may have misled people
>>into thinking that Cabela's was in the business of selling puppies. That
>>is
>>not the case. The original intent and purpose for this event was to
>>provide
>>customers with information and techniques for selecting and training
>>sporting dogs. At no time were these events intended as anything other
>>than
>>training seminars for sporting dog owners.
>>
>>While past events have included the presence of the AKC registered hunting
>>dog breeders, Cabela's has discontinued this service due to the concerns
>>raised by our customers. Remaining events will get back to focusing on the
>>educational aspects of training sporting dogs. Cabela's will continue to
>>offer these seminars, including information on things to look for when
>>purchasing a hunting dog, dog owner responsibility and other important
>>aspects of selecting and training sporting dogs.
>>
>>Cabela's believes we were doing everything reasonably within our power to
>>ensure a proper environment for breeders and potential sporting dog owners
>>to get together in an educational and informative setting. However, in the
>>best interest of the sporting dogs we all love and our valued customers,
>>we
>>will eliminate all sales of dogs at future events.
>>
>>It is our hope this will help alleviate any concerns in this regard.

:D :D :D