Newspaper Page Text
“Puppy Mill” Charges
Dog Pet land Chain
O n A P n * 26, "dateline NBC" a ’ re< ^ a proving that
Vy I I despite claims to the contrary, some Petland franchises
and other pet stores were being supplied by "puppy mills," large
breeding facilities where dogs confined in cages breed incessantly
and receive inadequate or no medical care or social interaction. The
report was the result of a 10-month investigation involving the use
of hidden cameras and undercover workers. Video shot at Nielsen
Farms in Kansas, where 50C dogs of two dozen different breeds
were kept in cages, documented a number of medical problems—
infected eyes, rotted teeth, mange, open sores. In addition, dogs
there exhibited and neurotic behavior associated with long periods
of confinement—repetitive jumping, pacing in patterns and spin
ning. One Labrador Retriever outgrew a collar before anyone
noticed and it had to be torn off, leaving a band of raw skin around
the dog's neck. Environmental conditions were also a problem at
this facility: investigators documented waste piling up and mag
gots in food supplies.
At a Petland store in Topeka, Kansas, a worker told investigators
that the store received most of its puppies from Nielsen Farms. The
report also documented that 20 individually owned Petland fran
chises bought puppies from Puppy Ridge Kennels, another puppy
mill profiled in the "Dateline" investigation. And a vet taken by
"Dateline" into three Petland stores over the course of one day
examined puppies and diagnosed conditions associated with poor
breeding, including a skin condition that appeared to be a heredi
tary form of mange and an open fontanel, or hole in the skulL
The story of Bella, from the "Dateline" report, is a good
example. Bella is an Alaskan
Malamute purchased for $550 at
a Florida Petland store. After
going home with her new
owners, Bella developed chronic
diarrhea and a persistent uri
nary tract infection. Later, she
was diagnosed with hip dys
plasia, a joint disorder that is
painful and often hereditary.
After spending thousands of
dollars on medical care for
Bella, her owners discovered
that she was bom at a facility
in Missouri that housed more
than 200 breeding dogs—in
other words, a puppy milL
"Dateline" investigators
observed that Petland
employees seemed to care
about the puppies they were
selling and believed they came
from reputable breeders. They
also told reporters that Petland
buys puppies only from ^
breeders inspected and licensed 5
by the United States
Department of Agriculture
(USDA). What the employees
didn't mention, and perhaps
didn't know, is that USDA
licensing doesn't guarantee
qualify breeding. In fact,
Nielsen Farms and Puppy Ridge, where "Dateline" documented con
ditions of extreme neglect, were both USDA licensed facilities.
The "Dateline" investigation revealed to the public what organi
zations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and
In Defense of Animals (IDA) already knew. PETA, which provided
"Dateline" with some of the puppy mill footage used in the story,
wrote two letters to Ed Kunzelman, president of Petland, protesting
the sale of animals in Petland stores. Dated Nov. 30, 1999, and
Jan. 25, 2000, the letters recounted specific complaints from cus
tomers and employees about the condition and treatment of the
animals being sold. Kunzelman did not respond. And in July, IDA
launched a boycott of Petland based on Marshall Smith's documen
tation of puppy shipments to Petland stores from large midwestem
puppy mill breeders and dealers. Smith, who spent nearly 19 years
as a USDA inspector, is now IDA director of : nvestigations.
If national organizations like PETA and IDA know about
Petland's connections to puppy mills, how car. Petland staff and
customers remain ignorant? The key seems to be the layer of sepa
ration that exists between supplier and retailer. Petland corporate
bears responsibility for approving breeders, absolving franchise
owners from conducting their own investigations, plus individual
Petland stores don't buy directly from breeders—they buy from bro
kers who purchase the puppies and then transport them to stores.
This insulation from direct contact with the source makes it easier
for the employees to believe what they learned during training:
Petland buys puppies "from someone we know and trust to be good
at the job of raising puppies." Although every puppy comes with
papers, the emphasis is on American Kennel Club registration rather
than the qualify cf the individual breeder. "Dateline" demonstrated
the qualify of AKC registration when its staff successfully registered
two 13-year-old cats as the offspring of two Golden Retrievers, one
of whom was deceased, the other spayed.
In addition to the buffer pro/ided by Petland corporate, the
local stores receives reinforcement from the broker who delivers the
puppies. The Hunte Corporation, a Missouri-based broker, provides
its own public relations ammunition to combat questions about
breeders. The company's glossy, f jur-color brochure emphasizes
clean, well-lit, high-tech facilities including a fleet of specially
equipped trucks. There are photos of dogs being handled carefully
by vets and groomers plus photos of the type normally seen on
greeting cards: dogs with young children, small dogs placed in bas
kets to emphasize their diminutiveness, two dogs touching noses.
In several photos, dogs pose with toys and rawhide bones.
What's striking about the brochure is that every single photo is
posed—there are no photos of dogs doing dog-like things: walking
on a leash, chewing on a chew toy, playing tug-of-war or fetch.
Even when there are toys and rawhide bones in the photos, the
dogs ignore them. And the brochure talks about the puppies as if
the/re objects rather than living creatures. One quote at the top of
a two-page spread sounds like it's describing an item in a Pottery
Bam catalog: "Beautiful detail and precision is carefully applied to
every puppy."
On request, the Petland staff
will show customers a puppy's
papers, which include the name
and address of the breeder. (For
the accompanying article, local
Petland store owner Gerardo
Vera provided the names of the
breeders for six puppies in his
store.) While this information
could be useful most customers
won't have the resources neces
sary to conduct their own inves
tigation. National organizations
like PETA keep records, but they
only include information logged
when someone calls to complain
about a specific breeder.
Consumers can request copies of
USDA inspection rep orts for spe
cific facilities, but the reports
aren't easy to interpret Without
some luck, the average con
sumer won't find much informa
tion, since there are hundreds of
facilities to track. Missouri
alone has nearty 1,000 USDA
licensed breeders.
Andrea Holsinger, a local
breeder of flat-coated retrievers,
doesn't mince words when asked
about the breeders who supply
stores like Petland with puppies.
"There's no such thing as a rep
utable breeder that sells to a pet store," she says. To become a
member of the breed club foi flat-coated retrievers, Holsinger was '
required to sign ar> agreement she says is typical of breed clubs'
codes of ethics—one that specified she would not sell to pet
stores.
Nancy Polansky, who breeds standard poodles, agrees with
Holsinger. Polansky says that with a good breeder, a potential cus
tomer will go through the third degree. "You have to answer qnes-
tions," she says. "If your last dog was killed on the highway, you're
not likely to get another dog from me." In many cases, the cus
tomer is asked to grant the breeder the right of first refusal—the
right to take the animal back if the customer decides at any time
during the animal's life not to keep it. Petland literature offers
assistance for Petland pets whose owners can't keep them, but
their offer stops short of such a comprehensive guarantee.
Some believe that even reputable breeders are acting irrespon
sibly given the overwhelming problem of animal overpopulation.
According to PETA'' web site, "Those who breed animals for profit
and individuals who let their dog or cat have 'just one litter'...
contribute to the severe dog and cat overpopulation crisis. Every
newborn puppy or kitten means one less home for a dog or cat des
perately waiting in a shelter or roaming the streets."
Ursula Miller, president of Pup and Cat Co., a humane society in
Barrow County that fosters and places dogs and cats, grudgingly
continued on page 13
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