Another sad day at a pet shop ....

[dirtmcgirt]

The wife and I decided to check out this little pet shop for the first time.. I was interested in seeing what kind of food they carried...

So we go in and head to the kibble section. On the way we pass a display full of puppies for sale. Pugs ($850), Cockers($1250), Bichons($1000).. I started thinking ok, I'm just going to ignor this and head to the food.. There was a young girl (20ish) standing their holding a pug puppy, and the store owner came and asked her if she was done. She told her yes, but that she had a few questions about them.
- Are the parents registered? And have they had health screenings done?
- Where are the puppy's from?
- Hold old are they?
- Can I have the contact info of the breeder?
- Is the breeder local?

Ok, so now I was interested in hearing what the lady had to say.. Here were her answers..(with an attitude like it was killing her to answer)
- I have no idea about the parents
- They are local. That's all I know..
- 5 weeks
- Nope.. I'm not really sure who the breeder is, but I think the breeder of the pugs is a little old lady that lives in town. Very reputable. And our breeders prefer we not give out their information. (of course they do)

The dogs were adorable of course, but we were too pissed off to notice.. I didn't bother buying food and just left. The sad thing is that these are usually the only places that sell premium kibbles.

 

[smkie]

Maybe you can write up a little paragraph about what you heard and post it in your local paper. 5 weeks could just make me weep before we get to any of the other information. I would report that to anyone that would listen.

 

[Bobsk8]

I would try and find another place to get your dog food.

 

[ToscasMom]

Imagine selling puppies at five weeks! They should be indicted and the so-called "breeder" should go down with them. I bet the dogs aren't even local to begin with, more like some puppy farm. Imagine paying that much for a puppy and not even knowing where it came from or what its parentage was, or what the temperament of the parents is, or even whether it has health issues or not. How sad for these poor sweet puppies.

I would travel to another city before I would do business with that pet store and I would let them know it too.

 

[planet molosser]

Sad and goes to say they will all be AKC reg and promoted soon..

 

[dirtmcgirt]

Ohh don't worry.. I will never buy food from there..

 

[dr2little]

The wife and I decided to check out this little pet shop for the first time.. I was interested in seeing what kind of food they carried...

So we go in and head to the kibble section. On the way we pass a display full of puppies for sale. Pugs ($850), Cockers($1250), Bichons($1000).. I started thinking ok, I'm just going to ignor this and head to the food.. There was a young girl (20ish) standing their holding a pug puppy, and the store owner came and asked her if she was done. She told her yes, but that she had a few questions about them.
- Are the parents registered? And have they had health screenings done?
- Where are the puppy's from?
- Hold old are they?
- Can I have the contact info of the breeder?
- Is the breeder local?

Ok, so now I was interested in hearing what the lady had to say.. Here were her answers..(with an attitude like it was killing her to answer)
- I have no idea about the parents
- They are local. That's all I know..
- 5 weeks
- Nope.. I'm not really sure who the breeder is, but I think the breeder of the pugs is a little old lady that lives in town. Very reputable. And our breeders prefer we not give out their information. (of course they do)

The dogs were adorable of course, but we were too pissed off to notice.. I didn't bother buying food and just left. The sad thing is that these are usually the only places that sell premium kibbles.

Selling 5 week old puppies is ILLEGAL in most states, it certainly is in yours. I'd report them to animal service..pronto..
How disgusting...5 weeks old...as if the rest of the story wasn't bad enough.

 

[dirtmcgirt]

Unfortunately in VA, the law is that they can advertise them for sale, and sell them as long as they are not actually picked up by the buyer until 7 weeks...

I checked last night.. but I bet anyone that they aren't following that law..

 

[smkie]

Where they probably got there puppies from....
when i worked at the animal "warehouse" called Midwest Pets my boss started carrying puppies. It was a sad and ominous affair i knew from the start. Shortly after they arrived (about 30 0f them) i pulled the papers out and smelled parvo. I knew from the past that smell long before the pups had even started showing symptoms. I informed my boss. A vet came in and put all of them down. I can still see their faces in my mind, the dalamation, the beagle, all of them, one of each breed. I was told to bleach down the cages because new ones would be arriving the NEXT DAY. I quit there on the spot and would have no more to do with this place. I had only stayed for i thought i made a difference for the birds and lizards espeically that got unsavory care on their long line of neglect before they reached their final destination. All those puppies were YOUNG! TOO YOUNG! I realize in hindsight that my efforts of trying to help the animals only made it more possible for the business to go on. ANd frankly it did for years and years after i left, my quitting made no difference. The day i left a poor woman was bleaching out those cubicles in a small room with almost no ventilation. Good for her too wasn't it? Since then i have refused to put anything in a cage, refused to even think of buying a bird, they belong in the sky or a rodent, tho i am most fond of both. I doubt this will make any difference to those that see it is wrong for puppies and kittens but see no harm in fish, rodents, birds, or reptiles but i am going to put it into words again. For every bird you buy several died along the way. The same goes for the poor poor reptiles where someone thought "they can live along time between meals, let the next guy feed em" and we won't even discuss the rodents.


