This Action Alert posted by the North Penn Puppy Mill Watch:

Pennsylvania animal advocates recently learned of an upcoming dog auction that’s scheduled to take place on October 07 at the notorious Buckeye Dog Auction in Holmes County, Ohio – the only dog auction east of the Mississippi – that is known to fetch high prices on breeder dogs.

In reaction to newly passed PA laws that are slated to be enacted in the near future, many commercial dog breeders believe that lowering their dog complement might prevent the need to implement more humane conditions at the kennels but the law is not based upon how many dogs are owned – it is based upon how many dogs are sold.  Any kennel selling more than 60 dogs in a 12 month period or the sale of even one dog to a pet shop or pet shop broker would cause the kennel to be classified as a commercial breeding operation and mandate improved kennel conditions.

Approximately 400 breeder dogs are slated to hit the auction block on October 07 and animal advocates are being asked NOT to purchase any of them.

“To do so will only encourage future auctions,” said Carol Araneo-Mayer, co-founder of Puppy Mill Awareness Day, and vice president of Adopt A Pet.

Helen Ebersole, co-founder and board president of United Against Puppy Mills, agreed and noted that specific breed rescues have found that not bidding on dogs actually drives prices downward and helps discourage future auctions.

Instead, advocates who are intent on travelling to Ohio are encouraged to wait in the parking lot and offer to take – free of charge – any dogs that did not sell since many breeders do not want to take unsold dogs back to their kennels.

Mary O’Connor-Shaver of Columbus Top Dogs and the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions reiterated her request to Pennsylvania officials for an all out boycott at the October 7 auction:

“Dog auctions are a tragic embarrassment to Ohio and it’s humane-minded citizens.  We have been asked if people should “buy” or “rescue” these dogs.  We are asking for an all-out boycott of this event.  Buying at the auction will simply mean that it will be profitable. If it is profitable, it will continue and more dogs will be bred for sale at future Ohio Dog Auctions.  That said, we do understand compassion for the dogs being sold on October 7 and know that there will be some who will buy.  We understand both sides of the situation, and hope that in the long run, not buying will produce the best outcome to end these auctions altogether.”

Officials at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement have known for months of the possibility that commercial breeders might seek to divest themselves of large amounts of breeding stock yet took no action over the summer months for planning purposes to handle such an event.

A closed door meeting was held on Wednesday, September 30, for the purpose of discussing how to help the dogs slated to go to auction although the advocacy community was not invited and is still being kept in the dark as to any potential plans for the October 7 auction or how they might actually help these dogs.

The plight of the Pennsylvania breeder dogs is not a private matter – it affects every individual who cares about dogs and, more importantly, every Pennsylvania resident who regularly donates money or time to help educate the public or care for animals who are no longer wanted and in need of shelter and, ultimately, a new home.

Advocates are asked to do the following:

1) DO NOT BUY DOGS at the October 7 auction or pay breeders in advance of the auction for their unwanted breeding stock;

2) Contact Jessie L. Smith, Special Deputy Secretary of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, and ask why she excluded the advocacy community and the majority of the rescue community from the planning meeting when it’s obvious that the Bureau needs all the help it can get.  

Jessie L. Smith, Special Deputy Secretary
Dog Law Enforcement, PA Dept. of Agriculture
2301 N. Cameron St, Harrisburg, PA 17110
Phone: 717-214-3447, Fax: 717-346-3301
Email: jlsmith@state.pa.us

Today is Puppy Mill Awareness Day.  The main events will be held in Lancaster County, PA.

Now’s a great time to pass on the message to anyone who doesn’t already know – DON’T BUY PETS FROM PET STORES!!  Adopt, adopt, adopt!  There are so many wonderful homeless pets looking for loving families.

The Petland store in Akron, Ohio, has been permanently closed after employee Elizabeth Carlisle posted a photograph of herself on her Facebook page holding two dead bunnies by their scruffs after she had drowned them (warning:  disturbing photo in link).

Carlisle has now been charged with two counts of animal cruelty.

This is not the first time that we’ve read about animal cruelty committed in Petland stores.  Past employees have reported atrocities such as dying puppies and frozen mice in several online outlets.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has found that Petland stores are still purchasing puppies from known puppy mills, including puppy mills named and exposed in the initial HSUS investigation in November last year.

An exerpt of the report explains that the HSUS found:

at least two Petland stores in Florida still buying puppies from the facility associated with Kathy Bauck in New York Mills, Minn. Bauck was convicted of three counts of animal torture and one count of animal abuse in March 2009, the same month that the East Orlando Petland store purchased several puppies from her facility. Health certificate documents show that the Largo Florida Petland store also purchased at least one puppy from Bauck’s kennel in February 2009.

