Puppy Mills: HSUS Investigation of NY Pet Stores Selling Puppies

MO Puppy Mill Photo from HSUS  

In anticipation of the busiest puppy-buying season of the year - the winter holidays - The Humane Society of the United States has revealed the results of its latest hidden-camera investigation; exposing more than 100 New York state pet stores that supply unsuspecting consumers with puppies from inhumane large-scale commercial breeders known as puppy mills. 

Many Web sites or employees of these stores imply or explicitly state that the puppies come only from small-scale “private breeders”—not from notorious puppy mills.

“These high-priced pet stores claim to sell dogs from small private breeders, but are actually pushing dogs from huge Midwest puppy mills with some of the worst federal Animal Welfare Act violations imaginable,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for investigations at The HSUS. “Consumers are being duped into buying puppies born to breeding dogs who spend their entire lives trapped in tiny wire cages, churning out litter after litter.”

An HSUS investigator, along with businessman Lorenzo Borghese from ABC’s “The Bachelor,” went undercover as “shoppers” and caught sales staff at 11 New York City-area pet stores making misleading claims concerning the origin of their puppies. Shipping documents were also obtained for more than 100 New York State pet stores. The investigation revealed:

• All 11 stores videotaped by HSUS investigators purchased their puppies from large-scale commercial breeding facilities, despite specific claims of “no puppy mills” or misleading statements implying that their sources were small “private breeders.” When HSUS investigators filmed some of these breeding facilities they found hundreds of dogs confined to small cages.
• More than 100 pet stores in New York that were investigated through a public records search were shown to have purchased more than 4,500 puppies from similar commercial large-scale breeding or brokering operations in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Oklahoma during approximately a four-month period in 2011. More than 3,000 puppies were shipped to New York stores from Missouri alone during that period. Missouri is the puppy mill capital of America.
• All of the stores visited by investigators and many of the 100 stores whose puppy transport records were examined were found to be buying puppies from suppliers with known Animal Welfare Act violations, including some with citations for filthy conditions, lack of adequate space, underweight breeding animals, dogs found in the freezing cold or high heat without adequate weather protection, or sick or injured dogs in need of veterinary care.
• Some of the stores investigated (but none of the stores visited in person) were even found purchasing from an unlicensed, convicted animal abuser, Kathy Jo Bauck, aka Kathy Cole, whose USDA license was revoked after years of extreme state and federal animal care violations for issues such as dogs with open and bleeding wounds who had not been treated by a vet, piles of accumulated feces, and puppies found shivering in the cold in temperatures as low as 12 degrees F. Bauck was ordered to stop performing surgeries on dogs without a veterinary license in 2006, and convicted of animal cruelty and torture in 2009.
• Seven of the stores investigated by The HSUS were buying puppies from Brandi Cheney, who was identified in The HSUS’s Missouri‘s Dirty Dozen report last year as one of the worst puppy mill operators in Missouri. More than 500 pages of USDA inspection and enforcement reports on breeding facilities linked to Cheney reflect the facilities’ failure to provide vet care to sick and dying dogs, dogs subjected to below-freezing temperatures with inadequate shelter and dogs with such severe matting that the removal of the mats left oozing, open sores. Four additional puppy mills highlighted in the HSUS’ Missouri’s Dirty Dozen report were also found selling to New York pet stores.
• One salesman refused to give breeder information to the undercover shoppers, repeating three times, “I have nothing to hide.” The investigation found his store purchased puppies from Brandi Cheney.

 

Puppy Mill Facts:

• Dogs at puppy mills typically receive little to no medical care, live in squalid conditions with no exercise, socialization or human interaction and are confined inside cramped wire cages for life. For more information, see humanesociety.org/puppymills.
• Dogs from puppy mills are sold in pet stores, online and directly to consumers with little to no regard for the dog's health, genetic history or future welfare.
• The HSUS urges people who want to get a puppy to consider adopting from a shelter or rescue group first. If deciding to buy from a breeder, potential buyers should always visit the breeder in person to see that the dogs are treated humanely and ensure the puppies and their parents are living in spacious, clean areas. For more information, see humanesociety.org/puppy.

Puppy Mill Lemon Laws

We're barking about puppy mills this week as we count down to September 17 - National Puppy Mill Awareness Day 2011.

According to the ASPCA, if you buy a puppy from a pet shop, you run a high risk of taking home a sick animal.  Respiratory infections including pneumonia, as well as hereditary defects like hip dysplasia and severe allergies, are common among the indiscriminately bred puppies sold by commercial breeders.  If you have purchased a pet-store puppy who turned out to be sick, you may have some recourse.  Twenty states have enacted "Lemon Laws" that make pet stores financially responsible for sick animals purchased from them.  

These states have enacted laws that protect consumers when purchasing pets:  Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.  While each state's laws differ with regard to time limits and conditions under which a purchaser may return a companion animal, all these states allow a consumer to return a "defective pet" and receive a refund or exchange.  Some allow pet owners to retain the pet and receive reimbursement for vet expense.  All cover dogs, fifteen states also cover cats.  For more information visit the Animal Legal and Historical Center at the Michigan State University College of Law.

As of yesterday, there's a new law proposed in Michigan that would entitle pet owners to a refund if their dog has a defect due to coming from a Puppy Mill.

