Pet Store Picketed By Puppy-Mill Protesters

While Black Friday shoppers were filling the malls and big box stores, a small group of people gathered in front of All Pets Club on Branford’s East Main Street protesting its sale of puppies.

Pet stores in general have long been the target of those rallying against large commercial breeders who produce purebred and so-called designer puppies under deplorable conditions. Known as puppy mills, they have been operating under horrible conditions for decades.

Just ask Kathy Abate, who came to the protest with a personal story. Her education about puppy mills came by way of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Isabella, purchased from All Pets Club in November 2007. What started out as kennel cough led to the removal of one of the puppy’s lungs. Isabella also suffers from a genetic condition, Syringomyelia, a condition in which the dog’s head is too small for its brain; the only treatment is surgery.

Genetic problems are not unusual among puppy mill puppies. The practice of over-breeding genetically unsound and unhealthy puppies leads to a myriad of health problems. Abate is not alone. Other families have faced serious and costly medical problems with pups purchased from this store. 

The rally was organized by Tracey Sheer of Branford. While she’s worked in animal rescue with Nutmeg CT Rescue, this is her first foray into protesting against puppy mills. She hopes to hold meetings in the future to plan additional events. The group also hopes to convince a newly approved pet store in Guilford, Fleming Pets AKA ​“Yuppy Puppy,” to broker pet adoptions rather than sell puppies.

“The holiday season is the time of year when sadly uninformed consumers will troop to this store’s four locations to purchase a new dog for their family. If you know about puppy mills, and if you work for rescue, as I do, you know how unfortunate this is,”Sheer said.

Jerry Pleban, owner of All Pets Club, stands firm about the quality of puppies sold at his stores. There are additional stores in Southington, Wallingford and Windham.

He said the store has been dealing with the same breeders for 13 or 14 years. The breeders he buys from are licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The organization, Against Puppy Mills, lists inspection reports for breeders affiliated with All Pets Club. Click here to read the site.

Pleban would not say how many puppies are sold or how many are returned. However, the online list of puppies for sale at the Branford store totals 49, many of which are ​“designer” (i.e. mixed breed) dogs such as MaltiPoo, Morkie, Labradoodle, and Boggle. They’re priced at more than $700, and as high as $2,000.

Pleban wants people who buy puppies from All Pets Club to work with him, follow his advice and use the veterinarians affiliated with the store if a problem arises. ​“Let us spend our money to fix the problem,” he said.

“Our customers are the most important part of our family,” he said. ​“Many are on their second or third purchase.”

He said he sees to it that many are spayed or neutered before being sold.

All Pets Club is also subject to regular and random USDA inspections. Pleban said it is held to task if there’s a single chewed piece of wood. ​“We have to care up and beyond the law,” he said.

There’s a concern among animal lovers that stores selling puppies prey upon consumer impulse. People passing through a pet store see the cute puppies and buy them without researching the proper breed for their lifestyle or realizing the amount of training requires. ​“People make impulse decisions all the time and they should stand by them,” Pleban said. Pleban maintained his store educates customers to help them choose a puppy that meets their needs.

However, many of those impulse purchases end up in shelters or with breed rescue groups once the novelty has worn off. Laura Burban, the director of the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter, said she has seen many such dogs.

None of the local animal support groups were in the position to make an official statement, but there is a general concern that puppies sold in stores take away from those available for adoption.

Indeed, the group rallying at All Pets Club on Friday displayed a sign comparing a rescue pup, Lissa, costing $450 versus one from All Pets Club, Dazzle, costing $1,300.

“We need to educate the public about pet store puppies,” said Sheer. ​“We need to show them how easy, less expensive and satisfying adoption is as an alternative.”

Pleban said he’s founded the non-profit Protecting Animal Rights Together (PART) in conjunction with pet food company Health Extension; $5 from each APC membership has resulted in $40,000 raised for shelters. According to the APC website, ​“PART helps to protect animal health, safety and environment and also promotes education to all, especially children.”
 
All Pets Club obtains many of its puppies from breeders in Kansas and Missouri, areas frequently targeted as hot beds of puppy mill activity, along with Arkansas and even the Amish country in Pennsylvania.

Federal and state regulations are in place to oversee commercial breeding facilities. Apart and aside from USDA regulations, the Kansas Animal Health Department also requires inspection and licensing of: ​“Anyone who produces for sale, sells (by trade or exchange) or offers for sale three or more litters of puppies and/or kittens (or both) during the state fiscal year anyone who produces for sale, sells (by trade or exchange) or offers for sale 30 or more adult dogs and/or cats (or both) during the state license year.” Click here for more information.

Missouri passed a bill that removes an original prohibition against having more than 50 breeding dogs, but increases licensing fees from $500 to $2,500. It also prohibits keeping animals in stacked cages without an impervious layer between the cages. Click here for more information.

And, Connecticut has its own Puppy Mill Law, adopted in 2009. Consumers had complained about purchasing sick puppies from commercial stores in the state. This law provides consumers with recourse if they purchase a dog or cat found within six months to have a congenital abnormality that does or will affect the health of the animal. Consumers now have 20 days instead of 15 to bring a claim with the pet store and they can receive a full refund or replacement upon return of the animal if it was ill at the time of sale or will suffer from a congenital abnormality. Veterinarian bills are reimbursed to $500.Here is an overview of the law.

All Pets Club follows that law, Pleban said, adding that if a congenital or hereditary problem is found, he will reimburse 80 percent of the cost of the puppy and the owner can keep it.

He added that a veterinary office, Animal Primary Care Center, recently opened within the Wallingford store to ensure quality care.

Both the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for Protection of Cruelty against Animals encourage their supporters to pledge not buy anything from stores that sell puppies.

The dogs in puppy mills are caught up in a never-ending cycle of breeding and confined to small cages without access to fresh air and sunlight. Puppies are taken away from their mothers and shipped out as young as six weeks old. How they are transported is also an issue. And whether state or federal regulations are sufficient is yet another issue.

A growing movement of animal lovers is working to increase awareness of puppy mill conditions, rescue puppies and transport them to safe locations. The HSUS and ASPCA have extensive resources on their websites.

For more information on local efforts Tracey Sheer at [email protected] or go to Nutmeg CT Rescue on Facebook.

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