Pet Store Animal Adoptions

The adoptions in my area (west central OH) are controlled by the shelters and rescues.  Specific dates are set aside and the staff from those agencies handle the adoptions.  Now we do have one of the selling of pure bred puppies for outrageous sums of money.  That staff will tell you these are not from puppy mills but from private local breeders.  Well for the most part they are BYB only because they have only one breed.  They do however use one stud on all the bitches every time they come in season.
 
As to what to do about the mill dogs, in a free market economy the only real option is education.

Well things in my area of California are a little different. If we go to PetSmart/PetPals, a major chain as such then (as you said) we never have purebred dogs there. They all have the shelter or aspca stamp on their cages. I do however see what you are talking about in major cities at pet stores in places like L.A.
I don't think education on these topics is going to be overnight. So what do we do about the raving fanatics that tell everyone to not go buy these pets?
This is a new issue for me, I've always focused on BSL because that is what is closer to home for me. I will check into local resources regarding helping in my area but what do some of you do legislative wise to fix the issue? I havnt heard much about it in the news as BSL but then again that just may be my area! Thanks everyone!
 

I'm a bit confused; the raving fanatics say not to adopt a shelter dog or not to buy a puppy mill dog?

Acronym confusion -- what is "BSL"?
 
Complaints first should be registered with the store staff -- management in particular.  Because ultimately the store IS liable for things like bites and sick animals.
 
Mill dogs -- the whole thing is when you pay money for these dogs you support the people selling them. 
 
And if you suspect breeder(s) are using it as a forum to sell, rather than rescue then complain to the management and ask them to prove what 'rescue' it is. 
 
As far as the poor animals produced?  This is where people have to get involved, and work behind the scenes with SPCA and local authorities to get them shut down so the animals DO go to rescue (confiscated) and THEN get them adopted.
 
In the SouthEast "puppy stores" are all the rage -- big banner billboards proclaim "PLAY!" with a cute-faced chihuahua or "LOVE" and another cutsie picture.  And people break their doors down to buy. 
 
Education often means opening our mouths and NICELY telling people where those dogs really come from.  Getting people to listen to you not just telling them angrily or screaming at them. 
 
Find a puppy mill in your area and expose it to the news -- that's always a juicy story.

I suppose I'm among the raving fanatics.  I would NEVER say not to adopt a shelter dog.  I DO say not to buy a pet from a petstore.  There IS a difference.
 
MOST of the big chains have gotten away from selling pups.  These chains let the local shelters and rescues bring dogs in for Adoption Days.  This does not in ANY way benefit the store.....they are merely a convenient (and busy) place for folks to SEE animals available for adoption.  THIS is a good thing.
 
Some of the smaller chains and independents still sell puppy mill dogs...yeah, they will TELL you that all of their animals come from local breeders.  That's a crock.  NO breeder lets their pups go to a pet store to be sold to just anyone with enough cash.  SOME backyard breeders *might*....but they are the lowest end of the byb rung...the folks that do NOT properly care for their animals, don't do any health testing, etc, so only the tiniest step UP from puppy mills.
 
The easiest way, IN GENERAL to tell the difference between the SHELTER dogs available for adoption and puppy mill dogs being SOLD for huge amounts of money is the price, and the fact that pups are usually lined up in built in cages.
 
Callie, BSL=breed specific legislation, as in pit bull bans.

Well thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess I stll dont understand what is to be done with all the puppy mill dogs that are not bought. I think its a matter of reality versus ideally. Ideally we would all hope for these dogs to have not been bred in such a disgusting manner, realistically they ARE being born but most advocates focus on the banning of the breeders. Don't get me wrong, that seems a correct path to try to nip the source in the bud but my main concern I guess was what is being done with the poor animals? This is just a topic that I am very unfamiliar with and would love to really help out.
BSL- Breed Specific Legislation-against ANY breed of dog that has been deemed dangerous to society: NOT just Pitbulls
 
 

When you buy a puppy from a pet store, where does your money go? Part goes to the store owner. When he makes a profit on selling puppies he orders more. A percentage goes to the broker and keeps them in the business buying and selling puppies. Part of your purchase price ends up in the pockets of the puppy mill owner, keeping him in business and all those dogs living in cages.
 
Every time we spend money it is like a vote of approval. Spend wisely. I refuse to buy even one dog biscuit from a store that sells puppies.
 
It's really sad to walk past those poor puppies, but if you buy one to "save" it you are only making things worse. You are financially supporting the entire industry.
 
The good news - education IS working. There are a lot fewer pet stores selling puppies in this area than there were 20 years ago. Every time you hear someone talking about buying a puppy, tell them about not buying from pet stores. Educate them on puppy mills. In the last five years or so, it seems like the word is getting out even more.
 
