I don't even know why I go into Petland anymore, the sort of scams I hear being run make me nuts. I usually go in there to play with the birds. But unfortunatly and unknown to most people, Petland is a major chain petstore that deals in puppy mill puppies.

^{Puppy Mill: Large scale, mass breeding facility catering to creating as much profit with as little work towards the dogs. Dog are bred in small, filthy conditions non-stop until they can no longer produce resulting in debilitating health conditions. They then are usually exterminated and replaced by younger dogs to breed. Dogs are given little to no socializing, little to no vetrinary care and enough food just to keep them alive and breeding. Puppies are shipped away at a young age for sale.}

I work a great deal with my local animal shelters and fostering agencies and they have been trying to shut down this store in our town since they first started building it. The horror stories I've heard from people who have bought dogs there are numourous and I have yet to hear of a good ending besides my neighbor across the street and even then their dog is irritable and dog aggressive.

There marketing ploy is they take you into a confined area with the puppy. Who they say is U.A.B registered and given a 3yr warranty as well as dewormed and givin a vet check. U.A.B or United All Breeds for those who don't know is a puppy mill registery where anyone, for a small fee can register the puppies for whatever breed the may look like. So the puppy doesn't have to even be a purebred maltese or have maltese in it at all, but for $10, a certificate can be made to register it as such and also to say that the pup is genectically healthy while no proof is needed to prove this.

People however aren't aware of what the U.A.B is and think it's like the AKC or UKC which are the only legitimate registries you should get a purebred from.

Also, any dog that is more then one breed that is not registered by the AKC or UKC is a mutt. A Labradoodle or Peek-a-poo aren't dog breeds, they are mutts. They just have fancy names and if you want a cute mixed breed, go to a dog rescue, it's cheaper.

The Petland staff will then ask you what you'd name the puppy. Because, you know the saying 'once you name something your attactched to it.' They know this, they are trained to do this and I've experience it first hand. Then when you ask the price they tell you something along the lines of $2,600 if your lucky and they are haveing a half price sale but they will add that both parents are U.A.B registered (just means they were both puppy mill breeder dogs) and show dogs (U.A.B dog shows dont mean anything, it's all about who can pay how much for a title by the company). No respecting breeder whould ever have their puppies sold by a petstore. People still fall for this and Petlands ' payment' program so that even though you can't afford the dog or take care of it, for a monthly payment of $25 plus interest like a car, you to can own a mutty diseased puppy. Then when you get it home, they hope you grow attactch to it and when a serious health condition arrises. Instead of asking for a replacement like they offer, your pay the outlandish bill for whatever health issue it may have. That or it you decide on a replacement, then they send it back to the breeder to be used as a stock breeder. Overall total for a full price pup and vet bill for health problems, nearly $20,000

Several people who came to the vet clinic my mom worked at brough Petland puppies and all were in horrible condition health wise. Several had broken or fused bones which hadn't healed right or were infected. One puppy had it's leg amputated. Others got dogs with serious health problems that needed long term help or surgery. Few people I know bought a puppy and it died in it's sleep when they got home. One woman bought a dog, found out it was sick, asked for a replacement since the puppy had a degerative condition that mean't it was going to die soon. Two weeks later, the same puppy she saw was for sale again at the petstore even though it was deathly ill.

The people at petland have no formal training and the only requirment to working there is the short training seminar they recieve on 'how to sell the product' the product of course being living creatures. A friend of mine went to get a job there when they first opened and was horrified by the fact he discovered the puppies actually came from a puppy mill in Wisconsin and other midwest states, shipped to Iowa and sold as purebreds by good breeders. They recieved them in shipping crates in their own feces, mangy, flea bitten and often ill. They'd wash them, make them presentable and put them on the market. Being for animals rights, my friend decided he just couldn't stomach it.

Petland and another rat hole petstore in our town, Brenamans have long been on the watch list by our animals shelter and other animal rights groups for there cruelty to animals. I try and advise as many people as possible about not buying dogs or cats from a petstore and to never buy from the Petland chain stores. The only petstore I'll buy from is PetCo who always seems to be very responsible and for working on adopting animals out first instead of just making a sale.

I hope everyone that reads this will pass on the news and help inform people that we will not tolerate this in our cities and this treatment to animals.

~Anti~