I shouldn't have done it, but I did...

[cragarmom]

My BF and I went to the mall yesterday. It was mobbed, so we ended up parking near an entrance in a different area than where we usually park.

It was the entrance near the pet store.

The pet store is off the "main thoroughfare" of the mall, so we usually never go past it. But yesterday, we had to walk right past it, and I wanted to go in.

Why on earth did I ever do that?

I was just looking at the assortment of puppies, feeling sorry for them all cooped up in those crates, when I spied a white miniature schnauzer. She looked exactly like my Cragar. She could have been his littermate (if she was older, that is...). She was the only one in there that wasn't doing some kind of OCD-like behavior (pacing in circles, biting the cage, howling, endlessly nosing the food dish around the crate, etc...) She was just standing there.

When the throng of people finally moved and I got to stand almost in front of her cage (which was behind glass, of course), she looked straight at me, then sat down. She never took her eyes off of me. She just sat there and looked. I turned to look at my BF and I could tell he was gritting his teeth. We were forced to start moving again by the mob of people there (and her eyes still kept following me), and we saw another white mini, although this was was endlessly pacing in circles and wouldn't stop. My BF tugged my arm - he wanted to get the heck out of there immediately.

I should never have gone in. I wouldn't want to buy a dog from a pet store, but I feel so bad for all those dogs in there. It's like that white mini's eyes were boring right through me, asking for help or something. Jeez, it makes me so upset. Even when I was trying to sleep last night, I just kept seeing her eyes, looking at me!!! I don't think I've ever been affected by a dog like that.

I just don't get it. Who takes care of those puppies when the mall is closed? All night and on holidays and stuff? And they were all puppies! Where do they go when they get bigger? I've never actually seen anyone buy a dog there! It just makes me sick and upset.

Sorry for the long post - I'm rambling now - I just don't get why places like that exist.

Joanne

[Carrie]

It is terribly sad and to think of what was probably worse than being in a pet store.....the puppies' first month and a half in probably deplorable conditions of a puppy mill. I think flyers or something ought to be handed out, pasted up on windows, stuffed into newspapers and whatever else one could think of spreading the word about what it means to buy a puppy from a pet store....what's behind it and what the alternatives should be. I'd like to find out about doing something like that.

[PitBullie09]

Its so sad. You just want to rescue them all. I do the same thing. There was this little Poodle in this puppy store and it was in the corner of the cage shaking. Because it was so scared. So I unlocked the cage and let her sniff me and she came up to me a little and i picked her up and almost started crying I held her the whole time. I wanted to get her out of there so bad. She was 850$. Another inncent victim of a Puppy Mill.

[linnie]

I absolutely refuse to enter the doors of a pet shop because I would want to take all those babies home.

If only we could have a law passed to prohibited the seeling of dogs through shops

[Cassiepeia]

I go into petshops and look at the puppies and kittens too. I can't help it, I feel so bad for them and for the people who buy them. People who don't know what they're getting themselves into.
I became a member of Say NO to animals in petshops about a year ago (it's an australian organisation). They're trying to stop this practice, wish I could help out more.

Cass.

[calgal]

Those poor puppies come from puppy mills. We need to shut them down by not buying from the pet stores, and try to get new laws that limit the number of dogs a person can have to breed. http://www.puppymillrescue.com

[cragarmom]

It's just so hard, though - I mean I wanted to buy that little schnauzer puppy... you know how people say something like "you don't pick your pet, your pet picks you"? I felt like that when I was there. It was a very strange feeling. I mean, I felt sorry for the other dogs there, and it was upsetting, but this one little puppy just tugged at my heartstrings. Maybe it was because she looked so much like Cragar, I don't know.

Sometimes I wonder if that's how the pet stores stay in business. I mean, most people know not to buy a dog at a pet store. But they're still in business. I'm guessing they just prosper from people feeling "sorry" for the animals there and wanting to "rescue" them and give them a good life.

Jeez, I even know better, but I couldn't help wanting to take that little cutie home with me.

[calgal]

maybe you could ask the shop owner where he sends the dogs he does not sell. I think they go back to the breeder. If you ask him who the breeder is he will not tell you, guranteed!!! Yes, it's just a horrible feeling when you have to walk away especially if one has touched your soul like that. I'll bet that little guy will find a wonderful and loving home by an uninformed person.

