Protest of Woof & Co

[Karen]

Anything we can do to stop this chain from growing is good. Write letters, make phone calls, protest!

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by mugsy

WOW!!!
I just got hung up on by the asst manager!!! lol
Must have struck a nerve eh?

You're doin it wrong, Mugsy!

To them - Time is MONEY

Every minute they spend on the phone
is a minute they are NOT selling dogs...

Soooo...
Call em up and have a "nice", LOOOnnnng *chat* ~
Ask em every *dumb* question you can think of...
Ask em to tell you what they have in "stock"...
Ask em about Special Ordering a dog...
Ask - ask - ask -
Keep em on that phone as long as possible...

Then call back - chances are a DIFFERENT one will answer -
if you really wore out the first one!

I can burn some "free" minutes on the cell phone
(with "free" long distance too) on Saturdays...
Last Sat I had a lovely time-consuming session with
one of the Braintree clerks - he had NO Clue he was being strung along!
Battery started to *croak* - so I had to let him go with a promise I'd be
"in to see him in an hour or so"...
I hope he skipped dinner "waiting" for me!!

I recharged the cell-dinger and had at em again later...
but the girl I got was SOOO DUMB I had trouble finding dumb questions
that she could handle.

TRY IT! - You'll have a *blast*!!!
Gotta "talk nice", but remember - while YOU have em tied up -
They are NOT selling pups!!



/s/ Phred

[Karen]

Got a new email today of What to Do:

1. Call DC Retailers who owns Woof & Co at their toll free number:
888-243-1988 and tell them your concerns about Woof & Co. puppy stores.

2. Write and/or call the manager of the South Shore Plaza: Joe Koechel,
Manager, South Shore Plaza, 250 Granite Street, Braintree, MA 02184,
781-843-8201

3. Submit an online message to South Shore mall owners. Go to: Simon.com,
then click investor relations, then corporate governance highlights, then
contact spg. From that same homepage click find a mall, scroll to south
shore plaza, click contact the mall and you can e-mail them.

4. Help us find vets and customers who will submit comments to proposed regs
by April 14, 5:00pm, and/or attend the hearing on April 7; and/or attend our
demo at Saugus on April 17, 2-4pm. Hearing will be at: Walthan 4-H Center,
aka Waltham Field Station 240 Beaver Street, Waltham, Massachusetts at 9:00
am.


5. Also there is a second hearing on April 7th listed at 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Natural Resources Conservation Service, 451 West St., Amherst, MA in the Conference Room.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by Karen
Got a new email today of What to Do:

1. Call DC Retailers who owns Woof & Co at their toll free number:
888-243-1988 and tell them your concerns about Woof & Co. puppy stores.
-------------------------------

4. Help us find vets and customers who will submit comments to proposed regs
by April 14, 5:00pm, and/or attend the hearing on April 7; and/or attend our
demo at Saugus on April 17, 2-4pm. Hearing will be at: Walthan 4-H Center,
aka Waltham Field Station 240 Beaver Street, Waltham, Massachusetts at 9:00
am.


5. Also there is a second hearing on April 7th listed at 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Natural Resources Conservation Service, 451 West St., Amherst, MA in the Conference Room.

Item #1:
The toll-free number > 888-243-1988
is listed several ways...
to Woof & Co
to Woof & Company, Family Pet Centers
to Rufus, Inc (reported by some to be the "new name"
. . for the "Woof & Co" pet stores)

Chances are that calling that number will get you to someone in
the Corp Office or "Upper Management" of Woof & Co -
and complaints will probably fall on "deaf ears"

Items 4 & 5 >>>

These Public Hearings are to discuss the "New Proposed CHANGES"
to Mass Public Law # 330 CMR 12.00
"PROPOSED REVISION OF REGULATIONS at 330 Code of Massachusetts Regulations 12.00
(“330 CMR 12.00”),
“LICENSING AND OPERATION OF PET SHOPS”

Here are some *links* >>>

330 CMR 12.00 - AS WRITTEN "now"(a .pdf file)
Several pages, with some Detailed Requirements for Pet Shops -
be good reading for anyone who can VISIT Woof & Co -
you can see how closely they FOLLOW the Regs!

