The HUMANE SOCIETY HAS COMPLETED AN INVESTIGATION AND PETLAND, AND OTHER WELL KNOWN PET STORES, GETS ITS PUPPIES FROM PUPPYMILLS.. SO DON'T PLAY THE DEAD DOG GAME... In my first example, let’s assume that you simply have to have a dog today. And you don’t want to deal with the annoying questions that the shelter asks before they will deign to allow you to adopt. So you march down to the local pet store and plunk your credit card down on the counter and take home that special “doggie in the window.”



BOOM – right there, a shelter dog will die. You could have found the perfect doggie companion with a little effort waiting for you in a shelter. But since you didn’t want to put that effort in, for whatever reason – a shelter dog will die.



But you aren’t done yet. Since the pet store made a successful sale, they will call up their broker and order another cute little puppy to put in the window. So the broker calls the puppy mill and orders some more dogs. And in turn, the puppy mill breeds another litter. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the average dog litter is five puppies. That’s five more dogs into the pipeline. It doesn’t matter if these dogs get sold in pet stores, destroyed when the puppy mill can’t sell them all, or if they are turned in to a shelter somewhere. It is still five more dogs in the pipeline. And that means that five more shelter dogs will die.



So your conservative score on the cost of buying that pet store puppy is 5 DEAD DOGS. Congratulations, you killed five dogs today. But you are a good person. You saved your precious new friend from that nasty old pet store. So be sure to hold him tight tonight, and tell him that you love him so much that you KILLED 5 OTHER DOGS so that you could bring him home.



Isn’t this a fun game? Let’s try another example.



Your family pet is such a special dog. Your kids love her dearly. You’d like to have another one just like her, and you’d like the kids to learn the facts of life. So you decide to have a litter of puppies. Just one, because after all you are sensible folks. So you find a friend with a willing stud and it’s off to the races you go. And your precious pet produces a fine litter of 5 of the cutest puppies that you could ever imagine. They are just so precious! Now you aren’t bad people, you don’t want to make a profit off this – you just wanted to teach your kids a lesson about life. So you decide to keep one of the puppies and give the other four away.



BOOM – that’s five more dogs in the pipeline, so five more shelter dogs must die. Quite the lesson for little Johnny and Suzy isn’t it? But wait, your score isn’t complete yet. It is time for the bonus round!



Your sister-in-law took one of those precious pups. And it turned out to be fine pet for their family. Now, two years later, she decides that since having a litter of puppies was such a fine lesson for Johnny and Suzy she would like her kids to have the same lesson. So they breed their family pet, producing another litter of 5 puppies. Wow! Bonus score for you! We’ll add them on to your score, since your sister-in-law didn’t buy a spayed dog from the shelter, we’ll credit you with her litter as well. Final score for you – 10 DEAD DOGS! Now that’s a lesson for Johnny and Suzy.



This game is just so much fun! When it comes time for your next dog you have a choice to make. You could deal with the hassle of rescuing a dog from a shelter, but it is such a hassle (and where do they get off with those ridiculous “adoption fees” anyway – you would be doing them a favor adopting one of those dogs) and they ask so many questions – OR – you can play the DEAD DOG game! You decide. Remember, it is your right to do what you want. You can support a puppy mill or a backyard breeder and KILL DOGS as a bonus. Or you can rescue a deserving dog, give him a loving home, and help stop the wholesale slaughter of 8 to 12 MILLION dogs a year. It is up to you. Which lesson do you want to teach?



Thanks for playing the DEAD DOG game!

Please spay and neuter your pets!

POWERFUL STARBY! I did read your e-mail earlier, "Pledge to Fight Animal Cruelty‏". I haven't had time to forward but will. I love to be around people with so much passion. Too many of us are complacnet and don't even realize it... gradualism I suppose. Too much gets in the way many times and passion goes by the way side. I am glad to see you so passionate about this situation! I'm proud of you girl.

