HSUS Releases Scary Results On Petland
 Tuesday, June 30th, 2009  by Connie T.

Yesterday the Humane Society of the US released the findings of their follow-up investigation into Petland, the pet store chain that that the HSUS announced in November of last year was the nation's largest retailer supporter of puppy mills. Their initial eight-month investigation uncovered puppies in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, and other states that came from massive commercial breeders in the Midwest, and were being sold at Petland stores.

What has changed since then? "Nothing," the HSUS wrote. In their new investigation the HSUS found Petland stores to still be supporting puppy mills, "including some of the largest and most notorious in the country."

"Almost every Petland store in the country is buying from puppy mills, either directly from commercial breeding facilities or indirectly through middleman brokers," the article states. They even found at least two Petland stores in Florida still buying dogs from the facility associated with Kathy Bauck in New York Mills, Minnesota - Bauck has been convicted of multiple counts of animal torture and one cont of animal abuse.

Over 80 stores were linked directly to Hunte Corporation, a huge Missouri broker that resells about 80,000 puppies a year and has been reported for Animal Welfare Act violations.

Out of state shipments of pups from brokers have landed in more than 95% of Petland's stores, still.

What exactly is a puppy mill? If you haven't heard Oprah Winfrey explain it - she is an avid opponent of the practice and has spoken about it on her show - puppy mills are large commercial breeding facilities that operate under inhumane conditions and with blatant disregard for the animals in their care; the dogs tend to have health and social problems as a result of being raised in cramped cages with many other dogs and being transported long distances in poor conditions (sometimes resulting in their death). They often are nervous, have unhealthy eating habits, and diseases or conditions not disclosed by the shiny pet stores where they eventually end up.

This is so ridiculously unnecessary. So many dogs are euthanized each year because the shelters are overflowing with animals that no one has stepped up to take care of. Why are thousands of puppies being bred into sick conditions, with both pets and owners suffering the consequences, when there are already more than enough pups to go around?


1. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Refuse to buy supplies from any pet store or internet site that sells puppies, and do not buy your pet(s) from a store or internet site.

2. Add a Stop Puppy Mills banner to your MySpace page, Facebook page, blog, or website. It's an excellent way to spread the word without having to say a thing!

3. Help by working with your local pet stores to implement puppy friendly policies.

For more free and easy ways to make a huge difference on this issue, please visit here.

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