DEAR EDITOR:
In response to Charlotte Noriega’s letter to the editor
regarding the selling of pet store puppies. I have to tell you that
I am one of the voices speaking out about purchasing puppies from
pet stores. I started researching this issue last year.
DEAR EDITOR:
In response to Charlotte Noriega’s letter to the editor regarding the selling of pet store puppies. I have to tell you that I am one of the voices speaking out about purchasing puppies from pet stores. I started researching this issue last year. That research was very carefully and purposefully laid out in my letter to the editor in September 2003. I stand by that letter.
You are particularly concerned about Our Pet Shop and the harassment your daughter-in-law is receiving. I went in there recently to see for myself and was absolutely appalled at the condition of that store. It was dirty, dark and two of the animals kept toward the back were in enclosures that smelled, had urine-soaked papers lining the floor and feces for them to walk in. The cages that contained the little ones up front weren’t much better.
It is admirable that Our Pet Shop takes financial responsibility for the puppies they sell. However, if they are losing “more financially on the puppy endeavor than they have made,” that tells me that she is receiving and selling a lot of sick puppies … or at least puppies that manifest their problems once they are taken home. My question is if Our Pet Shop is not making money selling those puppies, why continue to propagate the puppy mill business?
I asked one of the clerks specifically what breeders these dogs were purchased from and was told that Our Pet Shop uses local breeders and also purchase their dogs from Kansas and Missouri (a hotbed of puppy mills). They are transported to the store by Transpet.
Transpet, like the Hunte Corporation that is used by the other pet store, is nothing more than a puppy broker. They pick up their puppies from the mills in their area and transport them all over the country. I believe from what I have learned that both pet stores here in Gilroy are receiving supplies of puppy mill puppies. Any local, reputable breeder, or any reputable breeder for that matter, will not sell their puppies to pet stores.
I realize that buying puppies from a “reputable” breeder does not always guarantee that you will get the perfect dog. However, when you visit a breeder, no one in their right mind will purchase one that is being raised in the conditions you describe. I purchased both my Pugs from a breeder. I visited her facility several times and did a background check as well. Most people willing to put out the big bucks for a specific breed would do the same.
I would like to ask each and every person who has purchased a puppy from one of the pet stores here in town – or plan to – get a copy of the California Health and Safety Code. Your rights are very clearly laid out. Go online to www.leginfo.ca.gov http://www.leginfo.ca.gov. Click on Health and Safety Codes and go to Sections 122300 to 122315 and 122125 to 122220.
I totally agree with you on one point. Check out the animal shelters. Let us take care of that problem.
Sharon Fuqua, Gilroy
Submitted Monday, April 12 to ed****@****ic.com
