What does 4 MILLION look like?

By zoeystory | Published: September 18, 2010

There are 4,000,000 puppies bred in puppy mills each year!

I really tried to get my head around exactly what four million puppies would look like.

These 4 million puppies wind up in pet stores, with brokers, online and being bred over and over again. Here’s what I found:

-The population for Puerto Rico, Kentucky and Oregon combined was approximately 4 million in 2009

-The population of Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx is approximately 4 million (have you ever been in NYC w/all the people?)

-The amount of money Tiger Woods would make if he won the grand slam.  This of course does not include sponsorships

-The amount of money Kobe Bryant spent on Vanessa’s 8-Carat Purple Diamond ring post Colorado romp

-The number of online shoppers per minute on Cyber Monday 2009

-The number of followers Ashton Kutcher has on twitter

-The number of snuggies sold since their invention (even before the leopard and zebra ones)

-The number of “junk, solicitation” phone calls made each day in the USA

-4 million pennies would be 9.2 tons or what 18,600 pounds!

-The amount of fans in the Big House (U of M) on any given game day times x 40



Hmmm, what does 4 million look like exactly? Let me think....








Posted in Animal Rescue, Animal Rights Activism, Dogs, News, Pet store, Puppy Mills, Selling puppies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Progress…

By jadmin | Published: September 12, 2010

A recurring theme in our blog posts is the need for legislative and regulatory oversight to force puppy mills to finally make the necessary changes.  But those in positions of power also have to hit the millers where it really counts: the pocketbook.


Taking a bite out of puppy mills profits????


As we’ve seen, mills can be extremely lucrative, between the low cost of breeding / caring for animals (at least when regulators are looking the other way) and sliding between the tax cracks.  But a few enterprising states are finally cracking down.   Check out what the state of Indiana is doing along these lines: The state’s Attorney General is seeking restitution from puppy mills for unpaid taxes, even going so far as to shut them down by seizing their dogs against the monies the millers owe.  Forbes recently did a fabulous article on it that you can find here.

Go Hoosiers!!  Hopefully, efforts like these, in tandem with better enforcement of mills’ conditions, the eventual crackdown on pet stores and continual education of the public about the truth behind mills and the benefits of adoption will work.  In the meantime, every little bit counts.


Posted in News, Pet store, Protected Paws, Puppy Mills, Selling puppies, Zoey | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Out of Business

By zoeystory | Published: September 12, 2010

About a year ago, a new pet store opened up in our neighborhood, Pet Fashion.  This was the third such store in NYC.  I hadn’t previously known about the chain but couldn’t escape this store — it was located blocks from home and right across the street from the store we use for Abby and Zoey, Pet Stop, which we love for countless reasons.

Pet Fashion – not so fashionable?

Pet Fashion came in with a bang, hanging fancy banners, promising deals on puppies for sale, etc.  It employed the typical strategy of putting incredibly cute dogs in the window to lure shoppers and then up-sell them other products as well.  I “mystery shopped” the store on a few different occasions and was always horrified by the conversations I had with the employees.  Horrified enough to write a previous blog post about it already in this blog.  Again, really who breeds dogs in the middle of Manhattan? The new store was quickly picketed by fellow New Yorkers, neighbors and animal welfare activists, who knew from the other locations that Pet Fashion did in fact use puppy mills to obtain their dogs.  This went on a few weekends during the store’s first few months in operation and must have had some impact because whenever I would walk the girls by the store, no one was in it.  But trust there were always little puppies in the front window directly in the steamy, hot sun.

Puppies in the front window on a hot summer's day.

It has come to my attention that Pet Fashion on the Upper West Side has GONE OUT OF BUSINESS, and with that, another store location for puppy mills has dried up.  While broad change is easier to make at the legislative and regulatory ends, smaller “wins” like this continue to give me hope and I hope they do for you as well.


