Friday, May 1, 2009

TO ALL THOSE COMMENTING ON SIERRA FISH AND PET












TO ALL THOSE COMMENTING ON SIERRA FISH & PET




I am an experienced animal advocate and puppy mill investigator. My work is sanctioned by the HSUS, the ASPCA, BEST FRIENDS, LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALS and CAPS, I have also worked with law enforcement on animal cruelty cases. I think it is great that those posting probably really do care about animals and we really appreciate that, we need more like you. Having said that, please pay close attention; this is quick course in puppy mills. We are not telling you this in a disparaging way, we just think the facts are critically important to this discussion: First of all Sierra Fish & Pets is not a puppy mill, the y are a pet store that buys their puppies from puppy mills and if a pet store is not offering rescues, their dogs are coming from puppy mills. This is indisputable as responsible breeders DO NOT SELL TO PET STORES! SF&P work with a broker that is located in Iowa. Through this broker, whom also owns a puppy mill, puppies are purchased from other mills. The majority of SF&P puppies are purchased from Iowa, the rest, from other midwest states, or the "puppy mill belt of the US." How do we know? Because we have investigated them. We have spoken with the owner of SF&P, and he does not have photos of where the puppies are coming from, in fact, he admitted, "he did not realize any of this." Further, in terms of breeding facilties, USDA licensed and inspected DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE NOT A PUPPY MILL. The definition of a puppy mill is a "breeding facility that breeds for profit," that is it, and they are legal. They are not always dirty facilities, some are clean, nevertheless, they are what we consider prisons. Do you think your dog would like to live it's life in a cage? We don't. According to the Animal Welfare Act, which is the only law enforced by the USDA, dogs may be confined 24/7, with no exercise, (only an "exercise plan" is necessary and this cannot be enforced.) They may have as many as 12 dogs per cage, with an allowed space of 6" beyond each dogs measurement. Also, there are 10,000 facilities that are monitored by the USDA and only 70 investigators. They are not mandated to go to a breeding facility twice a year, and in MOST CASES, do not. They don't have the man-power. Next, "papers" do not guarantee purebreed or anything else. Most of the time they are falsified and inaccurate. For $25., the AKC will give you your "papers", and are not able to verify any of the information. The most unfortunate part of this puppy mill primer is that pet stores can say anything they want because they do not have to be accountable to anyone. There is no oversight whatsoever, and store owners can tell customers anything without worry of any harm. It has been going on for decades. Not only does the public fall victim to the lies, but well-intentioned, animal-loving store-employees fall victim as well. That is why store protests are occurring across the country and the movement is growing. For this reason, for the first time, store-owners will have to be accountable for their lies. One last item, to dispel the myth about rescues vs. store-bought dogs. 30% of all dogs available in rescue are purebreeds. And, dogs purchased in pet stores come from puppy mills and as a result, more often than not, come with horrific health problems. I won't go into stats, but it's a fact. Thank you for caring. Please Google puppy mills, and learn the real truth.

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