petsmart encounter (long sorry)

I personally would have asked for a manager and she'd likely have been asked to leave. They do NOT out and out sell dogs in Petsmart or Petco...either place would not welcome their customers doing so...and I doubt everyone that goes in wants to be solicted, either. I'd definitely have complained to the management.

Another good reason for Mandatory S/N laws. 

I'd definitely have complained to the management.

i wish i would have thought of that.

i think the lady really wanted to find good homes for all the pups, but i think she is a little misguided in the way she was going about doing it.

This lady sounds like she isn't  "all there" ---this might have been her best attempt to find a home for the pups.[&o] In her mind, she may have thought a pet store would be the best place to find people who would take care of the puppies. Some people honestly are not bright and do the best they can, which isn't the right thing for their pets.
 
Petsmart (around here) often has rescue groups come on weekends and do demos. I bet someone in the office would have the phone numbers of some local folks who work for rescues that they know well and who have "adoption days" on a regular basis.
 
[8D] Here's a lot of work for you, but it could help the puppies and you'll feel like you did something:
 
Find out which groups do mixed breed rescue days at the Petsmart and see if anyone from a rescue would be interested in leaving their phone number in case the woman comes back. Then let the manager of Petsmart know what the woman has been doing, tell her the rescue person who can be called and let the store personnel be on the lookout.
 
Why try this? If she's given away one in Petsmart she might come back and do it again.
 
A shortcut would be to call the Petsmart manager and ask him/her to be on the lookout and suggest they give the woman the phone numbers for rescue and local low cost spay/neuter.
 
You may also want to scan the FREE ads in the local paper and if you see an ad describing the puppies, have a couple of rescue groups phone numbers handy (petfinder.com) call the ad and tell the woman all about these wonderful groups that will rehome the pups FOR her.

Yes, I am putting a lot on the volunteers at rescue groups, but hopefully they will find it easy to place puppies.
 
Good luck!

wow,no petsmart does not sell dogs,or cats for that matter only the rescue that was donated the space adopts out,Im kinda shocked an employee did not direct her to a rescue, just breaks my heart,[]

polarexpress... those are all good ideas. the only group i have ever seen doing adoption events at this petsmart is the spartanburg humane society and they only do it once in a blue moon. not sure why no other groups come there.

i did look in the paper to see if there was an ad i thought fit, and there wasnt.

i may try to call petsmart today, but all i have is a vague description of the woman.

neville88 .... to give the employees the benefit of the doubt, they were packed with customers when we went in. so they probably werent aware of what she was doing.

I was once offered a rhodesian ridgeback male by people who encountered me walking my boys in a park. I demurred because at the time I thought three dogs would be too much pfft! If I had to do it again I'd have taken their darned dog.

Paula

If I had to do it again I'd have taken their darned dog.

this is why i have been feeling crappy about the situation i think. i wish we would have taken the dog. but at the same time there would be 8 more in the same situation. plus knowing that the mother dog would probably be bred again. [:@]

i just hate the whole situation.

That really sucks. It's happened to me before in Petsmart, I also once happened to be the person who found an abandoned dog tied to one of the back racks. The manager told me it happens all the time [] The manager also told me in that situation they have to call animal control. Their store policy doesn't allow employees or customers to take an abandoned dog. I doubt they'd allow what this woman was doing either, if they knew.

It's one of those 'you can't save them all' kind of things. I think having an rescue or two's numbers in your wallet can come in handy in a lot of situations and perhaps a quick rehearsed speech on 'proper' ways to find a good home.

I just don#%92t know.  A whiney puppy would have taken me to the lady.  I would be taken back by the free offer.  When shocked I usually go into an inquisitive mode that eventually leads where I am giving advice in a cordial and helpful manner.  I would feel like you do and tell myself there is only so much I can do.  I can not take this puppy.  I know I can walk away because I visit the puppies at the pet shop and I always leave without one.  I just don#%92t know.  I know if I ever had this encounter I would be reminded of Jenhuedepohl#%92s thread about her success in saving 3 Golden puppies.  It was a lot of work but there was a start and a finish.  I think it was settled within a week.  I hope you understand this, Jenhuedepohl#%92s thread adds to my thinking that I just don#%92t know what I would do.      

