Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Seattle Area Pet Stores Take The Humane Society of the United States’ ‘Puppy Friendly’ Pledge

Thanks to the efforts of local advocates, over 60 Seattle area pet stores have recently signed The Humane Society of the United States' puppy friendly pet store pledge — committing not to sell puppies, and instead support local animal adoption programs and provide literature that helps customers learn how to locate a reputable dog breeder. We applaud these retailers because their actions prove it is not necessary to support the cruel puppy mill trade to operate a successful pet-related business.

"These stores have set a positive example of corporate responsibility for other businesses to follow," said Dan Paul, Washington state director for The HSUS. "Pet stores that profit from the cruel puppy mill industry need to step up and do the right thing by stopping their puppy sales. I am thrilled to have wonderful local advocates working in our area to increase the public's awareness of puppy mills."

Store owners and managers who sign The HSUS' pledge receive a placard proclaiming, "We love puppies; that's why we don't sell them," to display in the store, as well as materials about adopting a dog or finding a responsible breeder. The HSUS encourages shoppers to purchase pet supplies at stores displaying the puppy-friendly sign.

The independent retailers in the Seattle area that have recently signed the puppy friendly pledge to not sell puppies are:

Mud Bay – (all locations)
The Pet Stops Here (Bellevue)
Walker's Healthy Pet (all locations)
Next to Nature (all locations)
Smiley Dog (Edmonds)
Simply Paws (Federal Way locations)
The Pet Market @ Dash Point (Federal Way)
Pet Country (Kent)
Denny's Pet World (Kirkland)
Dooley's Dog House (Kirkland)
Heads to Tails Grooming Spa (Kirkland)
All The Best Pet Care (all locations)
Dog Daze Natural Pet Market (Puyallup)
Eastside Dog (Redmond)
Paws Café (Redmond)
Pet Pros (Renton)
A Dog's Dream (Seattle)
Animal Talk (Seattle)
Crown Hill Pet Supply (Seattle)
Fido-N-Scratch (Seattle)
Great Dog Daycare & Shoppe (Seattle)
Mes Amis (Seattle)
Pet Elements (West Seattle)
Petapoluza Pet Supply (Seattle)
PJ's Paws and Claws (Seattle)
Wally Pets (Seattle)
Zak and Zoe (Seattle)
Lucky Dog Outfitters (Tacoma)
Purdelight's Grooming and Pet Boutique (Tacoma)
Wag Pet Market (Tacoma)
Beastie Boutique (Vancouver)
Natural Pet NW (Vancouver)
The Whole Pet Shop (Woodinville)

Facts about puppy mills:
  • Approximately one-third of the nation's 9,000 independent pet stores sell puppies.
  • The HSUS estimates that 2 million to 4 million puppy mill puppies are sold each year in the United States.
  • Documented puppy mill conditions include over-breeding, inbreeding, minimal veterinary care, poor food and shelter, crowded cages and lack of socialization.
  • Dogs kept for breeding in puppy mills suffer for years in continual confinement. They are bred as often as possible and then destroyed or discarded once they can no longer produce puppies.
  • Pet stores and online sellers often use attractive Web sites to hide the truth and to dupe consumers into thinking that they are dealing with a small, reputable breeder.
  • Reputable breeders never sell puppies over the Internet or through a pet store and will insist on meeting the family who will be purchasing the dog.
  • Puppy mills contribute to the pet overpopulation problem, which results in millions of unwanted dogs euthanized at shelters every year.
  • Over the past three years, 16 states have passed laws to crack down on puppy mills.
To learn more about puppy mills, visit humanesociety.org/puppymills.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that these same Seattle pet stores realize (and quickly) how they will alienate a substantial portion of their customers by indicating any kind of alliance with the Humane Society of the United States, which is a "humane society" in name only.

While I believe that people should seek their companions from a shelter or a responsible breeder (and not a pet store) I would never buy so much as a dog biscuit from a store that indicated that they supported HSUS in any manner.

To learn the truth about HSUS, check out the National Animal Interest Alliance (www.naiaonline.org) or HumaneWatch. (www.humanewatch.org)

M Covault said...

How many of these pet stores actually sell puppies? I'd bet not many, so it's easy for them to sign. ANY siding with the H$U$ is bad for any animal enterprise, so they are essentially betraying animal enterprises by siding with H$U$--which is the "animal rights" INDUSTRY leader--making money off the lives of animals and the persecution of animal owners.

AnneHSUS said...

I would first like to applaud all of the Seattle-area retails who have taken the puppy friendly pledge!

@athousanddays – Not only is it counter-productive to refuse to support independent, locally owned stores that are doing the right thing for dogs, but your source information is strongly biased. Both the NAIA and HumaneWatch are industry front groups funded by those who have a vested interest in continuing animal abuse. The Center for Consumer Freedom – the group that owns and operates HumaneWatch – was started with a grant from Philip Morris and has attacked groups like MADD and the CDC on behalf of its corporate sponsors, and in 2008 more than 92% of their donations went straight to Rick Berman’s PR firm. For more information about CCF, you can check out SourceWatch - http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Berman – or bermanexposed.org.

Anonymous said...

HSUS = not a dime from me..

AnneHSUS said...

I would first like to applaud all of the Seattle-area retails who have taken the puppy friendly pledge!

@athousanddays – Not only is it counter-productive to refuse to support independent, locally owned stores that are doing the right thing for dogs, but your source information is strongly biased. Both the NAIA and HumaneWatch are industry front groups funded by those who have a vested interest in continuing animal abuse. The Center for Consumer Freedom – the group that owns and operates HumaneWatch – was started with a grant from Philip Morris and has attacked groups like MADD and the CDC on behalf of its corporate sponsors, and in 2008 more than 92% of their donations went straight to Rick Berman’s PR firm. For more information about CCF, you can check out SourceWatch - http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Berman – or bermanexposed.org.

M Covault said...

Ah yes, a new spokeswoman for H$U$--Anne. Unwittingly (?) spreading the "propagnda mill" BIG LIES from H$U$ again. Where there's smoke there's fire. Fortunately, people are becoming aware of the anti-societal agenda of the H$U$ through groups like NAIA, HumaneWatch, and other anti-AR-industry groups, and perhaps the damage that H$U$ causes will diminish over time as more people understand what they are really about ($$$$$ and control over people's animals).

Anonymous said...

1. The list if signees is not 60.

2. According to that list all of Western Washington is the same as the Seattle area. There are not 60 Pet Shops in Seattle.

3. Many on the list are pet "supply" and pet "food" stores and have never sold any kind of animal.

4. Just because a Pet Shop sells puppies, it's insane to claim they come from a Puppy Mill just because they're a puppy. That's just ignorant. Unless you have exact information on exactly where the puppy came from, making claims on any business, just because you see a puppy, is a claim based on pure ignorance. There are a lot of great pet shops in WA that do sell puppies and take the utmost care of them and their customers.

This article is just not truthful and completely exaggerates the numbers. The list they provide doesn't ad up to 60, nor are many of those businesses listed a pet shop or have ever sold a pet.

This is propoganda, not a bit of truth. Ho Ho Ho~

Anonymous said...

And ps... my post above contains no info from HumaneWatch or NAIA. My information comes from the article itself.

The list does not show 60 pet shops signed. All those listed as signed are not in the Seattle area. And most that signed are not, nor have ever been a pet shop. My facts come from the lack of facts in the article and no other source... fyi