There was a room of turltes, box turtles he wasn't even suppose to have, snapping turtles, in trashcans so big they couldn't even turn around. My coworker and i freed as many of the box's as we could, filling our backpacks with them and finding good places for them to have a chance each day on the way home. I drove a lot of country miles looking for areas with creeks and ponds. THe rest, (and there were HUNDREDS) died the summer of the big heat. THat was the first time i quit, we all did. I was told to go into the turtle room that had been locked to the employees, having been told the boss was caring for them, and clean it up. I refused. WE all refused. He wasn't suppose to have the box turtles in the first place! My friends tried to report him but he managed to hold the authorities at bay until he had the place gutted. THere was a rumour that the store before he torched for the insurance.
Three years down the line i saw his ad in the paper and went back just out of curiosity. THat was when he started carrying puppies. I lasted one month before i quit again. THese places are a dime a dozen, and that is where the petstores that "cannot give out the breeder info" are coming from i would bet my last dollar on it. PLEASE PLEASE announce your findings to the paper and anyone else that will listen. Only then if ENOUGH people do that, and do not take their trade to these stores will things change. I was young and dumb and thought i was helping. Maybe i did for the very few that went through the line. I know i spent an awful lot of my own money on medicines, crickets, picked clover, dandylions, red clover, raided dumpsters at city market for turtle food, watermelons and greens, by the bag before i went into work to take food to those that would not have had any otherwise, i don't know if what i did made any difference at all.

 

[casablanca1]

It's funny, I go to pet stores once in a while just to look at the puppies and look at the info cards on them (100% Missouri and Pennsylvania bred, what a shock) and kind of be a masochist. I also like to check that my beloved breed, the Bearded Collie, isn't represented. It must be painful to see a pup from your own breed sitting there. I've never seen a Beardie in a pet store yet, and I hope I never will.

 

[kalija]

This is why I refuse to buy anything from a store that sells dogs or cats. The only decent fish store around here (that I used to love) sells puppies now, so I have to drive over 2 hours to get any fish, or go to petsmart, because they do adoptions. I told them why I would no longer shop there, but they don't care.
Try a feed store for premium dog foods, I get Canidae from Countrymax store, and I believe Tractor Supply stores carry some brands too.

 

[otch1]

It's worth reporting. In your state, under USDA licensing for the breeder/broker/kennel who sold the pups and the petstores state business license, new puppies coming into a store for retail sales are to be quarantined (by the store) for 10 days prior to putting them in with the other animals in the store. (All that has to be is another shelf in corner of store, but this wasn't done if they're 5 weeks old and you saw several litters, different ages, all in same area.) They're then required to post, with the animals paperwork on cage (or at the register, upon request of customer) the vaccination record, litter registration number if advertising them as AKC reg.pups, and the source of where the puppy came from, i.e commercial breeder, private breeder or broker, and which state the puppy was bred in. I am guessing because she/owner was hesitant to answer these questions with you standing nearby, it is because she does not have her paperwork in order, does not have designated quarantine area and was about to get caught selling them at 5 weeks of age should the girl holding the pup have offered payment at that time. I just went through this with a client who bought 2 pups from a vey popular pet store in California, (Petlove) whose puppy was shipped by the Hunt Corporation, purchased from a Missouri broker whose had her kennel shut down 10 yrs ago and is in business again. This store, in Beverly hills, gets a shipment of approx. 25 new pups every other week according to employees. One of these pups died of heart failure, had giarrdia, was very sick. Petstore refusing to refund $1700.00. They're now going to court. Very messy business. Hope you'll stir things up a little for this petstore, if you do detemine they're doing something wrong. Good luck!

 

[ToscasMom]

SMKIE, if we are to be judged by how we treat the most helpless among us, you will definitely not meet up with your former boss in the etherial future.

 

[Lizmo]

Sad and goes to say they will all be AKC reg and promoted soon..

I have heard they are. So where do you get a reg pup from??? are there any places in the states other than the AKC??? I mean do GOOD breeders still register there pups with the AKC???

No I am not thinking about getting a pup but one day I want to get a registered pup and have been thinking....is it still good to get a registered pup from a breeder that is registered with the AKC???

 

[smkie]

Our kennel always did. People would come to the field trials and see the dogs work, putting in their request long before a breeding ever occured. Everything was timed out, vet checks, papers gone over, everything checked out before a breeding ever happened. Then deposits were put down customers came and made their pick, the pups being marked with a notch on the fur of the back. Then they could come back when the pups were 8 weeks old. One pup was always kept with the mother to be trained and later sold as a starter dog for hunting. That way she didn't lose her whole litter at one time. That was how it was done but that was a long time ago. I don't know how it is done now. you were able to see at least one if not both parents and usually an older sibling. YOu could also know that if there was any problems that the pup could be returned full refund.
Thanks Toscasmom. I will never know exactly how to feel about that time. Nor the years i did kennel work either, the training was ok, but those dogs that stayed there year round seem like prisoners to me now. What any one of them would have given for a good family, a house, it is just such a shame. They did get out for training daily it just seems like a poor substitution for a real life.

 

[casablanca1]

I have heard they are. So where do you get a reg pup from??? are there any places in the states other than the AKC??? I mean do GOOD breeders still register there pups with the AKC??? No I am not thinking about getting a pup but one day I want to get a registered pup and have been thinking....is it still good to get a registered pup from a breeder that is registered with the AKC???

There's the UKC, and I believe there are other, smaller registries. None of them are guarentees of quality. To use the AKC's own favorite line - they're a registry, and they have no standards, good or bad. Plenty of decent, honorable people breed AKC dogs, so I think that it's still ok to get an AKC-registered dog. I just think that you have to be as careful and skeptical about a person raising AKC purebreds as you would be about any other source.

One plus of buying an AKC-registered dog is that, depending on where you live, it can be easier to participate in various dog sports, since AKC clubs and shows are more widely available than other organizations. There are four AKC agility trials within 5 minutes of me each year; if I want to compete with my mix, I'll be travelling at least an hour to a NADAC show.