my friend wants a PETSTORE puppy!

[guster girl]

Originally posted by RobiLee
From what I hear that is not a good place! What really bothers me about petland and Alden is the one who pointed it out to me....Is that they will sell any dog to anyone without asking about their lifestyle or if they have any knowledge about that breed of dog. They did not ask us one question about if we knew anything about Akitas..not one!

I'm not condoning Petland at all, or the selling of puppy mill puppies. I will say this, though, that Petlands are individually owned and managed. Meaning that you can't judge one by another (excepting where they obtain most of their puppies). I worked at Petland in Lewisville, Texas for a month, and, I didn't know at the time about puppy mills. But, I will say that, at least at the time, all the furry animals there were ALL well taken care of. All of the cages were cleaned out every morning and spot cleaned throughout the day. the animals all had fresh water available 24/7 and usually there was a mat or towel in the cages with the dogs, along with a breed appropriate chew toy. I was specifically told to ask tons of questions when people showed interest in a puppy. I can't even tell you how many potential owners were turned away because the employee deemed them inappropriate for the particular breed they were showing interest in. The puppies were kept in cages, but, no different than keeping a dog in a crate (which I do at night and when I'm gone to work). Every dog had a checklist for when they were played with by a customer. And, employees were instructed, based on the breed, to turn away requests to play with a puppy if it had been taken out a lot already, and, if there was a puppy that hadn't been played with enough, they would take it out themselves for a romp around the store or in the back or whatever. The cages were spotless, the puppies ears were cleaned daily, baths were given when necessary, etc. I have to say that the puppies at the store I worked at were probably given more attention than a lot of puppies in homes that have two working adults and children that go to school. I'm not at all saying that it's a better place for them to be, but, I'm also not saying it's the worst. Again, I'm covering my butt here in saying that I'm completely against puppy mills. I also will agree that I've been in some Petlands that were absolutely rancid. But, I just wanted to put it out there that they're not all stupid people. Some of them really feel like they're doing the right thing, and, I know a lot of the employees I worked with have no idea where the puppies come from and just do their best to keep them clean and healthy once they're at the store and will do their best to make sure the puppy gets the right home. But, even the really young people always asked lots of questions and rarely left people unsupervised with the puppies. I will also say that ALL of the people I worked with for the month I was there LOVE animals and treated all of the puppies like their own kids, and, that most of the people are still working at the same store. I loved working there, to be honest with you. I'd never do it again, after finding out what a puppy mill is, but, I wanted to share that.