A pet store near my house...

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yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

A pet store near my house...

Post by yummybagel »

There's a pet store near my house in California.

I went in there once before, and pure bred puppies were kept in big "boxes" full of sawdust/tanbark. When I say boxes, they are not one of those moving boxes. They're like rooms with all foor sides made out of wood but no ceiling so that people could look down and see the puppies. They have four of those, one for the bigger and older dogs and three for the really small puppies. The day I went into the store, there was a female beagle puppy in the same box with several boston terrier puppies, and they were covered in sawdust/tanbark and people were picking them up and petting them throughout the day. The female beagle puppy was very tiny, much smaller than Bagel when we first got him. They had a notecard pasted on each of the boxes with the age and the breeders of each puppy, and she was 7 weeks old. The older dogs, though they were still puppies, seemed to be given less attention both from the owners of the shop and the visitors. They seemed a little dirty, and the box that they were staying in didn't seem too clean either. One of the four walls of the room that the older puppies were staying in was made out of plastic so that people could look at them, and it was smudged all over with dog slobber, and I did see some waste in the room. In the room for the older puppies I believe there was one of those lamps to keep them warm.

I passed by the store multiple times, and each time the store was empty, lights off except for the ones to keep the dogs warm, and no owners. The dogs were kept inside the store with no one to supervise them. I pass by usually at noon. I went online to research about the pet store, and came across some reviews. Many of them commented on how they saw the dogs living in the "box" with their feces just laying around.

And the store was on fire recently, which killed three french bull dog puppies. By that point I was really mad at the store and the owner. But thought that for sure, now that some of the puppies are dead, they would be going through some investigations and may be that can help the store to close down (too harsh?) or something be done about how those puppies are being treated. But no, the store is now "remodeling". The owner, along with his wife, still sells his puppies at a vacant lot near his ruined store. Passed by it yesterday, and saw three pomeranian puppies in a cage with no sheets, no blankets, no toys. I don't believe I saw water in the cage either.

Now am I overreacting about the store?
emmabeth
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Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by emmabeth »

You are not overreacting at all - dogs should NOT be sold like this and no one should buy a dog from an outfit like this.

Unfortunately in some places it is legal [sadly, most places] to sell dogs from pet stores if the owners have the required licencing to do so.

What is MUCH less likely to be legal is selling dogs from some type of street stall and in your position I would contact the relevant authorities [im in the UK so that would be, at a guess, environmental health, trading standards and the local council] - even if the guy had the relevant licence to sell from his shop, now that he no longer has the shop that licence is unlikely to apply as I would expect it covers a property and not just a person. The premises have to be fit for purpose and what you describe most certainly is not.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
chay
Posts: 352
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:58 pm

Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by chay »

yep, call your council and call your local animal welfare authority, whoever that may be. if you can do it without being too obvious, i would try to get some photos of the outfit he's running from the vacant lot too, and provide these to the authorities when making your complaint.

this stuff angries up my blood something terrible. unfortunately while alot of the time nothing can be (or is) done about it, at least you'll know you've done all you can to try bring a shoddy business like that to the attention of people who might be able to intervene.
Fundog
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Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by Fundog »

yummy bagel, in the States, your city's Chamber of Commerce is the authority to contact with complaints about the shop owner's practices. After that would be the Better Business Bureau.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
ladybug1802
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:39 am
Location: Surrey

Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by ladybug1802 »

That makes me so sad :( Poor dogs.

Last summer I went to London and to Harrods (for those of you not in the UK, it is a very well known, very expensive 'department store' that most normal people couldnt afford to buy things at). My friend was getting married so we were going to the spa there for hair and nails etc. I took the chance to wander round, and went to the pet department, expecting to find pet items, clothes, etc.....but was so sad to see a wall of glass, behind of which were puppies running and playing around. I mean they had a lot of room, but it shocked me that people could just walk in, pay money, and leave with a puppy. Awful....I stayed in the pet department for only a few minutes as I was on the verge of tears at the thought of it.

A couple of years ago I went to the USA for a few months, and while in LA went into a mall, and was so upset to see a pet shop, with glass 'windows' in the walls, with puppies behind them. The puppies were displayed in the same way as jewellery or watches would be. It made me so sad and mad at the same time - I just for some reason had assumed animals could not be sold this way now, but I was wrong! That was a couple of years ago and that will stay with me forever....it really upset me.

In the UK, am I correct that pet stores cant sell animals in this way now?
emmabeth
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Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by emmabeth »

Sadly, they can if they have the correct licences...

There are regular demonstrations outside some of the bigger 'chain' names, for example Dogs4Us which has a branch in manchester and a branch in Leeds that I know of. If you thought Harrods was bad, these places are much MUCH worse, you go in, pay with your credit card and take home the pup of your choice.

There are SO many puppies I see around here that originated from Dogs4Us or the other one, blackpool pet world i think it was called, all of them AWFUL examples of their breed and i have yet to meet a single one without some or several behavioural problems or physical problems.

The puppies themselves originate from puppy farms - just as they do in the US, a reputable breeder NEVER sells litters to a dog superstore.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
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Nettle
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Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by Nettle »

A friend of mine bought a puppy from Harrods - I couldn't believe she could be so dumb :evil: especially as she could have asked me and I knew a really good breeder who was local to her............ :roll:
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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yummybagel
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri May 07, 2010 5:12 pm

Re: A pet store near my house...

Post by yummybagel »

It makes me sad to walk or drive pass the shop. What's more sad is that there seem to be more and more people going there each day. Saw them again today, they were selling puppies again in the same place. Made my blood boil :evil: My sister's friend told me that her friend bought two puppies from there, and to my knowlege, one of them had some health issues..When my sister met them for the first time, it wasn't too long after they got him and he was peeing while walking, she told me.. :(

And I was walking by the shop one day, and this woman came up to me and asked me what kind of breed Bagel was. She said that she liked his size and wanted to get one for her son for christmas..The way she said it, it sounded like she was just getting some toy robot or something..The owner himself didn't sound like he cared much either. The day I was there, he was selling one of the dogs that he was taking care of because his wife didn't like him and the dog had some behavior problems if I remember correctly..

What is MUCH less likely to be legal is selling dogs from some type of street stall and in your position I would contact the relevant authorities [im in the UK so that would be, at a guess, environmental health, trading standards and the local council] - even if the guy had the relevant licence to sell from his shop, now that he no longer has the shop that licence is unlikely to apply as I would expect it covers a property and not just a person. The premises have to be fit for purpose and what you describe most certainly is not.


It was actually a vacant building that they are selling their puppies at. I meant a vacant building, not a vacant lot. My bad..But would that's still out of his own shop, so I'm guessing that it's not allowed either?
yummy bagel, in the States, your city's Chamber of Commerce is the authority to contact with complaints about the shop owner's practices. After that would be the Better Business Bureau
Thank you for that. I wanted to do something about it for awhile now but wasn't sure how or where to look for help.
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