****EDITED 4/12/12 to add:***
I guess store owners don't like it when you give them a negative review, and that's why I've gotten several nasty, nasty messages from the folks that work there. My question to the store owner: Where did your puppies come from BEFORE you started taking in puppies from a rescue group? "USDA breeders", yeah? "USDA breeders" are commercial breeders - people who breed a LARGE number of animals specifically for wholesale to pet stores, brokers, and research facilities. AKA...mills.
Secondly, I will question what type of rescue would supply puppies to a pet store. Does anyone (either you or the rescue these pups come from) do background/vet references and home checks before the pup is ever allowed to leave the store? What's your criteria for allowing Joe Shmoe off the street to "adopt" one of these puppies? Are the puppies spayed or neutered before they ever leave the store? Those are two of the major things that separate "sellers" from "rescuers."
Additionally, in the Eagle Tribune article, you state "We get just the puppies here, the adult dogs get fostered out to a home," Blackington said. "From 2 months old up to 7 months old, they're babies and haven't even had a chance to live. It makes it easier to find families for them, because they've never been abused or been hurt, and they're just starting out in life."
And that statement says it all. You clearly have never worked in rescue before, or are intentionally trying to mislead people into adopt a puppy vs, an adolescent/adult dog. The vast majority of dogs in shelters are there through no fault of their own, and most of them have zero behavior problems more severe than a house training problem, pulling on the leash, or jumping on people - ALL OF WHICH people will deal with when acquiring a puppy. The truth is that there is NO SURPLUS of puppies in the rescue system - puppies are EASY to adopt out! Older dogs, not so much.
If you can provide TANGIBLE proof that you (or the rescue you get the pups from) require personal/veterinary references, do home checks, spay/neuter before the pup leaves your care, and mandate that the dog be returned to you in the event that the adopter can no longer care for it, I will HAPPILY alter my original review in your favor. Hell, I'll even come in and BUY something. And if your staff is polite this time around, I'll even REFER people to you. But if you can't provide tangible proof, my original review will remain, along with this addition.
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(Original review)
This place seems to have cleaned up a bit in the last few months but, unfortunately, it's still foul.
This place sells all sorts of puppies, and unless you've been living under a rock for the last decade, you know that puppies in pet stores come from mills and that mills are horrible, disgusting places.
To make matters worse, the puppies are crated or penned for the majority of the time, and get little contact with humans save for when their area is cleaned by the older woman who handles them roughly. When they're not crated, they are left unattended in a large open space, to play without supervision (and without toys.)
Customer service here is horrible. The older woman is rude, rude, rude. She asked if I needed any help; I told her that I was just looking, to which she replied "well why don't you BUY something?" Then she tried to sell me some over-priced (albeit high-end) dog food, and snapped at me when I told her that my dogs eat home-prepared meals. On my way out, she asked me what kind of dog I had. When I told her that I have three dogs, she tried to sell me a puppy...by shoving it into my arms and saying "You need one more. Only $695!"
Seriously? I'll never step foot in this store again. read more