The Public Hearing Announcement (a .pdf file)

Mass Dept of Agriculture - "Pet Shop Page"
NOTE: This page has a LOT of *links* that don't display as *links*
unless you scroll over them... "mouse around" the page!
In the LEFT Column is a *link* to the
"New Proposed Pet Shop Regs" - but the *link* doesn't work!

I have not found any display of the New Proposed Reg changes.
Here's what the Hearing Announcement says...
"In response to bio-security concerns, issuance of pet shop licenses needs to be dealt with in a more efficient manner. There is a need to create standard record requirements that will facilitate state disease investigations and inspections of pet shops.
The proposed changes introduce definitions and clarify certain licensing and operating requirements to reduce ambiguity in current regulations. It creates three different classes of licenses according to which types of animals are sold and then sets forth the different standards each class must meet again, clarifying the requirements for each. Dividing licenses into classes allows the Department to concentrate their energies on the animals that pose a greater bio-security threat and require the most attention.

Sounds to me like they're more worried about Homeland Security issues than Animal WELLness.

/s/ Phred

[Cinder & Smoke]

Posted on PT - June 13, 2005 >>>

Originally posted by QueenScoopalot
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRe...=88532&format=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YAY!!!!! This 'glorified' puppy mill vendor's been shut down! I've never set foot into the store, and don't go into these type places, but too many puppies suffered before victory! Good riddance!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woof stores go poof: Turn tail after Herald report


Embattled mall pet store chain Woof & Co. turned tail and quietly slinked out of Massachusetts last week, six months after a Herald special report spotlighted serious problems with the way the chain handled its high-priced pooches.

``We kept picketing, but, finally, we think the Herald articles put it over the top,'' said thrilled Jamaica Plain animal rights activist Mary Felthouse-Weber.

The Herald reported in December that Woof & Co. piled up 19 complaints and 27 violations of state pet store regulation in less than two years at its stores in the Square One Mall in Saugus and South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

An outbreak of the contagious intestinal parasite giardia at both stores a year ago prompted town health officials to intervene to protect the public.

Saugus health agent Sharon McCabe ordered employees at the Square One Mall store to get tested for giardia after the outbreak there.

Employee-turned-whistleblower Sara Purcell, who told the Herald the New Jersey chain routinely offered sick dogs for sale, yesterday said she was relieved to see Woof & Co. leave.

``It's a big thing. I didn't think they were going to close down this quick,'' she said. ``I figured they would have fought more. But every time I've gone by there (since the Herald series) it seemed like there were less and less people in the store.''

The manager of the Square One Mall said the company broke its lease and closed up shop at both Massachusetts stores last Tuesday night. Calls to the chain's New Jersey offices weren't returned yesterday, and both local numbers have been disconnected.

Helen Rayshick and other members of the Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition picketed both Woof & Co. stores several times to protest the company's treatment of its pups.

``Thank goodness this company won't be able to do this in Massachusetts any more,'' she said.

The chain, which is incorporated under the name Rufus Inc., pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges and got slapped with a $9,800 fine in New Jersey last month for allegedly allowing a sick Shar Pei puppy to languish in the back of a store for 21 days without treatment. Inspectors also said they found dead puppies on ice in the store refrigerator.

The above quote is from the thread:
Woof stores go *POOF* after Newspaper exposure

And *THANKS* to Mayor Karen, and ALL the others who helped the Cause
with Protests, phone calls, and GOT INVOLVED!!

[Albea]

Finally!!!
It's been a long time in coming, and I wonder how many puppies had to suffer while the stores were opened, but I hope this will stop them from opening shop in any other cities.
Thanks to Karen and all the people who were involved in bringing this happy conclusion to the horrible story.

[sandragonfly]

oh no..I missed all of this?! I would have done something too!

but WOOHOOO!!

we thank you for you!!!!!!!