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This is just disgusting

4K views 29 replies 22 participants last post by  chocochips 
#1 ·
I never would have thought that this kind of place exists near me...

We were driving around and just passed by a place called "Dreamy Puppy" with subtext of 'puppies & supplies'. I looked up a website for them, hoping it wasn't what I thought... and now I'm nauseated (of course that could just be the bumpy car ride, but I think not).

Puppies of various breeds and mixes kept in small glass compartments in a wall... from toy Maltipoos to Boxer pups... everything over $1100 and definitely all from puppy mills. I'm sickened by these places. It really makes me angry...
 
#3 ·
It is sickening. In West Edmonton mall, (Canada's biggest mall) they had one pet store. Upon checking it out I realized that they were selling puppy mill pups. It was disgusting. They had a whole wall filled with glass glass compartments. Thankfully most of them were empty but taped to each compartment had a piece of paper with the breed and the price. At the time they had Chihuahua puppies and Pomeranians. Both litters looked lethargic. If I remember correctly the pups were around the price of 4,000$ each. It really did surprise me and I was disgusted to say the least. To top it all off, the place smelled horrible!!

Here is their reviews on yelp:My Pet - Pet Stores - Edmonton, AB, Canada - Reviews - Photos - Yelp
Looks like I am not the only one questioning their source.
 
#4 ·
My college had a charity walk about a month ago...one of the sponsors, proudly displayed on the banner was a large scale puppy mill. Really??

I understand not being able to tell a good breeder from a not so good one, but puppy mills are common knowledge. I don't understand how you just can't know at this point. Many I think don't care.

**for the record, when I was 8 my dad bought me a Sheltie from a pet store. He didn't really know better. The pup had parvo (and thankfully the store is now out of business). He survived; he was my heart dog and I don't regret him for a second. I understand the pull of a cute puppy. But I won't do that again.
 
#5 ·
The city I just moved from has banned "pet stores" from selling puppies and kittens. The only place I know that really sells pets anymore is PetSmart, and they now only sell hamsters and fish. Most local shops have kittens for adoption.
 
#6 ·
I guess I've been really lucky. All the pet stores I've been to in my life don't sell cats or dogs. Many will have cats on site, but they're from shelters or the humane society, with all of the info on who to contact to adopt them. The only time I've seen dogs is when a rescue is doing a meet and greet.

Now, quite a few do sell smaller pets, and some of those make me sad. I really don't know how rodent and fish sales work in pet stores, but I could see that being bad news.
 
#7 ·
Luckily no puppies and kittens in pet stores in my area unless the store helps rescues out with their cats. There seems to be a lot of successful education and lobbying going on in that regard across the country.

I'm still disgusted to see any live animal bring sold at a store these days. Even fish- they can still feel pain even if they're not the most intelligent animals and they experience a lot of it- dirty water burns them. Water becomes basic before it looks dirty.
My local Petco just started selling baby rabbits. As a rabbit owner I'm really sad that these are probably coming from bad breeders and will probably end up with an ignorant family that will keep them in a cage their whole lives feeding them pellets. :(
 
#11 ·
We only have one store in my city that sells puppy mill puppies, and is proud of it! Petland. All the other Petlands in Alberta have gone to an adopt from rescue premise, but the final decision is on the owners. The one here has an owner that is an idiot and refuses stop selling kittens and puppies because they make him a profit. $3,500 for a pom chi, or $1,500 for a generic tabby? Wtf.

I've stopped supporting the store all together, but still people come to our clinic with their new Petland puppy or kitten. I really just want to smack them upside the head.
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
I live pretty near you (compared to the rest of the country) I live near DC in maryland, and there's a place nearby called "Just puppies" and somehow I imagined it was supplies for puppies, like a "babies r us" but for dogs (stupid right?!?) and I looked it up and NOPE total puppy mill operation. :/ Part of me feels so bad for those babies and I just want to steal them all and take them away from there :(
 
#14 ·
The majority of the pet stores around me no longer sell puppies or kittens, but some do sell fish still. There is one pet store that I dont actually even know the name of having never actually been there, but their sign makes me laugh - it advertises 'wonderful pets' and then in smaller writing underneath ' and puppies'. Seems to be implying that their puppies are not included in the group of wonderful pets they sell :p Which well could actually be true being that it is likely their puppies are sourced from mills....
 
