Another reason not to purchase from a pet store...

[xultar]

I just saw a story on a pet Min Pin that was dropped in the pet store. The puppy sustained an injury to her leg. The pet store took her to the vet to have her EUTHANIZED because it was cheaper than having her leg fixed.

Luckily the vet talked the store into releasing the pet to them and they in turn released the puppy (after fixing the leg) to the Atlanta Pet Rescue organisation. She's now up for adoption http://www.atlantapetrescue.org/www_ver2/pet_pages/toy/toy.htm

Remember people it is all about money with pet stores. DO NOT PURCHASE DOGS OR CATS FROM A PET STORE...THOSE PUPPIES COME FROM PUPPY MILLS...purchasing only feeds the puppy mill market. Puppy mills are nasty farms where animals are treated badly and all they do is produce litters. They are kept in feces and urine stained crates outside where they get no health care, love or affection.

If you want a pet go to a rescue organisation. If you are looking for a specific breed check out a breed rescue organisation in your area. You can also contact a breeder for non show quality pups and maybe they'll give you one or you can purchase one @ a low cost. I've found a nice little puppy with a birth defect that couldn't be shown. I contacted the Chihuahua Club of America's Atlanta branch. I called breeders until I found one that I clicked with. Luckily she had a puppy from a litter that that had a birth defect that couldn't be shown. He's now mine.

Meet Mr Sprinkles

[roguevalley]

1. two of our dachsies are pet store rescues. I am so damned glad

this litle guy has a nice home. What a total cutie!

[roamer65]

2. Awww...he's a lil cutie, isn't he?

[roguevalley]

42. he is. that is my Tippy

[xultar]

44. Kewl name. Tippy.. toes!

[xultar]

5. Looks way smart. Such a doll.

[a kennedy]

3. He's adorable.....

looks like he's a tad excited too eh??

[xultar]

4. All my boys have ambition in that way. He's happy to be in my home pix was the first night.

[judaspriestess]

6. thats horrible

I bought my two doggies from pet stores BUT I firmly believe I rescued them. Thor my bulldog, only had one testicle drop. Nobobdy wants an English bulldog who can't be bred except us. He was going to be neutered anyway.

Crystal my lil sheltie was a runt, nobody wanted her. She was in the corner, skinny and scared. I had to take her. She is an angel. The pet store was raided abount a month afterwards and shut down. For what I don't know but I thank God I was able to get her.

These are my only two pets I have ever gotten from a pet store.

[xultar]

11. Good thing you did get them. After the raid they'd have gone to rescue

but you may not have had the chance to get them.

Secretly, just between you and me, some rescues charge as much as a some breeders do. I had a tough go with a rescue organisation about a month ago. They didn't think the chihuahua pup would do well in a home with other chihuahuas so they wanted me to give him to another woman. I did give him to her but I cried for days afterward.

Luckily though I found Mr. Sprinkles through a breeder @ Chihuahua Club of America - ATL. He has a birth defect but he's PERFECT to me. He is awesome and was always meant to be in my home. He cost me the same amount it would have been to rescue and I've got an AKC on him. I'm more than happy and so are the rest of the Chihuahuas. I've fostered 3 chihuahua's in my life and as many as 6 cats. So I figure why not. Better my house than someone else's.

[INdemo]

7. We found out that our local pet store was selling baby kittens for

snake food....

[xultar]

8. OMG please tell me that someone is paying for that crime.

[judaspriestess]

16. Ok now I'm pissed, please tell me they shut them down

and HOW could a snake owner feed a kitten to a snake???

[Dastard Stepchild]

9. Mr. Sprinkles is awesome!

:)

Meet LuLu. She's an Aussie Shepard mix rescue.

[xultar]

12. She is stunning. Looks like such a character! What a cutie!

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. As with any business, pet stores vary

Until they closed (the owner was losing a battle with cancer), there was a wonderful pet store around the corner from where I live; it had been there for some 35 years. They didn't sell dogs or cats -- potential buyers were referred to various animal shelters around the county -- but they did sell small birds, rodents and fish. The owner was a longtime breeder of parakeets and love birds and her son was an avid tetra fancier. The animals they sold depended on their employees; if they were selling dwarf hamsters, it was because at least one of the employees was knowledgeable about dwarf hamsters and could either reference a local breeder (fish were shipped from a supplier, but never the other animals) or could breed enough for the store themselves. For a few years they sold chinchillas, and a lot of regulars cried when that clerk moved out of state (those critters are so darn cute.) The name of the veteranary clinic they used was posted on their bulletin board, along with the date of the last visit. The tanks and cages were always clean and the animals very well tended.

