Soooooo Frustrating but what to do? - Page 1

I had some last minute holiday shopping to do so I headed over to the local giant indoor mall. I rarely go because I hate malls (but I digress). I saw they now have a petstore AND they sell alot off diferent breeds of puppies on site. I didn't want to, but I looked and they have 2 GSD puppies. I hate it, it makes me sick. Puppies inside those glass crates with a ton of people knocking on the glass. The people that work there take the puppies out & let all the people put their grubby hands all over the puppies. Where do the puppies come from - you guessed it, puppymills. All I could do was shake my head & walk away. I wanted to stand there and tell all the people not to buy ANYTHING from such a petstore, let alone puppies, but no one would have listened or they would have though I was just some kook & I probably would have been tossed out by mall security. I wish there was something productive I could do.

things to do... with varrying additional frustrations added in. a. write a letter to the local t.v. and newspapers with stats on dog store puppies. b. stand outside the store with a plackard with a pictue of a dead puppy on it stating... this puppy store buys puppy mill puppies (most likely to get you jailed, but might be sadly the most short term effective) c. buy the puppies spay/neuter, train them as entry level service dogs, donate them to paws with a cause, CCI or delta society. d. .... I dont know, sadly when uninformed people see "bargain" or "cute" in a puppy store, there is no answer :(

I remember when I lived in NW Arkansas that one saw the same scene weekend after weekend, just different participants and places. Always a strip mall, and always a box of puppies with "papers" (yeah sure) for sale, trade, or free. I lived in Fayetteville, and about 2002 or 2003 the city passed an ordinance that made this type of puppy (or kitten) sale illegal. Did it stop it? Of course not as people went to different places to unload the unwanted animals. The county of Washington did pass an ordinace that required a dog to be sterilized prior to obtaining its annual rabies vaccine, lest the owner paid a considerably higher price for the dog license. Of course you know what happened-people stopped taking their dogs for the annual vaccination. I know that it sounded good, but the best intentions fly to hell in a handbasket. Now that I am again in Tennessee I see the same thing if I purchase dog food on the weekend, and of course I do not like it. You know, if the puppies were donated to someone, sterilized, and given a proper home I would have no issue with it, as I am sure you would not either. But we all know that is seldom ever the case. People that care that much about a mixed-breed or purebred animal will usually at least go to the pound and pay the adoption fee and realize they have an investment, however small. But again; what does one really do about it other than what I do? Basically, I just shake my head. I know that ordinances and/or laws can be passed so we don't see it as easily, but it is still there. Education, rather than legislation is the key to solving this issue. But what else can I say? Regards, Bob-O

"Education, rather than legislation is the key to solving this issue." That is one of the most well-put statements I've heard in a long time. Thank you.

Ok before I get to what to do let me deal with von symphoni and my own so frustratingggg!!! To quote "c. buy the puppies spay/neuter, train them as entry level service dogs, donate them to paws with a cause, CCI or delta society." a. Do not buy them - you reward the bad behavior which encourages them to do it again and b. you obviously do not understand the basics of dog/people training and sure as he__ know NOTHING about service dogs. A good service dog is NOT someone else's left over junk. They have drive, intelligence, energy and trainability. If you asked YOUR dog to do something 20x in a day or 100x would he? Or at some point would he say frig it been there done that not doing it anymore? How well behaved in public is your dog? etc etc I'm really tired of people on this board who suggest at every drop of a hat that any "reject" should be sent off to be a service dog. Are there bad service dogs and scam artists. Sure are - we don't need you encouraging any more of them. But take the time and go out and learn a bit and learn what a GOOD service dog is and is capable of. OK - what to do? It does not start or end with this store. It starts with what do you currently do in your community to show people what a well trained well behaved dog is. Do you participate in local parades or fairs(many love to have obedience etc demonstrations). How about a team or precision obedience? Do you belong to the local obedience club that might be doing some of these things/ Do you participate as a member of the local shelter/AC board? HAve you asked the mall about putting on an obedience/agility/flyball/tracking etc etc demonstration - and then you can give out flyers about how to get and train a good pet. Probably the most important - because let me tell you HSUS and PETA have well developed programs doing this - have you contacted your local schools about doing demonstrations and teaching good pet care. Many schools now have "modules" on this. I participated w/ a friend w/ a guide dog recently at a middle school and we talked about assistance dogs. AKC has a great program for doing this and will give you free material - heck they'll even put the local politicians name on it if it will get you access. The heart and mind of these kids is the future and that's how you get rid of puppy mills and pet stores. Take a look at what these women are doing. KUDOS to them. check out the UD page as well http://mysterymoments.homestead.com/firesafetyskit.html Roam around this website for lots of ideas http://caninehorizons.com/Canine_Actors.html I'm sure there are lots more ideas out there if we just put our thinking caps on - 4H. hero dogs etc.

Definitely don't buy them them no matter how bad you may feel for them. You're just encouraging more breeding by the puppymills to fill that spot you opened up. When I was running a rescue I would get calls from local Girl Scout Leaders or schools asking if there was anything the kids could do to help out. It was a great chance to educate young folks on the plight of unwanted animals and the difference between bad breeding and good breeding. I know of a rescue group that went around and dropped puppymill information flyers on the floors of different pet stores that sold dogs and cats. They all got cited for littering and vandalism. Protest the store but make sure you stay off their property!

The whole thing does boil down to education like Bob stated. The average little family that decides they would like a dog, sees one at a pet shop, the kids do what they normally do and they are walking out of the pet shop with Fido their first German Shepherd Dog. They don't know where these dogs come from or how the process works and probably don't even know what a "puppy mill" is. They just know that "Johnny's Pets" was the place they looked into those little puppy eyes and fell in love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzxDUm1ifrE ...heh

pity sake, back the angry wagon up tig. I guess i figured that you would assume (certainly based on option b.) that I was being sarcastic. And I DO understand service dogs, and there is not answer as long as people refuse to do research and buy with emotion rather than knowlegable background.

And the next sad thing to this is that these Pet Stores charge people $500.00 and up for a pup they gave some PM 50.00 a piece for and some uneducated person pays 10 times what the dog is worth and a ton of problems that our vets see, and get the ideas that German shepherds are the worst bred dogs they have ever seen....Yes sooooo frustrating.............had a man call a friend of mine to buy her cocker puppies,,,wanted them to be six weeks old only....he got to her house...bought the pups, two of them ahd headed back to Dallas and sold them to Petland, and charged the customer 2 times what she charged the man, and one lady called my friend , from Greenville., Tex about the behaviour of the pup,,and my friend said...I didnt sell you a pup,,,you must have the wrong person...well, her second mistake was , she left the paperwork from AKC not filled in on the back...and that allowed these people to pawn the dog immediately....she learn a lesson.....when they demand 6 week old pups and want papers left open...they are buying for a pet store....

"I wanted to stand there and tell all the people not to buy ANYTHING from such a petstore, let alone puppies, but no one would have listened or they would have though I was just some kook & I probably would have been tossed out by mall security." I have actually done just that, though I had little pieces of paper with web addresses of how to choose a good breeder as well as phone numbers for the local shelters and some of the rescues. I always keep it short, stay less than a half hour Barb