#15 ·
@wideturn - I actually within recent weeks relocated here from Germantown area and I know EXACTLY what place you're talking about (I believe they have two locations: Rockville and Towson). It boggles my mind how these places even exist still... I get angry whenever I see a Marshall's ferret in a generic pet store.
 
#17 ·
@pfreeman885
I don't believe I have ever been in a Petsmart that actually directly sold dogs or cats. Of course, I don't remember too much from my childhood anyway... so it depends on what time period you're talking about. Many still do cat adoptions (basically an in-store shelter/rescue; the one I used to work at once had a cardboard box of kittens dumped at the front door before opening one morning). They also have adoption events for cats and dogs, so you'll see a bunch of dogs available for adoption with their handlers.
 
#19 ·
I'm so glad we don't sell puppies or kittens in stores here in the UK. Rabbits,hamsters and fish only. First saw a pet store like that in Miami and I was disgusted.
 
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#20 ·
We have a pet store in our mall here. They have a big sign that says something along the lines of "Thanks for the concern but we are not puppy mill puppies" Still selling pomskys, doodles and others for $1600. I know that reputable breeders don't sell to stores. Still small window kennels that have two puppies running around in each kennel with newspaper shredding for bedding. I have no idea, i thought our county here has banned selling puppies in pet stores, so I don't get how they are still open.
 
#21 ·
I have a friend who used to work at Petsmart. One of her duties was dealing with the shipments of the small animals. All the animals come from mills. Ferret mills, guinea pig mills, hamster mills, fish, bird, mice, rat, you name it, there's a mill for it. The pocket pets are shipped young in individual compartments just big enough to hold them. Some of them arrive dead. Some of them arrive sick. Same with the reptiles. These practices probably won't change any time soon. Pet stores are the only supply of pocket pets (unlike with dogs and cats where you can get them anywhere) and the public certainly isn't going to stop buying them. Yeah you can get these animals in shelters sometimes, but it's really rare to see a hamster in a shelter. Guinea pigs and rabbits are the most common, with the occasional ferret or chinchilla or hamster, and here and there a reptile.
 
#22 ·
While I think its awful that pet stores do this to small animals like mice birds rats and lizards etc, you can buy well bred animals online like snakes and rats and stuff and they take great care in the shipment of their animals. I almost bought a ball python from a great breeder I found online but I didn't have the space for a large snake environment and I would never stick an animal in a little box and call it good like many small pet owners do :( (not on here of course! but I see mice and gerbils in little tiny cages by themselves with nothing to do a lot)

I considered purchasing a baby rat when I move and I may buy online but I would never purchase from a pet store. There are also (believe it or not) breeders of pretty much all animals that you could probably locate and drive to. I know there's definitely nice rat breeders in Washington that I may also go to if I ever try to get a rat. I just need a lot of space first because I would never just stick it in a cage, rats are super smart and social animals! :) they can even learn to be litter trained!
 
#29 ·
:( Unfortunately, these puppy mill stores exist in so many places. Two of the largest malls in my area have stores like these. Sometimes people will be raising signs in front of it with "don't support puppy mills", but I get the feeling that the vast majority of uninformed public just think they're crazy "animal activist" types and ignore the info.

I used to still enjoy going into these stores, to at least look and play with the puppies and give them some time outside. But now, walking in really gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. Not just toy breeds, but huskies, english bulldogs, australian shepherds, and border collie puppies, kept in small glass compartments in the wall that are only large enough for them to stand up and walk a foot. Often there are husky puppies up to 3 months old, because nobody had purchased them yet- they can't even stand up with their heads lifted.
 
#30 ·
Is there any way we can report these places? Ugh. I remember when I was little and used to want puppies and kittens from the pet store. My parents took me to the animal shelter to adopt my first kitty when I was old enough. A much better experience when you know you're not supporting inadequate care for the sake of money!
 
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