Reponse from a petstore

[kingrattus]

if the cages were cleaned enough throughout the day, the puppies wouldn't get sores!!!

send them something like that & see what they say.

[jersey girl]

I work at a petstore in georgia that does sell puppies. when this petstore opened three years ago there were a lot of people of our town rallying against it, including me! I interrogated the employees and owner about where those puppies were coming from, and I too was told from private breeders... after more prying and researching (i.e. copying down information about the "breeders" from each puppies personal files) and contacting and investigating these breeders I found that the petstore was actually being truthful! After looking more into the techniques of caring for these puppies I approved of the handling of these animals to the point I actually took a job there. At this particular petstore they get our pups at reputable breeders, we (the pet counslers) love on and cuddle these pups all day, excercise them around the store at least 3 X'z daily, and inform potental pet owners of the positives and negatives of owning a dog/breed (and ask them questions to see if they've researched owning a dog, if the haven't a clue we send them home with info and resources to come back after really thinking about it)! My co-workers and I nearly all have dogs (or cats) of our own and we work hard to find good homes for these babies, both our pure bred and our pound puppies that we hold for the shelter (our store is cleaner and they get vet checked and shots)! I will NOT speak for other pet stores, however, and if you come across a shady pet store get involved and research, you might aid in shutting it or a puppy mill down... or you might end up working there! As for the kennels, we do use much larger than that of the picture, but we use the wire flooring with rubber mats and puppy blankets. Usually pups go potty through the wire but they sometimes go on their mats, and though we are cleaning constantly, a pup can quickly make a mess of himself when he goes on the mat, hence the wire. Some dogs prefer sleeping on the cool wire to the soft mats!! The water bottles are needed to make sure fresh water is always available for our babies, even when we have a rush of customers! Pups will play in and knock over water bowls of all shapes and sizes, not to mention getting hair (or their ears) in their water! I've never seen a pup have a problem using one, and many of my dog park compadres use them for their puppies when they're at work or school during the day. There are a lot of pet stores that have puppies that shouldn't (it's hard to what we do and time consuming to take good care of so many pups) but I learned not to judge imediately (unless it's filthy or has unhealthy pups) but to research first. If you discover a pet store is buying from puppy mills or is not taking good care of it pups contact the Department of Agriculture or it's equivalent... they keep close tabs on the petstore I work at and the owner (of any well kept store) always invites the reps in any time they show up!

[tikeyas_mom]

email them again saying this...

HI, I just cannot get over how you are treating your puppies. they cannot live, walking on metal wire bottoms, they should at least have a pan at the bottom, a puppy will not lay it its own waits, and making the bottom of the cage wire isnt any better or safer for the dog. You cannt expect a puppie to live sitting on a cutting board, it is evil. I dont see how any customers can like that. the poor pups must be in hell. I know I would If all I had to sit on was a tiny cutting board. .... .




then contact the local spca and repot this bull crap, and post the pic in an email of the sheltie. it is not right, it is not right at all.

[kingrattus]

The pet store I got max from doesn't buy puppies at all (it out of business now, the owners hubby died & she couldn't care for it on her own). T

hey took puppies from anyone who had an accidental litter, from all around. & they sold the puppies for $20.00. The puppies had their first shots (from their owners), & all were dewormed at the store.

The puppies were kept in a huge cage on the floor (during the day only), with a removable top. Kids were not alowed to yell in the store or hold the puppies unless they were sitting on the floor & the owner ok'd it.

The puppies had the whole backroom to themselves at night, unless they were tiny tiny puppies, they were put in the huge pig pen & the pig was put in the backroom(the pig had the backroom during the day, it was the owners pet pig).

I was the only kid who had perminet permission to hold the puppies when they were awake. I was known as the puppy sitter. I would hold all the puppies at once (avg 2-8) everyday, until they stopped crying & fell asleep. Nancy & her hubby just loved me. They would give me a free fish once amonth for my good work (I was only 8). I miss Nancy & her hubby. Nancy is still around, but I never get to see her when I'm in town & she hasn't seen Max in over 6 yrs, she loved him.

[binka_nugget]

jynnelle, i'm just gonna stop emailing them. Until I get some concrete proof, I'll stop with it. So far, everything they've said sounds resonable. I disagree with people buying from petstores...but I have nothing solid against them.

[KYS]

posted by jersey girl:
At this particular petstore they get our pups at reputable breeders>>>>>>>>>>

Welcome to Pet Talk. : )

I am glad the pet shop you work for treats their
puppy's well. But I will have to differ on the reputable breeder statement.
No reputable breeders will sell a puppy to a pet shop.
It is part of the code of ethics from the bi- laws
from the official breed club.
I am assuming other breed clubs have similair bi-laws
as does the ACA does.
This is the bi-law # (8) that I cut and pasted from
the ACA web site.

8) I will refuse to deal with dog wholesalers or to sell puppies to pet shops and I will include in all stud contracts an agreement to be signed by the owner of the bitch that no puppies resulting from the mating will be wholesaled, sold or given to pet shops or wholesale dog breeders or dealers.

(Now it is possible to find a reputable breeder's
dog somewhere down the pedigree line
from a pet store pup, but it will not be because that
beeder sold this pup to the Pet shop.)