East Liberty Petland to trial selling shelter animals!

We are delighted to announce that the East Liberty Petland store plans to convert to adoptions-only of dogs and cats in the near future.

Eric and Marci Caplan, who own the store in East Liberty, Pittsburgh, have been in talks with two of the local animal shelters, the Animal Rescue League of Western Pa and the Western Pa Humane Society, about this arrangement.  We do not yet know if potential adopters will be screened at Petland, as they are in animal shelters, so although we are calling the arrangement “adoptions-only” it may be more accurate to say that they will be “selling shelter animals.”

We are approaching this news with skepticism, hope and optimism, and thank the Caplans for taking the plunge.  There will be a trial period of several weeks, which, if successful, will lead to a more permanent arrangement.  We hope that this is a lasting relationship that benefits all parties, especially the animals.  We really hope that this store is more successful at selling shelter animals than the Wheaton (Il) store, which reverted back to selling purposely bred dogs after a 3 month trial of adopting out shelter animals.

The Post Gazette report is below.  We note that the Caplans say that they have been selling USDA-licensed and inspected puppy breeders, and of course we have to say that, as most of our readers know, USDA-licensed does not mean cruelty free.  The USDA sets very low standards for their puppy breeders, and this is a big reason why we oppose the sale of purposely bred animals.

Petland to sell animals from shelters

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

By Linda Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

Eric and March Caplan hold some of the last non-shelter puppies they have for sale at their Petland store in East Liberty. Once these puppies have been sold, the store will only have shelter dogs and kittens for sale.

Puppies and kittens from commercial breeders will no longer be sold at Petland in East Liberty, a regular target of animal rights picketers.

Instead, that puppy in the window — as well as kittens and rabbits — will come from two local shelters.

“It’s a good thing to do,” said Eric Caplan, when asked about the change. He and his wife, Marci,, own the franchise for that Petland store, located at 6401 Penn Ave. in the Village of Eastside.

The store inventory currently includes five purebred puppies and three “designer” mixes, including a fluffy cockapoo, which is a cocker spaniel-poodle cross.

When those puppies are sold, the store will bring in puppies, kittens and rabbits from the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and kittens from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. The store owners hope it will happen in the next week or so.

The Caplans are calling it ASAP: Animal Shelter Adoption Program. The animals will live in the store, and not all of their time will be spent in cages. The store has indoor exercise and play areas.

“We look at this as a step in the right direction,” said Dan Rossi, executive director of the Animal Rescue League. “We don’t get many puppies,” but the shelter is inundated with kittens. The Petland store does not have adequate living and exercise facilities for larger animals, but adult dogs may be brought from the Larimer shelter to Petland on weekends for adoption events, Mr. Rossi said.

Lee Nesler, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, said she is “really pleased. I think it’s going to be a wonderful relationship. It’s making a commitment to save lives.”

Very few puppies are turned in to Allegheny County shelters, presumably because spay and neuter campaigns are working. Ms. Nestler said the local Humane Society gets puppies from surrounding counties “and from a shelter in Georgia where unfortunately there are plenty of puppies” that need homes.

ASAP has the approval of Petland corporate officials.

“We have many franchises that have partnerships with shelters and rescue organizations” and a Petland store in Texas “has never sold purebreds. They’ve always been totally shelter adoptions,” said Elizabeth Kunzelman, director of marketing and communications at Petland’s corporate office in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Petland has 100 stores, and only four are corporate-owned. The rest are franchises.

Eric and Marci Caplan have owned the East Liberty Petland for two years.

Small numbers of animal rights activists have regularly picketed the Caplans’ store. Picketers object to purebred puppies being sold in stores while millions of animals in shelters and rescue groups need homes.

Picketers also said Petland sells animals from so-called “puppy mills” — described as large-scale for-profit facilities where breeding animals and puppies are kept in crowded, filthy conditions with little or no socialization.

Mr. Caplan said the puppies he and his wife sold came from commercial breeders licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he said, and from some local breeders.

The Caplans will add a service fee to the shelter animals that are sold, he said. “It won’t be a profit. It will be to help cover our costs.”

Kittens are usually $60 at the Animal Rescue League. The Caplans expect to add about $30 to $40 to that cost to cover the care they provide. The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society puppy adoption fee is $200, and Mr. Caplan said he’ll add about $100 to the cost.

The adoption fee includes neutering by a veterinarian, inoculations and microchips. The Humane Society fee also includes the cost of training classes.

Linda Wilson Fuoco: lfuoco@post-gazette.com or                412…       .

“Missourians for Animal Care”: can you guess who owns this website?

This is the laughable name given to a website dedicated to defending Missouri agricultural groups.  The site “Missourians for Animal Care” promotes animal vivisection, agriculture, dog breeding, and voting no on Prop B.  The actual act of defending these causes is less offensive than the misleading name of the site.

Canada approves first ban on pet store puppy sales

Richmond, Vancouver, became the first suburb in Canada to approve the ban the sale of pet store puppies on Tuesday night.  The move won’t be effective until April 2011, but may be the push needed to propel the rest of that country to follow suit.

