Protesting For Puppies
Truth about the Pet Trade
Different people in different regions, all with one goal – stopping stores from selling dogs
By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Staff
How much is that doggie in the window? Such an innocent question from a song of a long-gone era; however, today’s puppy mills are an industry that generates significant profits. They stay in business because of a market for the animals they sell. Take away the demand and there is no longer any need to supply “merchandise.”
That is the goal of many individuals nationwide, who take time out of their busy lives, because they feel the need to educate the public about the appalling origin of those cute little puppies featured in the store window. They brave freezing temperatures, glaring sun, gale winds, and driving rain; all in the effort to be a voice for the voiceless.
Pets Plus in Landsdale, Pennsylvania
In one of the states most well known for its proliferation of puppy mills, Jenny Stephens of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch is so passionate about the cause, she has attended every Saturday protest of Pets Plus since November 2006. Every week an e-mail reminder is sent to participants who gather in front of the Landsdale, Pennsylvania location for approximately three hours weekly to voice their disapproval of their puppy sales.
“We try to raise awareness about the plight of the breeder dogs kept in the mills and to educate consumers about the many wonderful dogs that are available by way of rescues and shelters,” noted Stephens. “We’re giving people the tools necessary to make a conscious decision as to what is and isn’t right.”
Despite her perfect record, Stephens has never actually been in the store, though she has been told that there is signage that states that the puppies for sale all come from licensed breeders. She is quick to point out that “licensed of course does not translate into reputable or ethical” and urges others to refrain from shopping at the store completely. “We don’t just tell people not to buy pets, we specifically say to not shop at stores that sell companion animals.” Instead, she believes that people should support businesses that do not sell puppies, even if that causes some inconvenience, such as paying a bit more or traveling a little further. “It in the end that is going to help reduce the suffering of these breeder dogs, then it’s worth it, because everything in life is compromise.”
The protests are peaceful and courteous and most onlookers support their efforts. They do not have bullhorns or chant, their signs are straightforward, and they do not partake in any intimidating or sensationalistic behavior. “All of us are professionals and we give up our free time to do it. So it’s not like we don’t have lives or don’t have jobs; this is how we choose to spend our free time,” commented Stephens.
She feels that a successful picket can be started with only four committed individuals and those new demonstrators do not need to invest a lot of time or money into a protest. Her group educates customers by distributing puppy mill literature already created from the Humane Society of the United States, PETA, and ASPCA. In addition, they have created their own puppy buyer’s guide that gives information on puppy mills, local shopping alternatives, and includes links to Petfinder and Pets 911. The other secret is to concentrate on one store, as occasional protests will not make any impact. “I think longevity is the key and I think that’s probably where some of the demos unfortunately fall short. They think they can do it once a week, or once a month, or once every other month. That’s not enough, it has to be a constant, in your face, message.” Her hope is that when people think of this store, they immediately associate it with their demonstrations.
While focused on the protests, participants also reach out to other animal advocacy groups. They push to strengthen the Pennsylvania Dog Law Regulations and members recently attended the Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network (PLAN) press conference last month to support House Bill 1065, the state’s anti-tethering law. Stephens noted, “I think that by forming a group that is showing consistency and being able to have a cohesive relationship with other groups, where you are all working toward one goal, is paramount to success. The groups have to start working together.”
“If you’re not willing to do this for the dogs, how can you ever expect it to change?” questioned Stephens. “We all have our own personal talent in life and mine isn’t necessarily going out and taking dogs out of the mill, but I am absolutely dedicated to raising awareness about these puppy mills one way or another.”
Petland in Austin, Texas
Julia Hilder, of Spay Austin is a relative newcomer to pet store protesting. A Petland opened in Austin, Texas in late March and she and others from the area have been protesting weekly. She believes that there are many people who are unaware of the pet overpopulation problem, who believe it is okay to purchase pets, as opposed to adopting. “The goal is to go ahead and raise awareness of people who don’t know that we have a crisis on our hands,” Hilder stated. “I feel like this is too important to keep quiet and it gives us a really good reason to get out and talk about spay/neuter. It gives us the platform and the reason to be in front of the public.”
