DEAR EDITOR:
I would like to address your article
”
Run of the Mill,
”
but first I would like to extend our condolences to Ms.
Pelliccione, and her dog Jack.
DEAR EDITOR:
I would like to address your article “Run of the Mill,” but first I would like to extend our condolences to Ms. Pelliccione, and her dog Jack. I know the heartache a chronic illness in a pet can cause.
My puppy Ginger (she is actually 2) is a Pet Stop/pet store puppy. She is a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever. Most of you know her walking around Nob Hill during her training, greeting everybody she sees. She is very outgoing, smart and people oriented. Sometimes, I think she has more friends than I do!
Much of Ginger’s life so far though, has involved two major surgeries to correct her knees. Not to mention, three months recovery time per surgery – a total of six months recuperation robbing her of “just being a puppy.”
It’s common that pet store puppies are often chronically ill, sometimes resulting in death. The purchase of these puppies perpetuates the puppy mill industry, an industry that profits in the billions from the suffrage of every animal they involve.
Pet shop owners would argue that customers have requested that they sell their puppies in their store. Local breeders would argue that they would not sell their puppies to the pet shop. I would argue that if the pet shop owners absolutely gave a hoot about this problem, the resolution would be to keep a reference booklet of local breeders and breeds for their customers. The pet shop owners won’t do this because profit wouldn’t be involved.
Hopefully, the demand will diminish at the pet shop, and so will the supply.
Barbara Roff, Gilroy
Submitted Monday, May 3
to ed****@****ic.com
