Pet Shop or Pound, That is the Question!

 Article first published as Pet Shop or Pound, That is the Question! on Blogcritics.


 
Last Fiday's episode of The View had actress Whoopi Goldberg defending her right to buy a puppy from a pet store starting quite a controvery from the animal shelter advocates. “You don’t know what you’re getting when you get a pookie-dingle-doodle from the pound,” the website Hollywood Dog reported her as saying on the show.

In defense of Whoopi's statement, it is a fact that you really don't know everything about a shelter dog's past. Although shelters do make every attempt to gain information regarding a shelter dog's history, the fact remains that, when push comes to shove, you really have to rely on the information offered by the person or persons bringing the dog to the shelter. In most cases, unless that person is an officer or humane society personnel, the information is probably questionable at best!


Shelter advocates often respond that "puppy mills" have horrible conditions, the animals are not well cared for, breeding is for profit and, therefore the pet you purchase may have inherited genetic faults that can cause them to have a lifetime of problems, and so on. Although this is sometimes true, it does not mean that every pet shop owner is guilty of perpetuating puppy mills.


And, herein lies the controversy! Pet shop or shelter? That is the question.


 On her Facebook page Wednesday, Whoopi wrote that she doesn’t like puppy mills, but that she does think puppies in stores can be just fine. "We discussed one state that wanted to close all pet stores. I have friends who own pet stores; they love their animals and insure their health and well being. Mills should be shut down. All agree, but don’t paint everyone with the same brush. That was my point," she said."


Now, I have to agree with that particular part of her statement. We simply can't "paint everyone with the same brush". I know that this statement will probably not win me any points with my animal advocacy friends, but, in all fairness, I am sure that there are, in fact, some local pet shop owners who do care about their animals, the conditions in which they are kept, and, where they came from!


A local pet shop is a business, that, in today's economy, is rough to keep up! Therefore, we do have to understand that someone is going to run this type of pet shop, they must have an appreciation for animals, or they simply wouldn't do it!

With pet superstores popping up all over the place, a local shop may have a rough time competing as far as prices go. It's kind of hard to compete with companies that can buy 100 times the quantity of just about everything you sell. So, the point I'm getting at is that the statement is true.  You can't "paint everyone with the same brush". There are some pet shops where the animals are taken care of and it would be unfair to suggest that all of them are "puppy mill" supporters. These people know from the start that their business is not going to make them a million dollars overnight, and, for the most part, probably not even in their lifetime or the store's. For a state to suggest closing down all pet shops is ludicrous and a blatant slap in the face of free enterprise! Since when does a state or any government body have the right to suggest that a certain type of business is off limits? Unless, of course, the business is illegal!


We can't stereotype all pet shops as bad simply because they sell puppies or dogs. Also, there are many breeders who do an excellent job at keeping their particular breed of dog free of genetic problems and inherited diseases. These breeders should be commended for their ongoing mission of perfecting a breed. Without them, and, left to their own resources, many breeds would become obsolete and laden with problems. I do, of course, support the adoption of a dog or puppy from a shelter over puchasing one from a pet shop when adopting is an acceptable alternative to buying, especially from a shop that supports the practice of puppy mills! But, I also support the pet shop owners who are simply "making a living" at doing what they love the most, which is spending time with animals!


That being said, my idea is this: perhaps shelters should work with legitimate shops to help find some of these dogs and puppies good homes. Now, think about it. Someone who goes to a pet shop looking for a dog or puppy has a couple of plusses going for them. One, they must have the money to pay for the dog. And, two, they obviously want a dog or puppy!


Like Whoopi, they might be under the misconception that all shelter dogs must have problems, or, they wouldn't be there! (By the way Whoopi, just as you can't "paint everyone with the same brush" when it comes to pet shops, the same is true for shelter dogs! A dog should not be labeled as "undesireable" simply because it comes from a shelter.) There are many reasons why a dog or puppy might have found it's way to a shelter. Perhaps the dog's owner simply couldn't afford it; maybe the owner died and no family members were available to provide a home for him. Or it could be that the dog might have become lost and the owners could not locate it! The fact remains that a "cameraderie" of sorts between pet shops and shelters could provide a much needed addition to the many ways shelters try to find homes for un-claimed dogs or puppies!