Puppy Mills: Canadian Pet Store Chain Says No More

According to the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, PJ's Pets, a large Canadian pet store chain, announced that they will no longer sell puppies in any of their 41 stores. As of September 1st, their focus will be to support pet adoption services in an effort to find homes for thousands of pets in local animal shelters and rescues across Canada. 

This is a very positive development for the welfare of dogs. It will not only help alleviate the homeless animal problem in Canada but will also help alleviate the suffering of puppy mill dogs here in Missouri and other Midwestern states. PJ's Pets has for years acquired many of their puppies from commercial dog breeders in Missouri. 

Hopefully, as more retailers and consumers become aware of the source of pet store dogs, namely puppy mills, demand for such puppies will wane and there will be a resultant decrease in the number of commercial dog breeders who mass produce dogs in often substandard conditions. 

Public awareness combined with better laws and regulations, along with increased enforcement efforts, are making a difference in the plight of dogs in Missouri's puppy mills.

Puppy Mills and Pet Stores: How Much is that Doggie in the Window

Our dog song this Saturday featured the old classic How Much is that Doggy in the Window.  It's estimated that over 1 million puppies being sold in pet shops every year come from puppy mills in Missouri.  Take a look at the video below to learn more about pet shop puppies and where so many come from... and if you're thinking about adding a puppy to your family For Love of a Dog encourages you to adopt, not shop.

MO Prop B Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act - Vote Yes

Election day is rapidly approaching and there's a lot of attention on Missouri to see what voters will do with Prop B - the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.  There's quite a bit of misinformation out there and, in the interests of full disclosure, we are voting YES on Prop B.  Not only are we in favor of this legislation, we don't think it goes far enough.

The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act is a measure that will improve the lives of dogs in commercial breeding operations in Missouri.  Specifically, the measure will require large scale dog breeding operations to provide each breeding dog under their care with the basics of humane animal care including:

Sufficient food and clean water;  necessary vet care;  sufficient housing including protection from the elements;  sufficient space to turn and stretch freely, lie down and fully extend their limbs;  regular exercise;  adequate rest between breeding cycles.

Prop B would limit the number of breeding dogs to 50 per facility, but does not apply to breeders with 10 or fewer intact female dogs.  The 50 breeding dog limit will help ensure the operations do not become overcrowded, but will still allow individual breeders to sell hundreds of puppies each year.  Prop B does not affect individuals who raise hunting dogs, livestock facilities, or animal rescue and shelter operators that are not involved in commercial sale of puppies.

Missouri is home to an estimated 3,000 puppy mills, breeding hundreds of thousands of puppies, far more than any other state in the US.  Dogs at puppy mills typically receive little to no medical care, live in squalid conditions with no exercise, socialization or human interaction, and are confined inside cramped wire cages for life.  Dogs at puppy mills must endure constant breeding cycles.  Puppies from puppy mills are sold in pet stores, online and directly to consumers with little to no regard for the dog's health, genetic history or future welfare..

Don't Shop. ADOPT! October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

The last time you were in a pet shop and stopped to check out the puppies, did you wonder where they came from? 



Are you considering adding a canine to your family?  Why not adopt from a shelter or rescue?  October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month. 

Here in Missouri the Puppy Mill People are Calling

About 8 pm last night the phone rang.  Another one of those computer automated calls.  My immediate instinct was to hang up because this is Tea Party territory and we get a lot of political calls.  But then I caught the subject matter:  Prop B.

Prop B (formerly known as the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act) is a legislative initiative that will appear on Missouri's November ballot.  It addresses humane standards in commercial breeding facilities.  And in my opinion, it is long overdue.

Back to the phone call which was urging me to vote against Prop B.  Yes, against it.  According the recorded message, dog breeders in Missouri would be arrested if a crumb of dog food fell into a dog's water dish if Prop B passes.

Yeah, right.

40% of all pet store puppies come from Missouri puppy mills.  Missouri has almost 3 times as many commercial breeders than any other state in our country.  Missouri has earned the well deserved reputation as the Puppy Mill Capitol of the United States due to its many unsanitary, overcrowed, and poorly regulated commercial dog breeding facilities.  According to a Missouri state audit report released in July 2008, the MO Department of Agriculture had failed to inspect 40% of the the state's known licensed commercial breeders as required by law. 

If Prop B is passed by Missouri voters in November, here's what it will do.  The new law will require large-scale breeding operations to provide each dog with adequate food, water, exercise, veterinary care, enclosure space, and protection from the elements.  Wire cage flooring will no longer be allowed, and dogs will have free access to outdoor exercise areas.

While I write this I have one dog laying on my feet, another blocking my chair so I can't get up without notice, and another snoozing in the doorway of the room.  Three dogs that are my constant companions and beloved family members.  Not only am I in favor of Prop B, I don't think it does enough.

  

Today is National Puppy Day

Now here's a holiday all of us at For Love of a Dog can get behind! Today is National Puppy Day!

A special day to celebrate the love and magic that puppies bring to our lives. And to promote adoption of rescue and shelter dogs everywhere. It's a day to help save abandoned puppies and educate the public about puppy mills, as well as to push the agenda of a nation of puppy-free pet stores.

There's no need to buy a puppy from a pet store when the shelters and rescue groups are full of adoptable puppies. Love is waiting for you...