In February, shortly before Petland opened, the Austin City Council passed Ordinance # 20080228-057. The new legislation requires “pet traders” to pay a $50 animal processing fee for selling unaltered cats and dogs, microchip all cats and dogs when sold, and provide a document signed by a veterinarian licensed in Texas stating the health of the cat or dog. Hilder noted, “I was very pleased that they passed it, because I wasn’t sure that the City was going to be that interested in helping us out and giving us some backup on this subject. This gives us the support that we needed to really hold pet store’s feet to the fire and make them be accountable.” The protesters plan to be vigilant, making sure that the City upholds the new law and Petland is required to pay the dictated fees and file the required paperwork.
Still learning more with each demonstration, their approach is non-confrontational and respectful of traffic. Participants smile and wave at the thousands of cars that drive by on the nearby highway. Those vehicles that pull in to the shopping center are offered flyers which give background information on Petland, puppy mills, and offer alternate places to adopt and purchase pet supplies. The response has been heartwarming, with many commuters honking, waving, and displaying a thumbs-up gesture. Some interested people approach to learn more and a few, after discovering why the demonstration was taking place, even joined the protest themselves. Hilder further noted, “I think that we are getting through to some people who have never rescued or are not involved in the animal welfare community; who are showing up to our protests because they heard through Craigslist or they heard through the Yahoo group and the word is getting through to these people.”
Hilder has also been filming and photographing the demonstrations and plans to create a short video. She has interviewed people in key animal welfare roles who have chosen to oppose the new store and explain why taking part in the protests is so important. Once complete, the video will be posted online to further inform people about puppy mills.
“It’s not just that we’re protesting the opening of a pet store, it’s that we want people to know that there’s a lot more to this,” noted Hilder. “People need to know the crisis of pet overpopulation in Austin is there and it’s not going to go away unless we as a community solve it.”
Karen Rasmussen, as part of the Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills has been protesting since Puppies of Westport opened its doors in July 2006. Every weekend, a group of dedicated volunteers stay at least an hour, regardless of the weather, to hold signs and inform people about where the store’s puppies originate. “To educate the public about the sources of these puppies, that’s really the main goal,” stated Rasmussen, who said that the store is “hiding behind a cloak of fluffy cuteness.” Now that the weather is warming, they anticipate lengthening the duration of their demonstration in addition to tabling at local dog parks.
To obtain accurate information about where the puppies come from, she and others make regular trips to the Hartford Department of Agriculture to research health certificates and other paperwork necessary prior to shipment of the dogs. As a result, they know how many puppies are shipped to the store and the specific breeders or brokers the store is utilizing.
Monty Kaufman, co-owner with his wife of Puppies of Westport, agrees that there are many pet stores in the area that sell animals obtained from puppy mills; however, he asserts that his establishment is not one of them.
He stated that he purchases his puppies direct from breeders and breeder/brokers for the past 15 months and noted, “We have not bought a dog from Hunte, Lambriar or Tracy’s in the last 15 months.” However, Rasmussen disagrees and provided a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection from the Missouri Department of Agriculture that lists the Puppies of Westport as the consignee of six puppies from Tracy’s from June 11, 2007.
To insure their origin, Kaufman claims to have already personally visited 20 of the breeders he has utilized. “On our trip, we decided to stop using two and the other 18 really were doing a very, very fine job of taking care of their puppies.” Unlike puppy mills, he said a lot of the breeding facilities were attached to homes, provided heat and air conditioning, allowed the dogs out of their cages, and were not impregnating the females at every heat cycle.
“He acts like he has these exclusive breeders and they’re all what the other stores are using, he’s just another truck stop along the way,” said Rasmussen, who went on to say, “If he is so proud of his breeders, he should openly present to his customers 4 years’ worth of USDA breeder inspection reports, with the accompanying dog inventory numbers and/or sales reports showing how many dogs were sold by these breeders annually. Let the customers see that these puppies are not being raised inside a loving home environment, that they are being sold as a cash crop, loaded into the back of a transport truck traveling over 1,000 miles to be distributed like vegetables to stores throughout the country.”