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

If I had to do it again I'd have taken their darned dog.

this is why i have been feeling crappy about the situation i think. i wish we would have taken the dog. but at the same time there would be 8 more in the same situation. plus knowing that the mother dog would probably be bred again. [:@]

i just hate the whole situation.

Well it's not exactly the same situation. The people giving up their ridgeback might not have gone out and got another ridgeback, but the stupid woman would likely have bred her dog again if getting rid of the first set of pups was easy. So I commiserate, but am not sure I would have taken the pup in your circumstances either.  It just drives me nuts - dogs deserve better than us humans so often.

Paula

wow. simply wow. that is up there with one of the worst/weirdest crazy people pet store stories ive heard. usually i hear the   " took my pitbull in petsmart to buy it a treat and some customer asked me to leave story" which is also awful.
 
things like this make me soooo mad[:@] i cannot stand irresponsible pet owners. if you dont have enough money to spay or neuter your dog, then you obviously dont have enough money to have a dog in the first place. and if you are simply too cheap, then again, you shouldnt own pets. mixed breeds should be fixed. all dogs should be fixed, unless you are a breeder. a responsible and ethical breeder.
 
i think i would have said something to this lady about her stupidness. usually im shy and unconfrontational but this might have just done it.

it seems like everyone is assuming a lot about this woman. there is a lot of missing information here, so much that its pointless to complain about it.
if she had dumped them in the pound she would have been a bad person
if she had had them all PTS or drowned them she would be a bad person.
if she dropped them all off in a "nice neighbourhood" in the dead of night she would be a bad person.
if she put an add in the paper, she would be a bad person.
if she kept all the puppies and both parents she would be a bad person *coughanimalcollectorcough*
if she screened everyone who wanted a puppy she would still be a bad person.
AND if she asked for assistance from the humane society in fostering them she would still be dubbed an evil doer not worthy of anyone's affection.

she is making an effort, even if no one here thinks its the best way to do it.. accidents happen and dogs STILL get bred regardless of precautions. and i dont care, i hate mandatory S/N laws. you'll never change my mind on that one.
that is TOO MUCH government control, right up there with BSL.

So did she say FOR SURE that she bred her dogs on purpose? did she say if she owned both parents? did she say how she acquired the parents?
did she say FOR SURE that she was planning to breed them again? and did you suggest she get her dogs fixed? if she was breeding for a purpose then the purpose would have been profit most likely, but instead she was giving the puppies away in a pet store.
it's likely that her thought process said "well, pet lovers abound in pet stores. people who shop in the expensive places love their pets and take care of them. these puppies are bound to get great homes"

i have seen this situation myself in petsmart. someone had two kittens, brother and sister. the only other option was to take them to the pound if they couldnt find them homes that day. one of the clerks walked around the store for thirty minutes with this kitten perched on her shoulder before she showed it to the groomers, which is where she found a home. and as for the other kitten....
well... he is sleeping under my dining room table [:'(]

no i'm not shocked by this. not appalled either. there are worse things that could happen in this situation.
does anyone remember the news story about the guy who buried his rotty's puppies in the back yard? they were still alive too.
i would much rather see someone walking around  pet smart  trying to find  homes for puppies than hear in the paper  about another animal abuse case.

i would've been taken aback, too.  as for me, i'd have taken the puppy.  but i just do stuff like that, for better or for worse, and so far i've been able to re-home the dogs.  i have been LUCKY.
 
i'm not suggesting that YOU should've done the same.  in fact, i think this highlights one of my character flaws- i just can't walk away.  not from anything.  not from a fight, not from a stray dog... etc.  you know your limitations, and i respect that.  you know what's best for your family and your dogs.
 
initially, i felt the indignation about the "kind of people" who "do stuff like this", but i have to say; dumdog made some good points.
 
regardless, her dogs need to be spayed/neutered, and nobody will change MY mind about that.  if you need to give your dogs away in petsmart, regardless of how noble your intentions may be, you don't need puppies.