Posted in News, Pet store, Puppy Mills, Selling puppies | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Responses

The People Strike Back

By jadmin | Published: September 1, 2010

Go The Distance

Everyone who’s read this blog knows that Zoey was born into a puppy mill in Missouri and that we returned there last summer to rescue her mom and dad from the same mill.  (And to the pet store that is probably reading this blog right now it WAS A PUPPY MILL.  Face the facts!   There were 300+ dogs there and trust that some of them were neglected.  That is not a hobby breeder my friend).  In fact, Missouri has more mills than virtually any other state in the U.S.; approximately 1/3 of the nation’s puppy mills reside in that state alone.

In response, a group of concerned Missourians have formed a group called Missourians for the Protection of Dogs / Yes on Prop B!, which has put a citizen-sponsored, state ballot initiative in front of the state’s voters this fall.  The Puppy Mill Prevention Act, as the initiative is known, is aimed directly at Missouri’s hundreds of commercial breeding operations, requiring that these businesses provide the dogs under their care with a minimum standard of care that is expressly laid out.  It also limits the number of breeding dogs at any one facility to 50 in an attempt to rein in the largest facilities, where the worst abuses often take place.

The group is sponsored and supported by a combination of animal rights and welfare organizations as well as veterinarians, businesses (many involved in the animal industry), religious leaders, government officials and concerned citizens.  Even St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa is lending his name and time to the cause, a not-insignificant benefit in a baseball-crazy state.

Please visit their website to learn more about the legislation being proposed and the group’s efforts:

http://yesonpropb.com/about

We’ve written extensively about the lack of adequate inspection in Missouri: “The Puppy Industry” Part I , Inspectors and the Puppy Marketplace, Part II , Part IV: Enforcement of the USDA Rules and Regulations .This means that while Prop B is a good start, it will be toothless unless Missouri puts financial resources and human capital into enforcing the will of the people.  We will continue to advocate and educate until the state does so.


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Animal Hoarding

By zoeystory | Published: August 25, 2010

Hoarding has become a common term over the past year, with television shows popping up on nearly every network documenting this disorder and how it can destroy someone’s life and home.

Hoarding

Hoarding

One type of hoarding is animal hoarding, which is featured in the Animal Planet show Confessions: Animal Hoarding. We’ve seen news stories about animal hoarding becoming more prevalent over the past few months, including this recent one:


In Jefferson County, Ohio, police found over 100 pitbulls, plus snakes, wild boars, turkeys, ducks, and other types of birds in a home on County Road 23.  The animals were clearly being neglected.  Sheriff Fred Abdalla said this is one of the worst cases he has seen, and the condition inside the home “certainly isn’t livable.”  The homeowner is currently in jail facing a slew of charges because weapons and drugs were also found on the property.  The humane society is trying to care for the hundreds of animals on the property because they have nowhere else to put them at this time.

Dr. Gary Patronek, President of the Animal Rescue League of Boston, founded the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, or HARC.  He reported to the Boston Globe that an estimated 3,000 cases involving 250,000 animals are reported each year, but many more go unreported.  While the stereotypical animal hoarder is an older woman who lives alone, this illness affects all ages, genders, and socioeconomic statuses.  In fact, a podiatrist and his wife were charged this month with 39 counts of animal cruelty for hoarding animals in their home in Solon, OH, an affluent suburb of Cleveland.

These animals cannot possibly receive the care and attention they need and deserve living in these homes with hundreds of other animals.  If you  notice a home with a large number of pets, please report it to your local authorities so that someone can check into what is going on there.  A simple phone call can result in hundreds of animals being rescued and adopted into loving homes.

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New Illinois Law Requires Pet Stores to Display Puppies’ Origin and Health History!

By zoeystory | Published: August 25, 2010

Way to go, Governor Quinn!  A new law was just signed that will require pet stores to display the names and addresses of the breeders for all of their animals.  The animals’ health history must also be displayed.

The law takes effect January 1, 2011.  This is just fantastic and we hope other states will enact similar legislation.  Many pet stores claim that their puppies come from “local” breeders, though an estimated 99% of them come from puppy mills.  Pet stores in IL will no longer be allowed to make this claim, and hopefully their sales will drop significantly as a result.

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