Some people go into the pet business to make money. Others because they love animals.

[xultar]

13. I should have been more specific and said purchase dogs and cats

from pet stores. I know tons of family pet stores and feed stores that sell birds, hamsters and ferrets and they are AWESOME.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. I agree about dogs and cats

It is much better to adopt from a shelter, or at the least buy from a reputable breeder. I've been to Petco and other large chain stores and never felt I could trust them for anything other than bird seed.

[hughee99]

14. My beagle is from a breeder

who breeds for show dogs. He's is a tri-colored beagle, who's coloring isn't "symmetrical" enough to do shows. When he grew up, it turns out he was too large for to do shows anyway (over 15" tall). I basically got him at cost on the condition that I had him neutered, which wasn't a deal-breaker for me. He's a great family pet, though.

[xultar]

22. Same thing with Mr. Sprinkles. Part of his tail is missing. He has a stub.

I have to get him neutered but no problem there for me either. He has a limited registration but I don't really care. He's simply perfect to me.

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Hello Mr. Sprinkles.

I will say that not all pet stores are alike. The one where we got Voodoo and our scads of birds is an excellant one. All the animals are immunized, cared for as if they were the only ones there, and the owner will absolutely not buy from a puppy mill and has actually closed two in Oklahoma. Of course, the best place is a no-kill shelter, but some states don't have those. I don't know about you, but I can't go into a shelter knowing that some of the animals are about to be put down because I would have more critters than I currently do!

Anywho...Voodoo says welcome and enjoy your new home!

And Merry Christmas...


Or Happy Hannukah...which ever...:)

[xultar]

23. OMG HE IS STUNNING! What a great name. How old is he. HE'S A DOLL!

[Behind the Aegis]

31. Heehee.

I thought I'd shown you pics of Voodoo. He will be a year-old in January. he is a little under-the-weather now, so he is getting more pampering. Your little Sprinkles is a cutie too! :)

[xultar]

36. He looks so sweet and proud in his Hannukah outfit. He's a rare gem

of a pup. He's quite a stunner to say the least.

[shadowknows69]

18. We just adopted a dog

that was in fact a breeder at one of these horrible puppy farms. The owner was caught and is doing some serious time for animal cruelty. I didn't really know much about it until we met this darling new edition to our home and reading posts by people like Xultar helping bring it to light. Good on you. There are too many great discarded dogs out there. We've rescued two from bad homes and they've been the best animals I've ever shared my existence with. I don't believe in the concept of ownership. Dog owns me more than I do it.

[xultar]

24. No kidding. I have 2 that came from a puppy mill that I rescued and they

are both very skittish but LOVING. Casper is missing a toe. Xena has a patch of missing hair that won't grow back. Their teeth were HORRIBLE. But all is better now!

[H2O Man]

19. Mugsy ....

No store-bought dog, he.

[xultar]

25. He's very beautiful...quite majestic. I love Shepards. I had one as a kid.

The most awesome dogs.

[H2O Man]

28. One of my brothers

used to raise them. He warned me to be prepared to have a tumbling clown in my home. Mugs is 122 lbs of an adult puppy, one of the very best friends I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

[tinfoil tiaras]

20. A local adoption agency comes to Petsmart and sets up there sometimes

thats where we get our cats from--the adoption agency, not Petsmart. They do a full background check on the people that are buying--they asked us a ton of questions about our previous ownership of pets, etc.


Mr. Sprinkles is adorable. Here are my 3 cats.

Midnight (we actually didn't get him from the adoption agency--he was found as a kitten by the cross country team in the woods at my school)

Roxie. She was adopted from the adoption agency. She's a runt, but we still love her anyway.

Don't have a picture of our newest addition, Atticus. He's an adult. We felt it was good to adopt an adult cat, because we thought that adult cats had a less chance of being adopted.