Councilman Ken Johnson, who initiated the ban, acknowledges that the ban will not in itself end puppy mills.  “This is a step in the direction of sending the message to puppy mills that your practices are not acceptable,” he said.

The full Richmond Review story is below.

Richmond is well on its way to becoming the first city in Canada to ban the sale of puppies in pet stores.

On Tuesday night council unanimously approved third reading of an amended bylaw that would prohibit the sale of dogs from Richmond storefronts, effective April 30, 2011.

Bylaw proponents say the ban will limit impulse purchases and reduce the number of dogs bred in inhumane conditions without proper health care.

The ban was initiated by Coun. Ken Johnston.

“This will not end puppy mills, I get that. This is a step in the direction of sending the message to puppy mills that your practices are not acceptable,” Johnston said.

Other councillors hope the ban will encourage people to adopt puppies in desperate need of a good home.

“There will always be people who want specialty breeds, but people can go to shelters and the SPCA and rescue operations to obtain their pets,” said Coun. Sue Halsey-Brandt.

Council has agreed to send a letter to provincial representatives emphasizing the urgent need for provincial regulations regarding the condition of dogs offered for sale.

Once the province comes forward with regulations, council may consider rescinding the bylaw.

The move was a victory for the dozens of animal rights activists who filled council chambers on Tuesday, many wearing red and white “Adopt don’t shop” tags.

B.C. SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk reiterated her support for the ban.

“What a ban would do is effectively remove one of the venues that (puppy mills) have to sell their dogs,” she said. “Without that venue their profits go down and I think it would actually discourage the industry.”

The amended bylaw would affect three local pet stores: Pet Habitat, PJ’s Pets and Pets Wonderland.

Local and regional pet store owners spoke before council in a last ditch effort to thwart the puppy ban.

Robert Church of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council said council is making a “huge mistake.”

“Why would you shut down the only visible source of puppies, the only source which the public, which the city and which animal protection officers are able to monitor? The vast majority of pets come from unregulated sources,” he said.

Church said it is not in pet stores’ best economic interest to buy from puppy mills.

“If there is a problem, for the most part, pet stores will pay the vet bills. We are on the hook if we deal with substandard breeders.”

The solution, he said, is to lobby the provincial government to establish an animal care act that licenses, regulates and inspects all breeders, pet stores and animal shelters.

Gary Batt of Petland in Surrey agreed, pointing to Manitoba’s recently enacted animal protection regulations. He said the puppy ban bylaw discriminates against just three stores and may be in contravention of fair trade practices and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Breeders, kennels, backyard breeders, etcetera, they are all exempt from the bylaw and may sell, but the pet store may not sell the very same puppy,” he said.

Ernest Ang, owner of Pet Habitat in Richmond Centre, said he is against cruelty to animals, that’s why he is in the pet business.

“There’s only three pet stores in Richmond and a lot of customers come to me and say ‘Why are you guys being targeted? You’re doing a good job.’”

He suggested working with the city, B.C. SPCA and the Richmond Animal Protection Society to find a better solution.

The puppy ban bylaw still needs to undergo a series of public consultations.

Related stories can be found in The Epoch Times, The British Columbia SPCA news, and The Vancouver Sun.

We find it interesting that pet store owner Ernest Ang says that the ban is “unfair.”  Evidently, he does not purchase his puppies from puppy mills, but from a ”reputable USDA licensed kennel in the United States.”

The Business of Proposition B

There has been much talk of late of Proposition B, Missouri’s Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, which will be voted on in November this year.

The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act seeks to improve the lives of dogs by requiring commercial breeders to provide each dog under their care with such basics as sufficient food and clean water, necessary veterinary care, adequate housing and space, as well as access to regular exercise.  It’s hard to believe that anyone could bicker with a law requiring these necessities for dogs.   Over 190,000 Missourians signed a petition to have this bill introduced on November’s ballot.

Lawmakers in Iowa and Oklahoma enacted puppy mill legislation in those states earlier this year.  After Missouri, they are the two largest dog-breeding states in the nation. In 2009, 10 states approved legislation to address puppy mill problems.

Naturally, Prop B has its usual flock of nay-sayers.  Breeders say that the proposed bill seeks to shut down all animal agriculture, despite the fact that it concerns only dogs.  And of course we have heard the usual rhetoric against the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) from the usual Center for Consumer Freedom followers.  Evidently, these people believe that casting aspersions on the HSUS itself automatically negates the causes that the HSUS supports.

I think we can all agree that the dogs and puppies of Missouri, the PUPPY MILL STATE OF AMERICA, could use some changes in their current breeding laws.  So Missourians out there, please vote YES to Prop B on November’s ballot!  Even if you aren’t living in Missouri, join the campaign at the YES!  on Prop B website.

For further reading, try the following links:

• Watch the TV ad promoting Prop B
• The ASPCA’s take
• A summary of the bill in Wayne Pacelle’s blog in the Huffington Post
• Opposition to Prop B:  The Southeastern Missourian, Neosho Daily News.com
• Missouri’s Dirty Dozen (a report on Missouri’s 10 worst puppy mills)