See the full report at the HSUS’s website.

Ever since the announcement of a lawsuit against Petland, a tidal wave of upset and angry consumers have contacted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to relay their sad stories of sick puppies with congenital diseases all purchased from Petland stores around the country.

Read the full story here.

This morning we were amazed to see on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette another story about Petland.  Story below.

Local Petland customers ponder puppy mill suit

Saturday, March 21, 2009

By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Kay McQuigg is looking into joining a federal lawsuit that claims Petland Inc. sold dogs bred at puppy mills to customers.

She’s doing it for Murphy, her family’s beloved 2Â 1/2-year-old lhasa apso-poodle mix, which died Monday, a week after liver shunt surgery. Murphy’s medical care, including six surgeries for genetic bone and liver problems, cost more than $5,000.

“It’s the principle, not the money,” said Mrs. McQuigg, of Wilkins. “It’s just heartbreaking for my kids to have to deal with this.”

On Monday, six Arizona plaintiffs who purchased puppies from various Petland stores between 2005 and 2008 filed the federal lawsuit and are seeking class-action status. Patrick Howard, an attorney with the Philadelphia law firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, said that anyone who purchased a puppy at Petland since Nov. 20, 2004, could be part of the suit.

Petland, based in Chillicothe, Ohio, doesn’t purchase puppies from puppy mills, company spokeswoman Lacey Clever said.

But Mrs. McQuigg wonders whether Murphy was the product of a puppy mill. Since the lawsuit became public, she and others who have purchased puppies with health problems from local Petland stores have contacted the Post-Gazette.

She bought the 3 1/2-month-old Murphy from the Monroeville Petland store in October 2006. He had “kennel cough” when they brought him home, but antibiotics eventually cleared that up.

Then, she noticed Murphy’s front legs shook a bit. The vet told her it probably was just a sign of a nervous puppy. So, she didn’t worry too much about it. In May or June 2007, Mrs. McQuigg noticed a definite problem.

“Lhasas are bowlegged anyway, but he was severely bowlegged and could not hold up his body weight,” she said. “If he stood for 10 or 20 seconds, he had to adjust his leg or lay down because it was going to give out.”

A return trip to the vet led to a referral to an orthopedic specialist. A bone in Murphy’s leg hadn’t completely developed.

“The corrective surgery was to break his leg, de-rotate his wrist and use a bone plate and screws to keep it in place,” she said.

There were setbacks. He developed infections. The screws had to be removed, but the bones healed and Murphy looked beautiful, she said. Then, they discovered the problem with his liver, and he underwent corrective surgery March 9.

“He wouldn’t stop having seizures after the surgery,” she said yesterday, trying to hold back tears. “My children [ages 11 and 15] had to go in and say goodbye.”

Mrs. McQuigg approached Petland with a letter from her vet about Murphy’s orthopedic problems in August 2007, telling them the surgeon believed the condition was genetic. Petland sympathized but initially said it couldn’t refund her $750 because there was no evidence it was a genetic problem.

“Every puppy when it leaves is healthy to our knowledge,” said Clay Slivko, owner of the Monroeville Petland. “If something happens down the road, our warranty kicks in up to the price of the puppy.”

In Pennsylvania, people can return a dog to a seller within 10 days if the puppy proves to be a poor health risk, he said. Customers can request a refund and return the puppy or try to get money back for reasonable veterinary care.

“The seller also can require the puppy see its veterinarian to confirm it’s a poor health risk,” he said.

State law requires a 30-day warranty on dogs for any congenital or hereditary health problem — something due to breeding — for example, a joint problem or heart condition. Petland takes that further, extending the warranty on congenital or hereditary problems to three years from purchase, he said.

Mrs. McQuigg showed Petland a second letter, one from her main veterinarian in October 2007, stating Murphy’s problems were genetic, and Petland refunded her $750.

“When there is an issue with a puppy, any sort of issue, that doesn’t mean that puppy is from a puppy mill,” Mr. Slivko said. “You’re always going to have a percentage of animals that have issues, just like people.”

In the past, Mrs. McQuigg had purchased a dog from a breeder and said she had been warned about buying dogs from pet stores.

“This one time, we decided to do it,” she said. “I should have known better.”

The American Kennel Club Web site recommends people buy puppies from responsible and well-respected breeders.