[xultar]

26. Roxie is cute...though she looks like she's had a couple of drinks.

Now I must ask Midnight is cool ahe? I have a black cat named Velcro and he is the COOLEST cat there is.
I swear there is something that links the coat and personality. Velcro is laid back but cool.

[tinfoil tiaras]

34. Midnight is very aloof.

He doesn't like to be held or petted and he likes to go outside alot. But when he wants to be sweet, he is the sweetest cat you have ever seen. When you pet him, he licks your hand and it's so sweet.

Haha, Roxie is in a permenent intoxication state. She's so hyper, like all the time...haha.

[cedahlia]

21. thanks for posting this

I'm right there with you...all of my fur babies are rescues, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. They are fantastic, and my life is richer because they are in it. I wish more people would go the rescue route...maybe then we could finally see the end of puppy/kitty mills.

Happy Holidays to you and your babies, xultar!O8)

[xultar]

27. Thank you. Happy Holidays to you aand your babies. My life is so full

and happy with my fur-babies and I'd have it no other way.

Someone has got to look out for the animals...I'm glad it is us!

[AspenRose]

29. Oh, he's precious.

:D

[xultar]

37. Thank you. He's a sweetie. I love him so.

[Gloria]

30. Wonderful dogs! mine include....

Tico, adopted from the shelter...


and Slick,adopted from the STREET, where he ran for over 8 months!!!

[HuffleClaw]

32. so?

that happens all the time. loads of people won't pay for expensive surgery for a cat/dog. after all, kittens and puppies are often FREE.

[xultar]

38. True. But this is a store that was going to sell her for over $1200 bucks.

[HuffleClaw]

40. which is itself lunacy.

meep

[Greylyn58]

33. I totally agree with you

I will never, ever buy dogs or cats from pet stores. Puppy mills are horrible places. One was shut down near here a year and a half ago and the dogs that were seized had been kept in terrible conditions. I was sick to my stomach.

I purchased my boy from a breeder after doing a ton of research. Today is Sheridan's birthday and he is turning 11 years old. He has been the love of my life and I will never be owned by such a loving creature again.

[xultar]

39. Wow. The most beautiful Golden I've even seen. He's so....I don't know

He looks like a person...his soul looks so aware. He looks smart and wise. He looks like he knows stuff he shouldn't.

[nashville_brook]

35. Mr Sprinkles f'n ROCKS! what a cutie!

and... puppy mills kill.

thank you for this wonderful post!

[Hidden Stillness]

41. This is Always an Important Topic

About your main point: this is what most people don't realize about this situation; if you buy an animal from a "pet store," that you discover has something medically wrong, you can't take it back and get the problem corrected. If they admit the problem, or if you win a court judgment, that they "sold a defective product," you return that animal, and they kill it. You get "a replacement." This is why many people do not even want to win in small-claims court, because you don't just help the pet and the store pays the medical bills, as most people want; they take that animal, kill it, and you get another one; it is disgusting. There was a recent, very long, great thread here on DU on the evils of pet stores and puppy mills, when a group recently protested the store's selling animals from puppy mills, rather than just selling supplies; it was very informative from many animal lovers.

This "Medieval" treatment of animals as property or livestock extends to the way animal cruelty law is constructed, too. The crime is not technically against the animal, as a victim who has been injured and has the right not to suffer abuse, but against the human "owner," who suffered a "loss." Cruelty law often still comes under the category of U.S.D.A. animal/livestock statute. Only recently have people began to be even enlightened enough to rethink it, and directly treat the animal as the victim, as decent people always have in their minds, and get rid of the horrific idea that, for example, "I can do whatever I want to my own pet."

I get all my dogs, and have for most of my life, from shelters. Most of the animals there are so good, so sweet, that you cannot even fathom why they are even there. They get as close to you as a dog you raised yourself, but with one notable difference--they always know, their whole lives, that you saved them from their Hell.

[xultar]

43. I can't agree more. When I see dogs and cats for sale in pet stores

I want to rip into the pet store people. But as usual the people on the ground aren't able to do anything.

The most I can do is inform as many people as I can with my big mouth. I also work rescue so that helps too.