# need to vent... friends just bought a puppy from a PET STORE!!!!!



## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

*heather* said:


> so how did they end up getting this pup from a pet store


They simply lost their freakin' minds over that "doggy in the window"! I refuse to set foot inside our local pet store that sells puppies and kittens... I won't spend a penny there on ANYTHING - not food, not toys, not treats, not grooming stuff... NUTHIN'!! Not that witholding my measly $$ will put them out of business, but I can sleep at night knowing I've not contributed to the pocketbooks of these scumbags! Luckily we only have one store in town that sells that type of pet (PetSmart sells pocket pets, birds and fish and another locally owned store sells fish and recently added pocket pets - but no canine/feline sales!)

We used to get puppies in at the shelter that were just a few months old, purchased from the pet store for big bucks and just weren't what the owners were hoping for/planning on (are puppy mill dogs EVER what we hope for?? :wacko So these owners spent hundreds of dollars on the pup and then just a few months later, paid us a surrender fee to take it in!!  And who suffers the most??? The pup...

Hopefully things will work out ok for your friends - since they're experienced dog people, maybe they can work with any downfalls the pet store puppy may have...


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

I think the only way to keep people from making these impulse buys is to make it illegal to sell puppies and kittens in a pet store.


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## Jessie's Mom (Mar 23, 2010)

i understand your frustration with your friend, but i am happy for the pup to now be owned by such wonderful people. listen, like it or not, there is not one person who can walk past a pet shop and want to go in and buy all those sad looking pups. the pet shops bank on this. so, since you don't want to make enemies, just go with it. knowing your friends are great pet owners, be happy for the pup. he/she just got a lease on a great life. one other thought, if you were to voice your opinion, and then, God forbid, something happens to the dog, you will feel bad. meaning, even though you are frustrated, we know you wish them only the best and hope the pup is basically a good pup. if you see them suffering because of their choice, you will feel bad that you let them know your disapproval in the past. so just smile and get to know that cute puppy....


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

good points all around... I need to grit my teeth and just be supportive and get to know the little guy. I do agree that it should be illegal to sell puppies and kittens at a pet store... maybe we could start a movement or something! :idea: 
The pup is very 'poodle looking', to be honest, I don't see any shih tzu there at all!! (good thing, cause I'm not a really big shih tzu fan! lol) He looks like a little apricot toy with a dark black nose, I was actually impressed with the pigmentation! Now if only I could get my hands on him and shave his little face! hehe...


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## Cdnjennga (Jul 30, 2009)

It's hard and frustrating I know, but as your friends have already gone ahead and done this, I think you just need to be supportive. Of course if they had mentioned their intent up front that would be the time to let them know what a bad idea it was! Fingers crossed they don't run into any issues in the future because of their pup's origins!

It can be hard to resist the adorable pet store puppies, although the shocking price tag (and my knowledge of where the pups come from) helps! We used to go into a Toronto store and look at the pups, and my mom would loudly announce how sorry she was for the puppies and how horrible their background is. We know someone who used to work in the puppy department as a teenager and she told us absolute horror stories. I completely agree that it should be illegal for pet stores to sell puppies and kittens, unless they are part of a rescue group, as I believe happens in Petsmart. Unfortunately as long as there is a market for pet store pups though, they will continue to sell them. And now there's websites that also make it easy for the mills to sell their pups.

Education is the only way forward, but as your friends showed, even that isn't foolproof! So I'm not really sure what the solution is.


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Cdnjennga said:


> I completely agree that it should be illegal for pet stores to sell puppies and kittens, unless they are part of a rescue group, as I believe happens in Petsmart.


Yeah that's how it is at Petco, too. Every Saturday they set up kennels and a rescue group called Best Friends brings in homeless cats and some dogs. All cats are UTD on their shots, fixed, and fostered between adoption events. Whenever the store has donations to shelters, the donation goes to them.

It's just the grooming salon banned them from using our tubs because on multiple times they've bathed their cats and left the tubs smeared in cat poo.. >_>


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## *heather* (Jul 30, 2009)

I wish I could anonymously sent them this article  
Don't Buy That Doggie in the Window!


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## frostfirestandards (Jun 18, 2009)

I am guilty of it once too, even though I knew better, I bought a rat terrier from a man on the side of the road who sells puppies about every weekend. 
They have recently made it illegal in NC to sell or give away puppies at the roadside or in parking lots. 

I wish that it was illegal to sell them in stores as well, as Fayetteville (where I live) has 4-5 puppy stores selling mill dogs. One of the stores here does sell mixed breed and purebred puppies from local BYBs or oopsies though. Although this is not ideal, it is better than getting a mill puppy, IMO


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Yep. At some point many of us are guilty of going against the "best way" I would be supportive and maybe use suttle comments or education down the road - BUT I don't shop at pet stores because I know what I am capable of.....:doh:


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## brittwink21 (Jan 3, 2010)

I think this is always a difficult situation. I am dead against byb and puppymills and puppys in petshops come from one or the other. However, those puppies are still puppies and they need homes. I would never buy one myself, but unless everyone (literally ) bans together, someone has to give them homes, right? It really just stinks.


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## Winnow (Jan 2, 2010)

:doh:

We do not have pet store's here in Iceland that sell dogs.
But we do have a puppy mill where you can just go and buy a puppy with out any question asked.

She breeds over 13 breeds and you can pay with VISA payments over I think 24-36 months ..

Most of the times she has over 20 puppies for sale from different litters.
She does sell toy and min poodles but they are so unpopular here I think it wont be to long until she kull's them from her breeding. 

I am always telling people not to by from her that the pups are sick and unsocialized. But people always think that they will get the good pup.


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## Locket (Jun 21, 2009)

Cdnjennga said:


> We used to go into a Toronto store and look at the pups, and my mom would loudly announce how sorry she was for the puppies and how horrible their background is.


That's what I do!!

I'm all for banning the selling of pets in stores, but I fear over the internet companies would grow exponentially...and I'm not sure what's worse, a pet store puppymill puppy or an over the internet puppymill puppy...at least the pups have to be kept looking happy, healthy and relatively clean in a pet store, but over the internet mills only need to take one picture...


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Years ago when Petland or Petsmart -- I can never remember which it is -- opened I went there. They had what looked large a huge glass fish tank just inside the door. Inside the fish tank were what looked like about eight week old pug puppies. There were kids there - looked about seven years old - hauling these puppies out and carrying them around the store. I just could not watch. I thought any moment one of those children was going to drop a puppy on its head and then it would be game over for the puppy!! 

They were selling "unregistrable" pugs, dachshunds etc. for $1,300.

I left the store and I haven't been back.


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

PetSmart doesn't sell puppies or kittens... Must've been Petland.


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

Around my area there are 2 places I'm cautious of....one is called ohiopets. com or ohiopuppies. com. 

They sell every mix imaginable...cavashons etc. mostly all the small non=shedding types.

The other BIG TIME crappy puppy places are the Amish farmers. I see alot of JUGS....jack russels mixed with pugs. They make me wanna puke.


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## Keithsomething (Oct 31, 2009)

we don't live to far apart P2P
and I have to agree on the amish factor
...we have a neighbor who told my dad that he had to get out of the chicken farming and into the "dog" farming...I was pretty appalled when I heard that v.v;
it seems that the bigger puppy mills in our area are usually amish families
very very very puke worthy =\


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