On Jan. 23, two days after she purchased a Bull Mastiff puppy from All Pets Store in Wallingford, Kimberly Natoli noticed that her 2‑month-old puppy was having serious trouble breathing.
She called the store to tell them.
“Well, you can bring her back, and we will give you another puppy,” they said. Natoli was incredulous. “How could I do that? I couldn’t give her up. And I didn’t want to bring her back because I think they would have put her down. That’s how I feel. She’s a baby.” She had named her puppy Dakota, and “she is part of the family. Now you want us to return her, like she is a piece of garbage.”
Natoli told her story to the Eagle as she stood on a protest line yesterday outside the All Pets Club store in Branford. She found the protest on East Main Street by using Facebook, which, in turn took her to a newly formed group, CT Citizens Against Puppy Mills.
“I was so angry,” she said. “I needed to talk to others.” Yesterday’s demonstration was the largest so far, having grown from half dozen people last November to about 30 yesterday. The protests are held once a month.
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.
Under sunny but chilly skies, protesters came with their kids and their dogs, mostly rescue dogs. Over the months the statements on the signs they carry have grown bolder. Now they say “Boycott this Store.” Or “Adopt Don’t Shop,” or “APC = Death.” One points to the “Branford Animal Shelter 1 mile Up ” Another sign reads: “Honk if you Care.” Many motorists driving along East Main Street honked.
While All Pets Club denies it uses puppy mills, many of the animals come from kennels that are known puppy mills, the protesters have determined. Expensive dogs from puppy mills, these protesters say, arrive at stores like All Pets Club with unseen physical and genetic problems. Families say they often spend thousands of dollars in subsequent vet’s bills to get their puppy healthy. Click here to read the story of Isabella.
Natoli, who lives in Northford, can relate to that. She paid $1,800 for Dakota last month and then, when she stopped breathing, she called the Wallingford store. Employees, she said, did not see the issue as severe.
“I kept telling the people at the store that she needed immediate care or she would die. They told me if I took her to my own vet, that I would have to foot the bill.” The store’s vet, she said, wanted to prescribe medication without seeing Dakota. So she decided to take her puppy to another vet, one recommended by the store. “I wouldn’t wait.”
She took Dakota to the Powder Ridge Veterinary hospital in Middlefield, Connecticut. Dr. Lawrence Brooks told her that Dakota had a serious case of pneumonia.
Kim and Dakota
The vet picked up the tab, she said, telling her if All Pets didn’t pay for it, he would pay for it. Dakota is now healthy. Natoli says she was not told the costs of Dakota’s treatment only that it would be taken care of.
The All Pets Club in Branford experienced an outbreak of Parvo in December. Two dogs died, and the store’s puppies were placed in quarantine throughout the Christmas season. The store’s owner, Jerry Pleban, gave several reasons for the outbreak. Click here to read the story.
Heather Bradley, one of the leaders of the protest, wore a dog outfit to the demonstration. She told the Eagle that last week she met with Pleban, his manager, Mike Rowland and another employee, who was recently hired, she thought, to develop a rescue dog operation. There was also discussion of expansion, she said, perhaps with regard to a new dog rescue place.
Bradley, who is a special ed teacher, owns three rescue dogs. She said Pleban and his employees met with the protest leaders for two hours. She said she thought the demonstrators were having an impact on the store’s business. Pleban, she said, did not come right out and ask them to stop picketing, but he did say “it hurt his heart” when kids arriving for a birthday party must first pass the protestors.
Bradley said she asked Pleban, who has three other All Pets Club stores in the state, how much of his profits were from dog sales. “He said it’s very, very minimal, but he wouldn’t give me the numbers. I said 25 percent. He said much less than that.”
Another protestor, Helen Bartek and her daughter Leah and their dog, Scout, a rescue, stood for two hours in the cold. Bartek held a sign that spoke to an issue of concern to some Connecticut legislators, a federal law that doesn’t go far enough.
We left a message for Pleban at the store. Rowland, the manager, said he could not speak for Pleban and declined to answer questions. He did say he would relay our message seeking comment. Pleban’s cell phone message system was full and unable to accept additional calls.
Marcia Chambers Photo
Tracey Scheer, the other leader of the group, said after she arranged a group photo: “We are going to keep doing this!” She told the group that Heather had tee shirts for them. They say: “Don’t Support Puppy Mills. Boycott All Pets Club.”
Scheer told the group that it is her belief that All Pets “are not interested in stopping selling these dogs. They are keeping making money hand over fist at the expense of these poor animals. So let’s keep up the good work.”
In an interview, Scheer said the protests “are making people think twice about purchasing an animal here. “They know people are taking time out of their day to stand out here in the freezing cold and carry signs. It is going to make them think. We rely on the press and on people taking the initiative to find out what we are talking about. We have raised some awareness.”
Scheer says she thinks Pleban wants to open another store. “If he is smart he will see what is happening and change his business before it happens to him rather than waiting for it to fall down around his ears. There is a lot of space around here. He could use it for other things. Selling puppy mill puppies is a dying business. It won’t last long.”
And if he stopped selling puppies? “I would be the first to give him business. I guarantee you everyone in this group would embrace this store. We would be thrilled and we would support him. He is a local. But no business in which you make money on the suffering and misery of another living creature is worth it. There are many honest ways of making a living. Selling animals that come from places of torture is not one of them.”
The next protest is scheduled for March 3 at noon at All Pet’s Club in Branford.
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We have two wonderful Brussels Griffons purchased from APC five years ago. They have had no health issues and have been absolute
joys to us.
When we were taking the first one home from the store, she coughed, and they said she would have to be checked by their vet before we could have her.
I have found the staff so helpful and caring.
We bring my 94 year old mother-in- law there
and they put her in a special area where she can hold puppies. It is her favorite activity.
The place is spotless and the animals seem happy and healthy.