What would be so wrong with a shelter, who has a litter of pups, giving that litter to a local pet shop to help in finding good homes for the pups? What would be so terrible about a local pet shop owner regaining the few dollars spent on food and housing for the puppies while they were at the shop? Even if the shop were to actually make a few dollars in the transaction, I don't see the harm! Of course, everything would have to be made public.The fact that the puppies came from a shelter would have to be made known. But, simply put, what would be so wrong with that picture?

The puppies find a loving home with a family that was, obviously, looking for a puppy, and could afford to buy one. The shop owner could bring people into his shop where they might possibly buy other items necessary for the puppy and, therefore, increase his sales slightly. And, the shelter finds homes for puppies that would otherwise be taking up valuable space at the much overcrowded shelter. I think, sometimes, that our need to express or prove our point, can also prove to be detrimental to our cause.

Sounds like a simple fix to me.

"Baby, the Neglected Samoyed" Update and Some Other Stuff You Need to Know!

OK, so everyone here is familiar with the story of "Baby", (see original post)and now, here's your chance to really voice your opinion.  Everyone needs to let the ASPCA know that what's going on here is just plain and simply NOT ACCEPTABLE for an organization that is supposed to have the good of all animals as the basis for it's very existence. 

Take for example, the story of "Justice", yet another dog returned to his abusive and neglective owners, as reported by gothamist.com. Here is the link for this story, "For Unknown Reason, Neglected Dog Returned to Owner"  Please watch the video in this story!  Here is yet another example of what the ASPCA didn't do right!  How many times do we to have to read examples of an organization, who, by the way, continually seems to be able to come up with the money to run ad after ad to get our money, but yet, when it comes time to come to the rescue, nothing, and I do mean, nothing, is done!

I for one, have had it!  I am disgusted, aggravated, and at a loss as to what can be done to get these organizations back on track! So, here's the only idea I have left.  Here's a list of the places you can contact!  Do it!  Contact them!  Again, and again, and yet again!  Let's get our point across.  You should not be "begging" for money if the money you receive is not going to go to the cause at hand, in this case, dogs like "Justice" and "Baby" and, God knows, how many more we haven't even heard about yet!

Use the following and use them frequently, until we get some satisfaction:

To contact the ASPCA:
outreach@aspca.org
press@aspca.org
website@aspca.org
Call their cruelty line @ 212-876-7700 X 4450
Call the business line between 9&5pm @ 212-876-7700 and ask to speak to a supervisor.
Call their membership line @ 800-628-0028 and tell them not one red cent of your money will be donated to them.  Money talks.

Let these people know, you can't hide behind a job title and not DO YOUR JOB!  I'm sure each and everyone of us has some kind of job to do, whether you are a housewife (and that is "definitely a JOB, ladies) or a lawyer, doctor, janitor, or what have you!  We don't get paid until the job we were hired to do, gets done! 

I don't mean to be sarcastic, but, please, let these people know that they cannot take a paycheck from an organization like the ASPCA or The Humane Society unless, the ASPCA or Humane Society performs.  So yes, if your employer isn't getting the job done, then, you aren't doing your job AND you shouldn't get paid for it!

We need calls, e-mails, letters and, you name it!  Let's get some help for these poor defenseless creatures.  Let these folks know that when we promise to do something, we do it.  Just as we are promising to let them know what they didn't do!  And we won't stop until our job is done!

Thank you!

Denise and Max!

How Could We Let This Happen?



"Baby" Picture taken from "For the Love of the Dog" blog post

 I have pondered whether to write this post or not, going over and over again in my head as to whether the stories I am about to tell you about are just sad outliers in a host of happy endings and should, therefore, be considered simply the endings that didn't work out?  Or, if this is a trend happening within the organizations which have always carried a very high position in my own personal ratings.  The first case in point is the story of  "Baby", a post I came across in a most well written and respected blog, "For the Love of the Dog".  Please read Baby's story, but be ready to have some seriously strong opinions when finished reading.  Also, please join the movement to save this poor animal and sign the petitions available. 

The second story that raised an eyebrow for me was this one, a story of a Navy Wife doing research for a speech which led to her writing this piece.  The story, taken from the blog "Dogs, Cats, and Crap I blog about", another well respected blog and another of my favorite reads, also played a large part on the opinion now starting to form in my little brain.