“Screen the breeder,” the site states. “Ask to see at least one of the parents [the dam or sire] of your puppy.”

The AKC also suggests potential buyers ask what possible health problems a dog may develop, how large it will grow, how old it will be before it acts like an adult dog, how protective it will be and how much exercise it will need.

Responsible sellers also should question buyers.

If a seller “doesn’t show any interest in the life the dog will lead after it leaves his or her premises, you may want to look elsewhere,” the AKC says.

For more information about breeders and rescue organizations, visit www.AKC.org.

There are countless stories like this one.   Read about some of them on the Consumer Affairs and Ripoff websites.  Some new anecdotes and complaints have been added since the news of the suit against Petland.

Petland has released a statement regarding the lawsuit that has recently been slapped on the company.

Petland Inc. is outraged and disappointed at the latest false accusations propagated by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a radical animal rights group that has no affiliation with local humane societies. This new attack from HSUS is in the form of a class action lawsuit based upon vague and undefined legal arguments. This is a continuing public relations campaign to smear the good name of Petland and to increase HSUS donations by utilizing sensationalized media and legal attacks.

As usual, instead of confronting the claims in the lawsuit, Petland claims that the HSUS is using this opportunity to raise revenue.  Petland has long claimed that the HSUS is a radical animal rights group that does nothing to actually help animals.  We suspect that Petland executives have never researched the good work that the HSUS has done with that “revenue” that they receive.  If Petland executives were to simply read a summary of the achievements of the HSUS, they would see that in 2008 alone, such issues as downed dairy cattle, dogfighting and cockfighting rings, the Canadian baby seal hunt, the cruel fur and ivory industries were aggressively addressed. 

At the level of animal shelters and pets, the HSUS rescued thousands of animals, including pets, impacted by natural disasters such as gulf coast hurricanes during the year.  In addition, the organization helped rescue thousands of dogs from puppy mills in several states, and fought for new laws to combat puppy mills across the country.  There is no question that these efforts have made a positive impact on local shelters in the US.

Read Petland’s full statement at the company’s website.

Read more about the lawsuit that was recently filed against Petland in the Post Gazette and the HSUS website.

For those who like the details, the full claim can be read here.

Great news!

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Petland and the Hunte Corporation in a claim that the chain store and its puppy distributor sells sickly puppies to unsuspecting customers.

A report in today’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette states that the lawsuit cites violations by Petland and Hunte to the Federal Racketteer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.  The lawsuit is based on an investigation carried out by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and released to the public last year.  Members of the HSUS and other consumers, who filed the lawsuit, allege that:

Petland and Hunte violated federal law and numerous state consumer protection laws by misleading thousands of consumers across the country into believing that the puppies sold in Petland stores are healthy and come from high-quality breeders. Many of the puppies sold by Petland come either directly from puppy mills or puppy brokers such as Hunte, which operates as a middleman between the mills and Petland’s retail stores.

Read the full story at the HSUS website.

In Wayne Pacelle’s blog, he describes dogs in deplorable conditions, all found in Petland stores:

Minchy, a young miniature pinscher, is slowly going blind. Patrick, a Pomeranian puppy, suffers from an inherited joint disorder that requires expensive surgery. Mainerd, a Boston terrier, must endure a painful genetic spinal condition. All these puppies were sold by Petland stores.

Read Wayne’s full blog.

Although we have never said that the East Liberty Petland sells puppies from puppy mills, we were told by the owners themselves that they purchased dogs through the Hunte Corporation.  The Hunte Corporation is the largest puppy broker in the United States. It is believed that they purchase and distribute most of their puppies from puppy mills.

It’s a well known fact that dogs bred in puppy mills are commonly in bad health because of the deplorable living conditions.  In addition, dogs are often inbred, causing congenital conditions like those described by Wayne Pacelle in his blog.  Many consumers have reported ill puppies purchased from Petland to Consumer Affairs.

We had an excellent turnout for last Saturday’s HSUS-organized Petland rally!  Thank you to everyone who joined us – we had the largest group that we’ve had so far.  The response from the passers-by was really positive, and we hope that our message reached lots of people.

The Humane Society of the US  will again be hosting a National Petland Rally this Saturday, March 14!

Join us on the footpath on Penn Avenue, outside the entrance to the Village of East Side Shopping Centre from 1 – 3 pm for a peaceful demonstration.  We have signs and flyers; you’re welcome to bring your own signs or use ours.  All you really need to bring is yourself and your enthusiasm.

Read about the event at the HSUS website.

Please join us this Saturday!