Here's a good fact to tell anyone who claims that some puppies in pet stores come from a good breeder: Every dog breed recognized by the AKC has a parent club (for example the Samoyed Club of America) Responsible breeders belong to these clubs. These clubs have a code of ethics governing behavior of members. Virtually every breed club's code of ethics prohibits selling puppies to or through a pet store or a third party (broker.) Puppies from responsible breeders do NOT end up in pet stores.
 
The best thing that you can do to help is educate people. If someone is thinking about getting a puppy, ask where they are going to look. Tell them why they should not purchase from a pet store.
 
As for what happens to the puppies- If they don't sell at a young age, the store starts marking them down until they do sell. If a store has to mark a puppy down to $50 to get rid of it, then I am glad because that store has lost money on that puppy.

The petsmart here has kittens for sale in the store, no dogs.  Those kittens come from the shelter, I brought some there today.  And all the dogs up for adoption at the store on the weekends come from many diff shelters in the area. 

When the market for a puppy mill drives up, it goes out of business. If the owner has any conscience (and sometimes they don't) they'll do what they can to place the dogs. We've had any number of instances in my area where local rescue groups have been called in to mass rescue dogs from these farms that couldn't sell them.

Fortunately, there are so many rescue groups and so many people who adopt instead of buying now, while the big pet stores that don't sell dogs have driven a lot of the local pet stores that do sell dogs from mills out of business. And most of the media finally gets it. In my area, you regularly see stories and TV pieces about adoption drives. The problem is still enormous but when I walk into my local rescue group on a Saturday afternoon adoption day and find the lobby overflowing with people, I get a good feeling...

Well thanks for the feedback everyone. I guess I stll dont understand what is to be done with all the puppy mill dogs that are not bought. I think its a matter of reality versus ideally. Ideally we would all hope for these dogs to have not been bred in such a disgusting manner, realistically they ARE being born but most advocates focus on the banning of the breeders. Don't get me wrong, that seems a correct path to try to nip the source in the bud but my main concern I guess was what is being done with the poor animals? This is just a topic that I am very unfamiliar with and would love to really help out.

Poor animals languishing in the pet stores? That is your main concern?  What about the thousands of animals that are dying in the shelters? That is my main concern.  Joe Dogowner will not be inspired to activism, but keeping him out of the petstore will yield results NOW.  That's activism in it's most elegant form...effective, powerful and accessible. Yes, puppies will die in the stores. Their sacrifice will put an end to the mills though.  Martyrdom was never more meaningful.

Cut off the cash to the mills, they cease to exist.  It's really that simple.

I think what that question means is this - if the puppy mill dogs in the pet stores don't sell, what happens to them?  Are they PTS or dumped into the local shelters? It's kind of an interesting question because I sure never thought of that aspect of it. I know the results of a lot of "whoops" litters wind up in shelter, along with poorly cared for and/or abused dogs, who may or may not be purebred.  Are all the "puppy mill pet store" dogs dumped into that group also?

Joyce & Max

Thank You Joyce and Max!
I didnt know if I phrased my question wrong or if these people just didnt have the answers for my question. I feel that the placement of these puppies is still important.The clsest thing to a answer I got was that the leftover puppies should sit at the pet store until they breeder gives up on selling them and then they are taken to a shelter where they are adopted instead of the profits going to the breeder. While this is a IDEAL situation it just isnt REALITY and I feel that a lot of the activists for this topic should also focus on this portion of the problem as well because in the end its about the animals first and foremost. The reason I posted this topic was to gather more information but I think that some conflict from another post hindered some peole's responses again taking the attention away from what really matters.....the poor animals left to live a sad life.

Although its sad about pet store puppies, theres probably far more dogs dying at the shelters. I may be only one person, but if more people are informed about puppy mills then someday it'll stop, but as long as people buy from the pet store the puppy millers are justified in what their doing. I don't know exactly what happens to the puppies after they've been marked down as far as the store will go, they are all so cute and people are so dumb this probably doesn't happen a lot.They probably end up dying like the shelter dogs do.Its a very sad situation.

ORIGINAL: glenmar


MOST of the big chains have gotten away from selling pups.  These chains let the local shelters and rescues bring dogs in for Adoption Days.  This does not in ANY way benefit the store.....they are merely a convenient (and busy) place for folks to SEE animals available for adoption.  THIS is a good thing.

Glenda, the stores DO benefit from these adoptions.  Many people come in just to adopt.  When they do, they buy supplies for the new baby there.  It's a win-win situation!!!