[oc_spirit]

I know what you mean. When I was in West Edmonton Mall this past summer we went into a pet store because my cousin-in-law had to pick up some dog food and wanted to get a couple toys for her pups as well. So meandered around looking at all the exotic animals being sold there but I finally get drawn to the puppies. Boy did I wish I hadn't!!! There were 2 Siberian Huskies, and Alaskan Malamute, and an Alaskan Husky. The fact that they were trying to sell an Alaskan Husky as a pet dog REALLY pissed me off (these guys don't make good pets at all, they need to be worked daily and allowed to pull for a long time to get adequate excercise). I have a real doft spot for all Nordic breeds. I took the Sibe puppies out to play but I just wanted to hug them all day. One had bad diarreah and her brother and very teary eyes. It was terrible. The blanket in the cage was covered in poop from the female. I asked why they wouldn't change it and their excuse was that they were trying to teach her not to poop on it by having her "live with it" for a bit to teach her the consequences of pooping on the blanket. She has diarreah!!! She couldn't have controled it even if her life depended on it!! Grrrrr

[Cassiepeia]

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

I know what you mean. When I was in West Edmonton Mall this past summer we went into a pet store because my cousin-in-law had to pick up some dog food and wanted to get a couple toys for her pups as well. So meandered around looking at all the exotic animals being sold there but I finally get drawn to the puppies. Boy did I wish I hadn't!!! There were 2 Siberian Huskies, and Alaskan Malamute, and an Alaskan Husky. The fact that they were trying to sell an Alaskan Husky as a pet dog REALLY pissed me off (these guys don't make good pets at all, they need to be worked daily and allowed to pull for a long time to get adequate excercise). I have a real doft spot for all Nordic breeds. I took the Sibe puppies out to play but I just wanted to hug them all day. One had bad diarreah and her brother and very teary eyes. It was terrible. The blanket in the cage was covered in poop from the female. I asked why they wouldn't change it and their excuse was that they were trying to teach her not to poop on it by having her "live with it" for a bit to teach her the consequences of pooping on the blanket. She has diarreah!!! She couldn't have controled it even if her life depended on it!! Grrrrr

That's awful! I often see breeds of dogs in the petshops around here that will be a nightmare for the sucker who buys them, primarily because of the breed. Lots of working dogs look soooo cute as pups, but your average person just can't look after them (and we all know where they end up when that happens ).

Cragarmom - Petstores rely on impulse buying, which is why they're still in business. People who don't like seeing puppies or kittens in petstores, but aren't well informed about them, think they're 'rescueing' the pup or kitten (or rabbit or cavy or bird or ferret etc...etc....). When they're actually doing exactly what the petshop owners and PM/BYB want them to.

Don't feel bad about wanting to buy the pup. I feel like that all the time when I visit those shops... of course I will NEVER actually buy one. It's just my heartstrings being given a giant tug, that's all. It's the same with you, it just means that you care. In my humble opinion... that means you're a good person.

Cass.

[gaddylovesdogs]

A few months ago I went into a pet shop. They had three or four GSDs, two Shiba Inus, Goldens, Chis, Beagles....and a "cockapoo". I took out a lovely two month old female GSD and played with her...she was a great girl and I hated to leave her in a place that reeked of bleach....it was very sad.

Cass--that's a great site you posted!! I'm going to make a t-shirt with the things they have on there.....might even pass them around to friends. I've been meaning to make a t-shirt that says, "STOP PUPPY MILLS" with stoppuppymills.org on the back....I'd like to sell some and then donate the money to someplace like PETA.

[PitBullie09]

I seen a RottweilerXPit Bull before. That dog was so cute. He was lie 550. I wanted him I got him out and played with him!I wish they would just stop. Is there a Pet Shop that doesnt get its puppy's from Puppy Mills?

[gaddylovesdogs]

Yes. Pet stores that have adoption centers.

[PitBullie09]

I guess that would be Petco.

[cragarmom]

I was just reading a little about PA puppy mills (I'm guessing the pet stores around here stay "local"). The sick thing about it is, many of the PA puppy mills were (are) run by Amish farmers. You know, the ultra-relegious sect that shun "modern life". Apparently they decline to remember about "all God's creatures" and all that - real relegious, huh? And I guess shunning modern life doesn't apply to making hordes of money from breeding dogs. One article I read had an interview with one of these Amish puppy mill owners - he said there was no difference between dogs and other livestock. That people need to remember that dogs aren't human beings.

Well, personally, I think my dog can be a lot more compassionate than most human beings. No one else will give a rat's behind if I'm sick or upset, but my dog knows, and he's a comforter!

And also I guess there's a "conflict of interest" (according to the USDA, I guess), because shutting down these farmers would inhibit the agricultural business.

It just makes me sad because it seems like everyone knows about these puppy mills, but they're still up and running. And what about the products of these puppy mills? What about all those dogs at the pet store? Just because they've been produced like an assembly line doesn't mean they don't deserve love, a good home and a good life. But doing so just propagates an already out of control problem.

It's just disgusting.