Wow, what a great way to highlight the plight of dogs in shelters; very powerful it won't soon be forgotten by anyone who reads it.

Very well done and I hope a difference maker.

You should create a website and go national, it's that powerful a message that it would gain a lot of mindshare.

You may want to consider getting it spread through e-mail, I know I would pass it on and so on and so on and so on. Then before you know it, it will have reached millions of people.

Again, thank you for creating that and sharing it with us.

I've also become an administrator to a local group in my area, and we are trying to raise funds for people who would like to spay or neuter their pets, but don't have the means. It didn't take much to start the group on Facebook, and in just a few days since we've started, we have local sponsors, and have also raised enough money to get one dog altered. It's a start! :) It would be nice if others started something similar. It's easy to do on Facebook, or Myspace. You'd be surprised at the people that respond. In just a few days, we have 60 plus members, several sponsors, and donations! Even if someone donates a couple bucks, it adds up!

Starby what a wonderful message. I'll be joining the group you started on Facebook as soon as my puter is up and running properly.

If only one person reads this and decides not to breed their dog or not to get a pet store puppy, it will be worth it. Every life saved is precious.

I have my Jasper, my rescue dog. He was 4 months old when we brought him home. He had 5 sisters, we had to leave them behind. I'm fairly certain they didn't find their forever homes. They were all badly abused, not at all social, fearful of humans, not the loving, cuddly puppies most people want to adopt. In their 4 months on earth they saw the worst that humans have to offer.

We took a chance on Jasper, a big chance. My son was 3 years old and Sydney was on the way, but I was certain that I could bring this dog around, that I could provide love and comfort and that he'd turn into a good dog.

For the first 2 weeks or so he wouldn't have anything to do with us. We walked into a room, he walked out. If it wasn't for our other dog Indy, I don't know if Jasper ever would have come around.

He's 7 years old now, a wonderful dog, a wonderful addition to our ever growing family. He has his moments, he's not trusting of outsiders, but once he knows you he loves you unconditionally. He's wonderful with my kids, and wonderful with our other fur babies.

Adopt a dog, you won't regret it, the life you save just may be your own. :)

Alty, I tried to give you a greenie on this one! Beautiful story of love. Guess I need to spread the love around a bit more before I can give you a greenie. I have been missing you but I have not been online a lot lately. Have a good day!

We adopted also adopted a stray from a neighborhood we visit from time to time. (Yes, it was a true stray; we didn't poach it from somebody's yard... lol).

Anyway, like Altenweg's rescue dog she is nervous around strangers but wouldn't hurt a fly. She has a couple of issues; most around separation anxiety (she doesn't like closed doors... lol); but she is a great dog.

Adopt a dog, you won't regret it and you won't win the DDG; which is one game you want to lose.

I just wanted to mention here that I hope everyone boycotts Petland stores. I just watched an undercover video, and saw how Petland buys their puppies from the puppymills. I was sickened! Four puppies died during the short footage, because they were either emaciated, or they had pnuemonia,parvo and other illnesses. I will never set foot in door of Petland ever again. There are other Pet Stores that are doing this to, and there are ongoing investigations! It appears Pet Smart doesn't engage in this, but they are still investigating.

Please never buy puppies from a pet store. I heard the head guy from Petland say to the puppymill owner, that he tells his customers that his puppies come from licensed breeders, or even that they were shelter rescues, and then he laughed his A$$ off! He said that way his customers will pay more, and that means more money in his pocket! Nice guy hey?

I'm originally from Canada, the Greater Toronto Area and I don't remember any Petland's there. They had a PetSmart, as they do here in the US, but I don't remember Petland.

If you have factual information about any large chain pet store and their practices here in the US, good or bad; please post a list.

There are Petland stores all across Canada and the US now. The guy in the video was from the US head office. It said that they don't think PetSmart is involved in these same practices, but they are still investigating them.

