Puppy Friendly Pet Stores

Over the past four months we have toured all corners of the Southeast Michigan Area, including Flint, asking pet supply stores to pledge not to sell puppies. Our initial goal was 40 stores to earn a press release.

After 7 counties, 35 cities later, drum rooooooll…..we have approximately 98 store pledges!

With Pet Supply Plus’s network of stores, we exceeded our goal and also all the other states! Thank you to everyone who participated in this project: Christine White, Sunday Harvey, Cathy Tingley, Jeanie Bay, Molly Tamulevich and Leann Earns.

We have asked the following “puppy selling” stores to take the pledge or stop selling puppies:

The Family Puppy/Family of Pets
Petland Westland
Petland Novi
Utica Pet Supply
World Gardenland Sea World
Greenwood Pets & Plants
Shaggy Dog
Barking Babe Boutique

The Michigan store owners and managers who signed The HSUS' pledge received a sign proclaiming, "We love puppies; that's why we don't sell them," to display in the store, as well as free materials for their customers. We encourage shoppers to purchase pet supplies at stores displaying the puppy-friendly sign.

If you would like to go further, you can choose to shop at stores that refuse to sell any live animals. These stores have been identified and will be highlighted on the HSUS website and our Meetup. To easily find one in your area, just type in your zip code on this site. I have made sure our local animal free stores are in their database.

http://www.findpetshops.com/index.php

Animal Planet Exposed Petland - Hooray!

We love Animal Planet!!! If you were excited about the Petland episode – let’em know. Hopefully there was so much interest in the show, they will run it again.

Did everyone tune in last night? Pat and I both chuckled when the savvy Petland Manager went on and on about how they go beyond state regulations. He even looked like a slick salesman. However, what can really confuse the public are the young salesgirls who either don’t seem to have a clue or were trained with a script.

Why would the Sheriff protect the breeders? - a missing link in the pet trade. This happened to us at the Ohio Dog Auction. We were not wired with a camera or even attempting to do undercover. We were asked to leave because of the looks on our faces, I suppose. I can relate to Mike being nervous without the police on his side.

Another missing link are the vets. Although they are making tons of money having a constant flow of sick dogs, their staff must be overwhelmed like the DVM stated in the show. How can these vets see so many victims (breeding dogs, families, puppies…) and not take a stand?

I was not only thrilled about the show, but proud to see so many Meetup Members getting the word out about the show at Petland Westland on Saturday and Monday. Everyone’s signs and enthusiasm pumped more fuel into the campaign.

We need to make sure Animal Planet keeps running this show. You can contact them online or send a letter.

33. How can I contact you with programming comments or questions? We welcome your e-mail comments and questions, which you can send to us by clicking here.

This is the most efficient way to contact us. Comments or questions directed to anyone else at Discovery Communications will be forwarded to Viewer Relations, which means it will take us longer to follow up.

You can also write to us at:
Discovery CommunicationsViewer RelationsOne Discovery Place5th FloorSilver Spring, MD 20910

Laura Springborn's Hearing

First blog post!

Assuming my Monthly Letters are not enough, I thought I would start sharing some of my “stories from the road”. I have been all over South East Detroit visiting pet supply stores and now attending Linda Springborn’s hearings. This is where we start learning about prosecution and the laws surrounding our breeders.

Ms. Springborns hearing was a little different from the others I heard in the Brighton Court house this Wednesday, as she was not allowed to plead guilty, not guilty or mute. She is faced with a felony. Her case was listed as Abandonment and Cruelty because more than 10 animals were involved. Magistrate Brian Brown did not read the details of her case, but you can go here to find out more.

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/16314/MI/US/

On April 8th, the authorities had discovered she had failed to provide adequate care for the animals. She is facing 4 years in prison, $5000 fine and 500 hours of community service or a combination of them all. In addition she will need a psychological evaluation and prepay the costs for veterinary care.

She will be provided a court appointed attorney (Miriam Cavanagh) and her Pre-Exam meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 12th at 1 p.m. Howell District Court.

Magistrate Brown asked Ms. Springborn if she had any prior record. She quietly stated “Yes”. She told the court she had stolen a license plate. He asked her if she had any further confrontations with the law. She said she was convicted of retail fraud.

He posted her bond at $10,000. She is not allowed to own or poses animals during the court proceedings.

I am fairly sure Ms. Springborn saw my “Stop Puppy Mills” t-shirt as I was sitting in the front row of the courtroom. I was kinda hard to miss with the video camera too, but she casually read her documents and passed on by.

If you would like to read our letter to the prosecutor, go to our Meetup Message board.