Petland Can't Survive Without Puppy Mills

I do feel badly about the 20 people out of work, but 20 people having a job does not nearly make up for the misery that is caused by pet stores that sell dogs and other small animals. People buy them, often responding to a fad, and then when they are not prepared for the long term care and expense of a pet, they dump them at a shelter to be killed.

Dogs in shelters rarely make it out. Most are euthanized, it usually happens in a stressful and outright painful way (one is called "heartstick" (a poisen stuck directly into the heart with a large needle on a hopefully (but not always) sedated animal and certainly the gas chamber, which takes up to 45 minutes and is not silent, quick, or pain free). Methods vary from state to state. It is not federally regulated, and the improvement of methods used is made largely by lawsuits in various cities that force the use of best practices, adding more expense to the larger community. Animal rights people won't stop working to improve conditions, but we recognize that it's a long haul. With the assistence of the internet, and specifically facebook -- where more animal rescue happens than many people may realize, now the pain will be felt by municipalities as well. And the cost will be felt, too. With facebook, for instance, people are now able to send around a "chip-in" so other people in areas not necessarily close to a specific shelter can contribute to a lawsuit being brought forth. I have recently contributed to one happening in North Carolina (Robeson Animal Shelter, which has found itself in court at least twice already). I bet that shelter never thought it would have a lady in New York City giving a damn about it, but I do and I will continue to spread the word.

Bottom line, I am celebrating this decision by Petland. I haven't bought stuff in their stores for years because of the puppies they have in only some stores. I can't financially support something I'm completely opposed to. They ought to revamp their business model, and clean up their stores.

Full story via News 8 in Austin:
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/272681/petland-closes-its-doors-after-proposed-city-ordinance

I'm happy to see some cities begin to consider banning the sale of puppies at stores. This is not a magic bullet, so to speak, as it opens up other issues, but at least the conversation has started.

See some articles about it:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pet-sales-ban-in-san-francisco.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/07/san-franciscos-consideration-of-a-ban-on-sales-of-pets-other-than-fish-strikes-a-chord.html

http://www.newsmax.com/US/US-San-Francisco-Pet/2010/07/10/id/364283




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