What can you do about puppy stores?

As long as people continue to buy dogs from pet stores, pet stores will continue to sell them.  The demand creates the supply.  I don't understand it either, why someone would pay $1300 for a puppy mill dog when they could get a well bred one for less than that.  I wonder how many people buy dogs from a pet store on impulse.
 
IMO, the only thing you can do is to spend your money at another pet store.

Thanks for the website link.  Gave me some ideas.
 
If I walk into a pet store to buy anything for my dog I always check to see if they sell puppies and if they do I tell that manager why I will not be shopping there.
 

we had an informal campaign going where people would just leave posters and leaflets about puppy mills in front of our local puppy mill outlet in the mall here. They went bust and closed.

The county I used to live in/do most of my shopping in prohibited the sale of cats and dogs in stores. It was wonderful, I never had to worry whether a store that had something I needed, also sold pups. I didn't know how spoiled I was until I moved here - twice I've looked up a pet supplies store that had something I needed, driven all the way there (the closest large town is across the state line), and walked in to see all the puppy cages. Grrrr. It's wild to see the difference in culture that a state line makes.

It's true that there's nothing that can be done other than educate people that pets aren't something you can pick up at the mall or strip mall like a high def TV. Heck, most people put MORE thought into bringing their first High Def into their home, than that living creature! Until that changes, the puppymills will go on fostering horror in their facilities and producing misery.

most people put MORE thought into bringing their first High Def into their home, than that living creature!

 
So very, very true.
 
Friends of ours bought Shadow from Plano Pets & Grooming in Plano, Tx, pretty much on impulse. They wanted a dog but I think they bought him on impulse. He was a little puppy with small pointed ears and amazing eyes. In her case, she really didn't know any better, not enough to make an informed choice and certainly would not have the money to go to a breeder. The breeder's name, Mike Yaeger, is listed on the purchase paper. But the store, located at Spring Creek Pkwy. and Alma Rd., won't give me contact info. I wasn't trying to bust them or him, I just wanted some details about his parents to confirm what I have learned about mtDNA.  He is not listed in an Texas breeder list, but he is also not found in the database at Stoppuppymills.org. Possibly, he is a byb or it was an oops litter.
 
So, buying from a pet store, one might never know the source of the dog.
 
But people will plan, save, do lay-away, or finance to get a big screen t.v.

 edited due to a pm I received

I just passed my old pet supply store on the way to purchase food at one that doesn't sell puppies.  I told the manager/owner they have my business until they start selling puppies.
 
Petsmart is good for socializing and toys.  They also allow my favorite rescue group to have adoption stands.

This is very long but should be interesting,
Over here in HK there is two different cities that have streets dedicated to pets, one area in a place called Mong Kok has 3 blocks of just animals and supplies for animals. There is one street dedicated to aquariums an fish. Pretty cool walking through there, some really beautiful tanks around. the other streets....ick!!! are the small furry animals, dogs, cats, rodents...Hong Kong is the land of the impulse buy for dogs and cats. People actually buy dogs because they are in fashion here and there is no way to tell where all of these breeds come from. Why would anyone want a huge hairy newf when the coldest it gets here in the winter is 55 on the coldest day? The average temp in the summer which I consider to start in March and ends in November is around 85-90 with about 1Million% humidity. So many cold weather dogs here it makes you sick.
 
 There are so many purebreed dogs here that get dumped on the street. In the year I've been here my wife and I have seen, pugs, shar pei, St Bernards, Labs, etc. as strays. Most of the pure breeds I've seen here have been the  worst bred dogs. I met a lady the other day who rescued a St. it was one year old and had HD already. (just an example) We might be taking in a TINY boxer that our soon to be neighbor found dumped in the country park. Did I mention there are pythons here that actually have eaten dogs? Another danger besides, cars, poison, humans...
A lot of vets are getting tired of this problem so they are really getting vocal about it as is the government with public ads on tv about "pets are for life" etc. A vet friend of mine that has helped us with Gobi actually started a practice with a former pet store, on the basis they won't sell cats or dogs. A pretty smart idea that a lot of other vets are looking into.
I'm actually thinking of a career change just so I can be more involved with these animals...
 
 

I asked the local Petland where they got their puppies and they said, "Absolutely not at a puppymill! I wouldn't even work here if they came from a puppymill! They're local breeders and we go and check the place out and make sure the puppies are healthy."

Might've been a total lie, but then again, they might just be buying from BYBs. At any rate, no responsible breeder would sell to a pet store, so wherever they came from, I don't want to support them!

At any rate, no responsible breeder would sell to a pet store

 
That's it, in a nutshell! No matter WHAT they tell you, you can bet they are not coming from a breeder with any ethics at all.

they always tell you that-- that they work with local breeders. Around here it's even true because there are a whole bunch of puppy mills not far away.