"Mini Saint Bernards" in Marie Claire

I can't even look at the website anymore.
 
I sent an email....has anyone gotten a response yet?

I havnt.

It was hard for me to think clearly and write, I could have gone on several more pages but I picked a couple parts that hit me the strongest. Here is mine:


It was brought to my attention that in your magazine a section on designer dogs called “ Designer Fido” was published. I was very unpleased about the website you advertised to buy “Mini Saint Bernards” and after looking threw the website myself I came upon many disturbing articles about the dogs that they breed. For one thing, I was surprised to discover that the “mini saint Bernard” has no Saint Bernard in the mix. It is a mixed breed puppy that happens to have similar marking and look to the much larger dog that it is bred to imitate.

Not only is this distasteful but there are other mixes of dogs that I found quite disturbing. It has taken centuries for breeders to perfect a breed of dog; to take a pure breed and purposely mix it only to experiments is a disgrace to that breed. There are already hundreds of breeds that already exist; there is no need to create new ones. This designer trend is on its way to ruin the hundreds of years that it has taken to create already well know breeds. I would advise you to be more careful in the future to allow such an advertisement to be published that encourages a living creature to be sold as an object of fashion.

Thanks everyone for writing in! I haven't got a response but I imagine that the magazine gets millions of letters and probably doesn't respond to many of them. However, I'm betting/hoping they'll get a big enough reaction to the mini-Saints to mention it in an upcoming Letters section, which is what they usually do when they get reader outcry.
 
Last July, MC had Ashlee Simpson as their cover story talking about how happy she was with her body... just as she was going under the knife for a nose job. There was such a huge reader backlash that the magazine devoted part of a subsequent issue to that backlash and talking about looking toward better role models for women. They do care what readers think... and if you're cynical you can say it's for monetary reasons, but to me it doesn't matter if the outcome is good. This was a great opportunity to popularize the message that designer dogs are unethical... let's hope it gets out!

I checked out that website.
 
I can't believe they were on CBS[:@]
 
I am going to write, not the first letter writing campaign I am involved in[]

Mine:

Ms. Coles,   It has been brought to my attention that Marie Claire has published an ad for a puppy mill selling designer “mini” St. Bernards.  The St. Bernard is an old breed that was originally bred for work in the mountains where cold conditions made it dangerous for  humans.  The St. Bernard was used to rescue people caught in the snowy conditions and to provide warmth to them as they waited for rescue.  The St. Bernard would find the person and lay down next to them to provide warmth until the rescue party arrived.   This puppy mill is making a mockery of this stout, intelligent dog by claiming to have “mini” St. Bernards.  St. Bernards are a very large dog and in no way could be bred to be 20” tall.  Not only this but the site states that the “mini” St. Bernards have absolutely no St. Bernard in them.  Therefore they are not only breeding mutts but they are slandering St. Bernards.   Puppy mills are a huge problem in the United States and other countries.  These mills breed female dogs every time they come into heat without regard to genetic conditions, health or temperament of the parents.  The puppies born to these unfortunate female dogs are raised in cages in their own filth and learn that filth is ok.  This makes house training extremely difficult as the puppy has not learned to keep clean.  When the puppy proves to be too difficult to housetrain, the dog is then surrendered to overburdened shelters across the world.   I worked in a shelter as an Animal Control Officer and have seen first hand what happens when people surrender a dog.  If the dog is an adult, it is most likely put to sleep that day.  The shelters do not have room for owner surrendered dogs because of all the strays that come in on a daily basis.  I brought in over 20 puppies one day.  This is 20 dogs under the age of 12 weeks, born to numerous females that were abandoned and living near a gentleman that was trying to feed them even though they were not his.  All of these puppies were put to sleep that day.  Imagine having to insert the needle into the veins of these 20 cute puppies that were covered in fleas and mites and had obvious signs of intestinal worms.  All because people abandoned dogs that were not fixed instead of taking on the responsibility of caring for them.  I even brought in the corpse of a dead pregnant female that had been alive 2 days previous.  Because of this pack situation, she was low on the hierarchy and didn#%92t get enough food to feed herself and her growing puppies.   By supporting puppy mills, this is what you#%92re supporting.  You#%92re supporting the purchase of problem dogs, that either get turned into shelters or get turned loose because “Fifi can take care of herself”.   Instead Marie Claire should be supporting spaying and neutering of dogs and adoption from shelters.  Not puppy mills that don#%92t even care about the health of the dogs they sell as they do not have a satisfactory health guarantee.  If people want to purchase a mutt, they should adopt from a shelter, not spend $1000 on a mutt from a puppy mill.

Wow!  That was a powerful letter!

Permission to cross post? I know some other people on other forums that might be interested in writing in.

Please do crosspost, I would like to spread the word.
 
Someone on another forum pointed out that Puppy Havens has been mentioned as part of the problem of puppy mills in this anti-milling article. [linkhttp://www.bestdogarticles.com/Article/Puppies-For-Sale/771]http://www.bestdogarticles.com/Article/Puppies-For-Sale/771[/link] . The author notes that one of stores PH sells to is Petland, notorious for being at the center of many animal abuse complaints.

 

Here is what I wrote:
 
I have always enjoyed your magazine, until now, and have been trying to determine how to put how the anger I feel into words.  I know that I am not the only one. Designer Fido
A big, brandy-toting companion sounds great but won't fit in your condo. "Mini Saint Bernards" to the rescue! The recipe for this hip hybrid is top secret. ($1000, [link>http://www.puppyhaven.biz/]www.puppyhaven.biz[/link]). I looked at this website, out of curiosity and never in my life have I been so disgusted.  How could anyone at your magazine think that this was a good idea?  Our country has a huge problem with overcrowded shelters and articles like this will only make things worse.  Dogs don't make good gifts, they are not impulse buys, they are living, breathing, and feeling.  If neglected they will be sad.  If unsocialized they will be aggressive.  I would love to see you print some of the letters you receive about this issue.  I am sure there will be many.Be responsible.If you want to include information about pet ownership in your magazine why don't you write about what is really involved, how to select a pet- emphasizing that the pet store is the worst place to buy a dog.  Why don't you talk about the hundreds of dogs-last year's unresearched Christmas gifts now waiting in shelters?  Why don't you write about the deplorable conditions in puppy mills across the country?  Why don't you write about the millions of cats and dogs that may be put to sleep if not adopted out of our shelters and humane societies?  Why don't you write about the time it takes to take care of a dog, from training, to daily walks, to expensive vet visits?  Why don't you write about the importance of spaying or neutering pets?
I have seen your magazine do many well-written articles about many important social issues.  Why don't you do one about the needs of our pets?  I think our animals and the animals suffering across the country in sheleters deserve that much.  I think you should do something positvie after this mistake. 

I wrote a letter, and also cross posted this to my rat forum. Should get some more responses from the people there.

I wanted to bump up and ask if anyone received a response?

No response yet...

I already sent my email.  Poor puppies. [:@][:@][:@]

Someone on another board got this cut and paste reply...

Thank you for reading Marie Claire. It is never our intention to offend and
please accept our apologies, if this has been the case. We consider
feedback from our readers to be vital to the evolution of Marie Claire and
welcome your comments on any aspect of our pages whether it's fashion,
beauty, health, or articles for women of the world. Again, please accept
our apologies if we have offended you.
Sincerely,
MC