Rasmussen specifically made note of Melanie Moore, one of the breeders that the store has purchased from as recently as February 2008. A USDA Inspection Report from October 25, 2006 cited Mike and Melanie Moore for not having had a veterinarian to the facility in almost two years, having expired medications, leaving needles in medication vials (allowing for potential contamination), all which affected 209 dogs.
However, the kennel violations testify to the true conditions of where the Moore dogs lived. Direct passages taken from the report include;
“There are sections of the east kennel that the metal has completely rusted through. This leaves surfaces that cannot be cleaned and sharp points that can cause injury to the animals.” (affecting at least 30 dogs)
“There are sections of the divider panels were there are gaps in the wire of 1 to 2 inches in many cases. These gaps do not contain the animals nor do they protect the animals from injury either by the wire or the animal in the adjoining pen.” (affecting at least 50 dogs)
“The limestone baserock used in the kennels has become compacted and contaminated with waste/urine, etc.” (affecting at least 70 dogs)
“There were 64 dogs with no doghouses and at least 10 other dogs with doghouses that had no bedding in them. The temperature was 45 deg F. in the morning prior to the inspection. The prior mornings [sic] temperature was in the 30’s F.” (affecting 70 dogs)
There were multiple other violations listed and many of these were repeat offenses.
Kaufman maintained that he does not sell animals obtained from puppy mills and stated, “The fact of the matter is that we are doing our best to provide a service that very few other stores do and for some reason, there’s a small local group that has decided that Westport is too good to have a pet store because it is their town and they don’t want it. But they don’t mind that there’s one in Norwalk, they don’t mind that there’s one a few towns away and they don’t mind that there’s one eight miles the other direction. They know that they get their dogs from puppy mills, they know that they don’t treat their dogs well, they know that the places smell and that they have lots of sick puppies, but if they were interested, they would go after them, but they don’t. They have targeted us because they don’t want a pet store in their town and it’s really, it’s indefensible. Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with espousing a cause, it’s when you become extremist in the espousal of that cause and you hurt innocent people, and you don’t have any chance of accomplishing your end goals, then it becomes ridiculous.”
In response, Rasmussen stated, “We regularly monitor other surrounding stores, and find that many of Mr. Kaufman’s breeders sell puppies to these very same stores. Focusing on Mr. Kaufman’s comments printed in news articles and his website that he uses hobby breeders, cares about the ethical treatment of the parents of the puppies, stories from customers that they are being blamed by him for their puppies’ illnesses, does tend to bring the spotlight on him. We are a small but growing group, and we look forward to the day when we can protest numerous pet stores simultaneously in our area. In the meantime, we will continue to protest, one hour a week, at the store which is barking the loudest with its outlandish claims.”
Posh Puppy in Beverly Hills, California
One example where teamwork and dedication has been successful is the protest of Posh Puppy in Beverly Hills. Meghan McGill, Volunteer and Intern Coordinator for Last Chance for Animals stated that they chose to start this campaign “Because the sheer volume and how many [pet stores] were popping up all over Southern California. It’s atrocious, I mean it’s become like a Starbucks, there seems to be one on every corner.” Their organization received regular phone calls and e-mails from individuals who had purchased sick dogs and they knew they had to act. “Our goal was to start a Los Angeles puppy mill campaign we were going to target pet stores that got their dogs from puppy mills,” noted McGill who said Posh Puppy was the first establishment selected because of its good location in Beverly Hills and the fact that it just opened in December 2007, so lacked a set customer base.
Every Saturday approximately 10-60 people have been demonstrating. McGill noted they had “right people at the right time for this campaign,” including actress, author and animal advocate Carole Raphaelle Davis, who had contacts with many others who were dedicated to the cause. In fact, Los Angeles is full of freelancers in the movie and television industry, which allows for time available to participate in the regular pickets.