The only two I've heard about so far are the investigations on Petland and PetSmart. I'll see what I can find to post about what they said about Petland, and if I hear of anymore, I will post them too. I'm glad they are finally starting to crack down on them. It's about time!

Here is a link from msnbc about Petland Stores.

Pet store chain linked to puppy mills - Pet health- msnbc.com

What about the dogs in the pet stores? They'll end up in brutal auctions if they don't sell. Of course, adopting shelter pets is great, but the pet store pups need some sort of help (or, regulations), too.

Of course, breeding to "teach my child about puppies" is also completely ridiculous and stupid. Most kids are grossed out at watching, and rent a DVD. Or, take a child to a local farm to watch animals being born that were going to be born anyway.

If people were to boycott the Pet Stores, there would be no market and no demand for them to order more from the inhumane and disgusting puppymills! But of course there are so many people out there that either don't know, or don't care. They just want their designer dog! So many people treat them like they are an accessory, and then they have to dress them in designer clothes from the pet shops that are supporting the puppymills.

Then in turn, they put in another order to the puppymills. I've heard that since they can't sell the ones the are born without a limb, or eyeballs, they don't even put them out of their misery, they keep those ones around to breed more mutant dogs. It makes me want to scream!

Well here is one Pet Store who gets it - PetSmart Adoptions

I'm so glad to see the things that Pet Smart does. At least someone is listening! I hope at the very least, people that shop at Petland, switch to PetSmart then. One less customer at Petland, may mean one less dog that has to be put to it's death. Thanks for posting that! :)

I'll say this, I've worked at pet store before, and I KNOW what goes on. I worked at one wonderful store with really caring people, but sadly one of the owners died and it shut down. They didn't make much to begin with because they took such good care of the animals there wasn't much profit at all. They were a good name upon a blighted business. So a few years later I saw a help wanted sign at another pet store and eagerly took the job, thinking it would be like my other job. Well, I was wrong. The owner HATED animals. He is only a business man, and the animals were only for profit. The only reason I did not quit a lot sooner was because If I had quit, there wouldn't be anyone who cared to take care of them. I was literally the only employee apart from the owner, and I worked hard to do the best I could for them, and while I was there, they were okay. Then I took off a week for christmas that year, not thinking that things would be that going to hell in my absence and do you know what I returned to? 5 puppies in a beyond filthy crate, one basset hound puppy bloated so much people asked if it was pregnant, bloody stool, vomiting. He refused to take it to a vet,instead he traded it back to the "breeder" for another and said it was the breeders sick puppy and he wasn't going to deal with. He(the "breeder" came back the next days with the new puppies, 5 more of them, and upon question he told me oh, the basset died. This was the beginning of a severe epidemic. The rest quickly became ill. I told him they needed a vet badly, and he brushed me off, so I went to the humane society and told them there were sick puppies in the store. Before they showed up at the store, 2 of them died. They told him to take them to a vet, and he agreed like he planned the whole time, pretending to be concerned. Well, all of the vets in town hate him so much they turned them away, one vet, with me sobbing with three very sick puppies in my arms said "I'm a business man first." and sent me out, leaving the puppies to die without any care. Some vet huh? Hating a store is one thing, but denying puppies the right to live for any reason is sick. He is no longer in practice. 4 more puppies died before any were able to get help in a town hours away. The last four? They got treated and recovered, to be stolen by the owners drug addict sister and sold for drug money. That's 6 puppies buried near my house, from puppy mill conditions, and then being forced to be in feces and vomit for a week. The real kicker? He got more puppies in. The Humane Society asked me not to quit for the animals sake, oh and god I wanted to, but I couldn't. I was trapped. I was gone for a few days and that was all it took. Without me nothing would be cleaned, nothing would be fed, or watered. I felt so helpless. HELL in a nutshell. This was far from my first pet shop job where puppies weren't sold and everything was loved and cared for. Were they puppy mill puppies that he sold, I'd be willing to bet at least 99% of them were. In fact I KNOW one "breeder" was, but he made damn sure to keep the details from me. I can't turn her in, even though I know she has a min of 30 breeds, and also breeds guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, and mice because I don't even know who she is. Luckily the laws were tightened on animal care, and he stopped selling massive amounts of puppies. I was able to walk away without having to fear for the lives and health of the puppies that may die because I quit. I learned a hard lesson in the worse way. I use to believe pet store weren't all that bad because one was good, and then I got another job and saw the truth. Felt the truth die in my arms, over and over. Next time you go to a pet store and see that "must have" puppy, think about that. Think about finding puppies sleeping in their own filth and vomit. Think about their little fragile bodies convulsing and screaming in pain until they don't have the strength to whimper. It makes you sick doesn't it? Its scarred into my soul. I was on the inside of the beast and I know its true face. THAT is what you are paying to support when you put that check on the counter. I will never again work at a pet store. My ignorance was made painfully clear to me and it will never stop until the demand does, and that begins with you taking a stand by boycotting any pet store that sells puppies or dogs. Those were only 6 examples of the cruelty and evil that they breed. Only 6 out of thousands that stores like that and puppy mills generate and they all operate courtesy to you, the consumer.

