Puppy Superstore......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a little bit of media research and came up with more information.

Apparently this shake-a-paw concept has outlets around the country, including upstate New York, Florida and Delaware, although I don't know how many of these are still open since the media reports are somewhat old.

The concept was started by a breeder by the name of Keith Genovese, from Marlboro, N.J., who said he was tired of pet stores that sold dogs that came from puppy mills and kept them in cages (how ironic). His concept was to use 'reputable' breeders and to keep the dogs in open pens in the store where they could socialize together. Apparently, some of the stores still follow this concept, according to press reports, like the one in Rochester, NJ, which at least as of 2001 was not caging puppies during the day.

However, this guy Genovese eventually sold the rights to franchise the concept and it's clear that not everyone has followed his original ideas (how serious he was about enforcing those ideas, and what provisions he made when he sold the rights to ensure that pets were properly treated is also not clear).

Not surpisingly, there have been problems.I found this headline about a shake a paws in Toms River, NJ (not affiliated with the one that I visited):

"Lawsuit calls area pet store a 'puppy mill' Plaintiffs: Sold sick dogs"

According to the story: "The suit cites a total of 12 dogs bought by the plaintiffs between June 1999 and February of this year.

"It's been horrible. I have no idea what to do," said Judith Mirbach, a plaintiff from Toms River. She said she bought her cocker spaniel - which in less than a year developed eye problems requiring surgeries - at Shake-A-Paw. "If these surgeries don't work, she will be blind," she said.

"The suit claims that puppies sold at the store are products of "puppy mills," and that the store misrepresented that fact to customers, "in some cases denying outright that they were puppy mill puppies."

The story also said:

Barbara Vidal, a Forked River, Lacey, resident and plaintiff, said she has had a terrible experience since she bought her dog, who has developed a host of different medical problems, at Shake-A-Paw in 2001.

"My dog has been sick since I got her," she said. "It's been heartbreaking.

"The poor dog," she said. "She didn't ask for this, and these people are selling sick dogs.

"I love my dog to pieces," she said. "I think I may even love her more because she's so sick and I feel so badly for her."

ORIGINAL: stevem
...I asked him a few questions about NJ animal law and retailing, such as are stores required to take back pets if families decide they can't handle them, and are there limits on the number of live animals that can be sold at a particular store, based on square footage or other criteria. He said that animal welfare laws generally didn't cover these areas....

 
NJ does have a "Puppy Lemon Law" called the "Pet Purchase Protection Act." . 
Here's the link : [linkhttp://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusnjst56_8_92_97.htm]http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusnjst56_8_92_97.htm[/link]

The guy from Marlboro... that is a town right near my parents.  I am surprised he didn't open one there because the people are wealthy enough to pay the prices asked for by that store!!!!
 
There is a small pet store around us called "Just Puppies" and I personally know 3 people who got dogs there and all 3 got sick.  I recently heard the place was temporarily closed.  I went in there to buy Zoe's crate (only 2 places in the area had crates small enough for her and both were pet stores like that).   It looked clean, but apparently looks can also be deceiving.  My friend who is looking for a pomeranian but promised not to get one from a pet store said he went there to look but his aunt said it is like a pet store.  I said, ummm, it IS a pet store, not just like one!!!
 
The thing is people don't know about these things until they are educated by people like those on this board.  I knew I didn't want to get a dog from a pet shop because I knew there were so many in shelters and I didn't want to pay the outrageous prices.  However, I don't think that at that time I knew about puppy mills or byb. 

The thing is people don't know about these things until they are educated

Among the people I've contacted about this store is a woman who writes a column about pets in one of Jersey's biggest newspapers. She said she plans to write a column in coming weeks educating people on how to obtain a dog and warning them of the potential problem of buying them through pet stores.....