This really gets me mad...

Sunnypup

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#1
So my husband and I were in the mall today, and we went into what seemed like a really cute dog clothes/accesory store, ya know the ones that sell all of the silly hats and glasses and different bags for the small dogs? (And before someone yells at me I don't think that dog clothes are always silly but I mean stuff like bunny ears and antlers for dogs. ) Anyway we go in and it is all cutsey and there are toy dogs and doggy clothes and ... DOGS?! I mean I guess the sign did say Puppy town but it was connected to a store called bear town that sold toy bears like build a bear workshop. Imagine my surprise. Well, we figured we're here, might as well look at these poor things. Why? I dunno, morbid curiosity I guess? Now I don't like dog stores, and I made sure the breeder I bought my pup from was reputable and my last dog came from a shelter so I figured that it would be bad. I was right. They were selling 5 month old puppies completely untrained for over 900$. These poor things if they get bought for the rediculous price they were getting sold for they would probably end up at the pound a week later. It gets worse. MIXED BREED PUPPIES. Not a purebred super fancy breed that you would expect to pay more for, but labrador/collie mixes, beagle pug mixes,poodle and something else mixes...for over 500 dollars. Older puppies that have only been kept in cages all of their lives and not really trained or socialized. Sick puppies with gunk in their eyes staring blankly ahead :( And people must buy them or the store wouldn't sell them right? but there are dogs just like these but cuter and in more desperate need of a home and they are getting euthanized daily because some moron decided that it would be cute to breed a beagle with a pug, call it a bug make it "trendy" and charge 700 dollars for it. I mean I guess it is their money but what in the world? I don't know why but the whole thing made me mad. It was like "don't get your dog from an icky pound, get it from our cute little store". I just can't understand it all. Poor puppies, if I had had a whole lot of money I would have bought out the store and closed it so they didn't have to live there anymore. Oh, the other thing that annoyed me was the size of the cages. I mean, yeah a crate is supposed to be a certain size so the dog doesn't poop there but these were SMALL and glass enclosed where little kids came in a beat on the glass and one can bet they dont get out for more then to go potty since I only saw 1 person working in the store and there was really no place to walk them IN A MALL. grrr. Am I off the wall being mad about this or does anyone agree?
 

Desteny

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#2
Oh, I hate places like that! There was a pet shop in a town I used to live in. They were convincing people that "CKC registered Labradoodles" were only gonna be 15 lbs! Seriously, a Lab/Poodle cross is not going to be 15#! Plus, they were for sale for $700!
 
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#3
That's exactly why so many of us keep pleading with everyone not to buy ANYTHING from those places! Don't support them with any kind of purchases. And it never hurts to ask them questions they can't answer . . . in front of other customers.

I make it a practice to go into those stores if I'm in a mall and start with the innocent questions about why don't they carry "good" pet food instead of the high priced stuff that's no better than Purina or Pedigree . . . and why those puppies look ill . . . and how often do they get taken outside and exercised . . . and the big one - don't they come in batches from puppy mills?

You should see how quickly I can clear out a pet store . . . :D
 
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#4
We love you, Renee!!! :D

This is exactly why I'm trying to start a "puppies out of pet stores" initiative here in Colorado. But with 2 jobs and several furry kids, I don't get much time to work on it. :(
 

Khristine

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#5
talking about a pet store.. i was a the mall today because my friend wanted to buy make-up.. and we just so happened to walk by a pet store.. i feeeel soo horribly bad for those babies that are in there.. they are absolutely dirty and filthy with gunk in their eyes.. i want to buy them all so they don't have to live in a cage... it makes me mad that they wayyy over price them as well..

that is just sooo sad :(
 
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#6
You must be so very polite and kind when doing it - never, ever be rude to the poor peon stuck in a minimum wage mall job. The trick is to do it so that you don't look like a jackass yourself. You have to go in to do the job with malice aforethought . . . ;)
 

Khristine

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#7
The people who worked at this pet store in the mall were very smug... and snobbish.. i wanted to ask a question about their yorkie (cause they had soooo many like 10!) ... but they wouldn't even let me come close to them..

(it was in a sort of high class mall i guess) .. and i was in my gym clothes cause me and my friend had just came from the gym... :p oh well
 

smkie

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#8
the worst part..is they were in a box before they came to the store..one pup..per box. The saddest place for a baby anything that should be in a litter with a mum to love him and wash his face..to roll about and be happy...then something happens like at Midwest pets where they all had parvo (at least 20 of them) and had to be put down, only to bring more in the next day...i quit soon as I found out they were going to come...sometimes if you can't change the situation and knowing the next batch would get it too was making me insane...just insane..you could put up protest signs right in front of the store and people would still go in and purchase this puppy even after being told of the health, and the rest of the story you already know, they look out of curiosity and one will take their heart..the appeal of a puppy over rides the senses
I hate all of it and wish i could D**** everyone responsible to hell forever. They are BABIES!
 