People that are selling dogs and cats in pet stores for profit are almost always buying from the horrific puppymills. The conditions in which they are raised are deplorable, and the puppymill owners and backyard breeders are just plain void of any compassion for a living breathing being!

The pet stores that support this industry are just as guilty as the puppymill owners! They are money making schemes, at the expense of a pet who through no fault of their own, is made to suffer for the profit of man! I believe this fall under the categories of aggravated assault, extreme physical and mental abuse, attempted murder, and murder! Many are born with their brains outside of their heads, no eyeballs, missing limbs, and many other deformaties, so some evil, money hungry, sick minded person, can make a buck!!

It's infuriating! It's also been proven that a great percentage of serial killers, abuse animals! Do we really want to put money into the pocket of serial killers?

Also, for all of the people that think that buying just one dog from a pet store that supports the puppymill, or backyard breeder industry isn't going to hurt? You are more wrong than you know! While you are ignorant to the facts, so is someone else when they see that doggie in the window! As soon as you buy that dog, another litter is ordered. They need to order another litter, because they are hoping there is at least one "quality" dog. So more dogs have to die, just because you little boy or girl just LOVED that doggie or kitty at the pet store!

I am boycotting all pet stores. Pet Smart seems to be the only chain which "may" be doing the right thing, but I would be very diligent by making sure they stand behind their words, and are only selling pets from shelters, and not doing it for profit.

SVK! I also meant to say, God Bless You for being there for those puppies! At least they had someone there that cared for them and loved them. I'm sure they knew that you were their only hope! :(

The boss that you had at the second pet store, should be sitting in a jail cell with Michael Vick! Abuse is abuse is abuse! Although outwardly your boss didn't do the horrific things that Vick did, he was a silent abuser and killer! He made money from it just like Michael Vick did, which makes him no different in my eyes!

Karma will come around for people like that, you can be sure. I will not feel bad for them when it does! You reap what you sew, and the same goes for the people involved with puppymills and also the backyard breeders. Unless you are a registered breeder, you should NOT be breeding!

Thank you for caring for those innocent pups! :)

All of the love in the world couldn't save them, and a part of me feels like I failed them. All I had the power to do was hold them until there very last breath, and made sure they didn't go alone on a hard cage slab and then give them a decent burial but they all deserved so much more then that. They all had such beautiful souls. I tried to never name puppies so I wouldn't get attached and want to bring one home, and so not to confuse them when they got one, but no should should die without a name, and they each were given one before they passed. In memory of Cujo ( the spunkiest chihuahua ever to live), his brother Taco, Ghost the white schnauzer, Mollie the yorkie who fought harder then most humans would to live, and her sister Ladybug, and Boss the boston terrier. Not to be forgotten is the basset hound that was taken back and therefore left unnamed, so I guess that actually makes seven puppies then.