My question?  How can the ASPCA and Humane Societies that we have known and supported for so long let this happen?  In the story of "Baby", I have the opinion that someone just dropped the ball.  It is unforgivable that this poor creature was given back to the very owners that caused her this agony in the first place.  Throw gasoline on that fire by bringing to point that MANY people offered to take the dog rather than let her go back to what we know will be a tortuous existence!  Yet, the ASPCA turned their backs and allowed this injustice.  Why?  And, why were no charges filed for abuse and neglect in this case? 

The second story in point brings about another type of question.  Sam, the puppy in the story was a very adoptable dog.  He was given "three days" to find a home.  Three days!!!  Somehow, that just doesn't calculate to a fair disposition in the case of a well rounded puppy with no real undesirable traits, with the exception of "he wouldn't stop jumping on his children"......  This was a puppy.  They do puppy things like "jump on the kids"!!! 

The point I am getting at here is that I have never really questioned the actions of the ASPCA or Humane Society.  I know that they are businesses and I'm a business owner myself.  I do understand that there are monetary needs and that there are way too many animals for them to individually care for each and every one and exceptions cannot be made to individual cases regarding their policies.  I realize also that there must be policies in place like the "3 day rule" when it comes to housing these animals.  My point is that I feel that there is a need to review some of these policies.  There are so many shelters and foster homes available.  I do realize that because of the extreme number of dogs being handled by these organizations that other shelters and foster homes also become overcrowded, but, I can't help but think that there should be some way of taking a little extra time on poor defenseless puppies of a very adoptable age that have simply become "disposable" pets.  In the case of Baby, I feel that the ASPCA just dropped the ball.  EVERY effort should have been made to help this poor dog find a loving home.  There were many offered to her.  They simply chose the easy way out to avoid the costs of litigation and doing what should have been done.

We have all been subjected to the relentless commercial spots produced by these organizations with the sad music and sad faces of animals staring at you from inside a cage with a famous spokes person giving a small spot and voice over asking you to make donations to save these animals!  I have seen these ads run over and over again during prime time television spots.  I would like to know the cost of producing one of these ad and what the ASPCA and Humane Society spends to run them during these prime times!  My guess is that they are NOT inexpensive.  I realize the importance of getting their message across, but, I do feel that these well produced commercial spots may be a little "over-the-top".  These organizations have been around forever and I don't believe that the constant barrage of expensive commercials is going to get the word out any faster or make any real point.  Most people are well aware that these organizations exist and the people that end up watching these spots and paying attention to them are folks like ourselves who are well aware of how crowded the shelters are and that they do NEED financial help.  Perhaps the money would be better spent paying for the litigation necessary to ensure that Baby went to a good solid home to live out the rest of her sad and tortured life!  Some of the money could be used to take a little more than THREE DAYS to find no kill shelters to house the adoptable puppies that surely would find homes if just given the time for people to find them! 

As I said, I am really questioning the motives of these organizations at this point.  I'd like to find out how everyone else feels about this too.  I'd like to the cost of their redundant commercial spots and what type of revenue they really produce.  Lets find out how much the "animal loving" spokes people rake in for their appearance in these spots.  I realize that the actors union requires these folks to take payment for their work, but, I get the feeling that it may be a little more than these already well-to-do folks require for a 1 minute appearance.

I hope that I am wrong about all of this.  I hope that someone can tell me that the organizations that I have so faithfully contributed to and supported for many years have some very believable and worthy explanation for these and all of the many stories not even mentioned here, as there are quite a few recently.

So if any of my readers out there can shed some light on this subject, I'm all ears.  Please tell me what your personal opinion is.  And, by all means, if anyone out there has some suggestions, I'd be happy to do the research and write some letters and emails to these organizations to make our voices heard.  After all, it is our actions, not our opinions, that might make a change.

I look forward to your comments and I plan to make this an ongoing part of this blog.  I am also in the process of looking into some of the questions I have presented here and I will report any information that I can gather in my next post.  Please sign up to follow this post and I will keep you updated as to the findings.

This blog is new to me and I plan on dedicating as much time to it as necessary to keep all of the followers informed.  Please bear with me as I am learning the ropes as I go and I welcome any and all comments and information to make this process move along as quickly as possible!

Denise and Max!