Sunnypup

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#9
Renee750il said:
it never hurts to ask them questions they can't answer . . . in front of other customers.

I make it a practice to go into those stores if I'm in a mall and start with the innocent questions about why don't they carry "good" pet food instead of the high priced stuff that's no better than Purina or Pedigree . . . and why those puppies look ill . . . and how often do they get taken outside and exercised . . . and the big one - don't they come in batches from puppy mills?

You should see how quickly I can clear out a pet store . . . :D
I might just try that next time I come to one of those places. I felt awful because it just looked like a cute little store. It didn't say "pet store" or anything. "Puppy Town" right next to "Bear Town" ... dummies. I don't get it. I lived in the suburbs of Lancaster PA for most of my life and if you went into a pet store you didnt' expect to see anything besides fish, frogs, birds, rodents and supplies. I moved near philly last year for work and there are hundreds of these filthy stores that make it "cool" to buy from them. I think the problem is commercialism. No one wants anything less then the best and if you pay 1000s of dollars for something it MUST be the best right? grrr. I am so not EVER going into that store again unless it is to embarrass them.
 
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#11
Ive seen one of those kinds of stores too except there was like 3 puppies in each crate it made me SO mad!!!!!!!!!!! still mad now :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 

Rose's Gal

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#12
I have a question. Why is it that all of these puppies are in such bad condition? I mean, if an owner had dogs in that bad of condition, wouldn't they be charged with neglect? Why aren't Petstores being charged with that? Just courious.
 
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#13
*sigh* I hate pet shops. We have one around here that sells basically any breed they can get their greedy hands on, along with designer mixes. The last time I was there there were Shiba Inus and a "Cockapoo". Four Golden Retrievers shared a cage big enough for two eight week old puppies. I was so upset.

One of the best thing you can do is buy absolutely NOTHING from places like that. I refuse to buy so much as a treat for ninety nine cents from places like that. And don't forget spreading the word!! Type up flyers and pass them out to all of your neighbors, friends and relatives. Whenever possible I hand out info. In fact, just yesterday I sent information on mills from the Humane Society of America to a person down the street along with some training information (his dog behaves horribly). I hope that someday there will never be any puppy mills, pet shops or BYBs, but if that ever does happen it'll take quite a while. :(
 

Martine

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#14
I really wish it was illegal, in fact for ages I thought in the UK it was banned as I haven't seen puppies or kittens in a petshop over there for ages, but just looked at a UK website and think I was mistaken? Certainly still popular here is Spain, I'm still on a guilt trip for giving the horrible petshop near us money for Misha but obviously i'm also glad we 'rescued' her. We've since found out she was about 6 months old when we got her, 2 months older than the store said, so I'm not clear where she actually came from before the store. By her behaviour I can guess it wasn't a great place. :mad:

I need to keep going on the spanish practice so I can go in and start questioning them like Renee says.......I like that idea.
 

smkie

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#15
I promise you the fish, birds, and rodents didn't fair any better, and in fact for about every bird that makes it there..half a dozen or better died along the way..we won't even discuss the conditions reptiles..who can live for a long time without a meal become starved..oh my i said i woudn't go there so i won't...all pet store ...i saw where the came from before they went to the pet stores all over the us..it is that bad.
 
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#17
Rose's Gal said:
I have a question. Why is it that all of these puppies are in such bad condition? I mean, if an owner had dogs in that bad of condition, wouldn't they be charged with neglect? Why aren't Petstores being charged with that? Just courious.
Great point! If you see animals being kept in conditions that appear bad enough that your local humane authorities might investigate, report the store. Another tactic might be to bring it to the attention of the local media. You never know when there is a reporter looking for a story, and animals always make good press. There's usually at least one local TV station that airs animal adoption spots, and the same is true for newspapers.

Right, Saje?
 
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#18
Maybe we all need to start a "puppies out of pet stores" campaign in our own towns. Then we could do it together and we wouldn't be all alone! I want to get it to the point where no animals are sold in pet stores, because as Smkie says the mortality rates for birds and small animals during shipping is appalling. But I think starting with puppies will hit close to home with the average Joe.

I've taken the first step and gone in to get pictures of the puppies. I told the teenagers at the counter that we were buying a puppy for my brother, but that my mother was bedridden and had to see photos before she approved the purchase. Which makes sense, since the prices are so outrageous. I got photos of their feet (a total mess from standing on metal grates), their eyes and noses (cold going around), and a number of dogs in their cages covered in feces. It was hard to leave them there, but I'm still hoping I can help.
 
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#20
Well, yeah, but now I need to figure out what to do with the evidence I have. I thought about circulating a petition, but I don't know how the laws work around such things.
 

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