Posh Puppies decided to close on Saturdays during the first few weeks of the protest, even going so far as to hire a security guard. “The owners would come out and say, ‘why don’t you leave, when are you going to leave?’ and we would say, ‘we’ll leave as soon as you stop selling puppies for profit,’ ” noted Jennifer Krause of Best Friends Animal Society. “When you make these stores think they are being watched, it shouldn’t be this easy for them to get away with this. And us just being there, we’re showing we’re not going to stand for this and we’re spreading the message.”
The protests were always peaceful and well within the law, and the owners soon decided to remain open, despite the demonstration outside. The protesters printed up and distributed brochures which educated people of the horrors of puppy mills. Shoppers were informed that all sales, animals or accessories, would help contribute to the puppy mill trade and they were given lists of alternate pet boutiques in the area. Often participants brought their own dogs, many of which were small and purebred, to show examples of animals who could be adopted from local shelters.
The public response has been supportive, many potential customers were turned away, and in March the store transferred their puppy “stock” to their Tarzana store. The protests continued and in April, the mother of the owner of Posh Puppy wrote a letter to McGill stating, “We do not deal with such big and bad puppy mills. We get ours from small and nice breeders only.” She went on to say that they were only following the American dream, but would be shutting down their Beverly Hills location.
However, in direct opposition to what the letter claimed, Last Chance for Animals and Best Friends held a press conference that revealed that an investigator had had researched the puppies’ origins from the store’s kennel cards. The investigation determined that their animals were indeed obtained from puppy mills (see Posh Puppy Store Exposed on KTLA For Selling Puppy Mill Dogs). McGill stated, “I hope people would know that it’s strictly about the animals and we’re not there to hurt anybody or to crush anybody’s American dream, like in the letter. You can make your American dream without exploiting animals.”
The $21,000 per month store location is now listed for rent and they were without puppies for over a month. Because protesters have now been picketing their Tarzana storefront, the owners recently closed that location for a day and once again brought the dogs to the Beverly Hills establishment to be sold. Determined, the group plans to preserve. “I’m really proud of the work we did and how we got accomplished in the time we did it,” said McGill. “It’s amazing and it all comes down to a lot of hard work and dedicated people. We want people to know that it’s not okay to sell these dogs, we’re going to keep going.”
It is no understatement to say that each of these people has countless other things they could be doing in lieu of the time spent protesting these pet stores. However, these individuals all believe it is a small sacrifice in comparison to what the breeder dogs in puppy mills are forced to endure every day for their entire lives. Each participant knows that together they can make a difference for animals through their rights to peaceful assembly and free speech.
FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
If there is a pet store that sells puppies in your town, join or form a protest in your own community. Even an hour or two a month goes a long way toward helping support a successful demonstration. Following are links that contain tips on how to get started.
Eight things you can do to help stop puppy mills
Protesting for Beginners
How to Organize a Puppy Mill Pet Store Protest
How to Protest a Pet Store that Sells Puppies
Puppy Mills and Pet Stores
Do not patronize stores that sell puppies and kittens; not for an animal, not even for supplies. Even if it is a little more inconvenient or expensive, please choose to shop at stores that support animal rescue. Request that your friends and family to do the same.
Join The Truth About the Pet Trade community on the Best Friends Network and subscribe to receive the new monthly newsletter, “Breeding Bytes.”
If you are considering a new pet, please adopt from a shelter or rescue. Do not purchase from a store or breeder. Search through the thousands of homeless animals posted on Petfinder.com, 1-800-Save-a-Pet, or Pets 911 to find one near you.
Become an advocate for homeless animals in your own community and oppose puppy mills. Check out Resources for Individuals for ways you can help.
For more information:
North Penn Puppy Mill Watch
Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills
Petland Austin Protesters Yahoo Group
Last Chance for Animals
Photo credits:
Pets Plus pictures provided courtesy of North Penn Puppy Mill Watch
Petland pictures taken by Jennifer Hayes
Puppies of Westport pictures taken by Dorrie Harris
Posh Puppies pictures taken by Elle Wittelsbach
