Did you ever get a puppy for Christmas growing up?
We did. When I was in 6th grade we got, Missy, a Basset Hound, whose real name was Mistletoe. Missy became a part of our family. We actually got Missy weeks before Christmas, a pre Christmas present. That sweet little droopy eared puppy and six kids ranging from eleven to four, it must have been one crazy Christmas. Missy was sweet when she was a puppy.
Chaos. I am not sure it is even right to bring a canine into that kind of Christmas chaos but adopting or buying a Christmas Puppy happens… every year.
The Franklin County Dog Shelter site says:
“Stop. Think. Adopt. Before you BUY a holiday puppy from a pet store, please take time to look at all the incredible dogs and puppies here at the shelter. Their lives depend on you!”
Heading out of town on Saturday we saw people picketing a Petland store at a shopping center in Lewis Center. According to the Humane Society of the United States*, most Petland’s store puppies are from puppy mills. What is a puppy mill? from ActiveRain (a real estate network) member Kristin Johhnson
The placards I saw as we drove by were about NOT buying that Christmas puppy from Petland because their dogs are / could be from puppy mills. As I understand the protest now they were saying adopt from a shelter or rescue group.
Makes sense.
Years ago I used to go play with puppies at the Petland on Bethel Road. Petland is an Ohio based company that sells franchises to stores that are “independently owned and operated” to borrow a phrase from the real estate industry… (maybe all franchises use that phrase.) Petland is a national chain of pets stores, each store purchases their own “stock.”
Monday I found a post from a Central Ohio resident (and blogger) about the protest in Lewis Center. Kelley Bell talked to the Petland store manager. Kelley’s post The Puppy Miill Problem says:
“After speaking to the protesters, I took the time to talk with the folks at the Lewis center Petland store. Danny, the manager, brought out the Petland mascot Safari Sam to greet me and pose for pictures. He said Safari Sam was on his way out to the roadside to wave at the cars, and had been out earlier that morning standing side by side with the protest group. “The protesters show up every year during the holidays, but as you can see, it does not affect businesses at all.” He said with a wave of his hand, indicating the packed crowd of customers in the store. He was very good natured about the protest and adamantly stated that “all Petland puppies come from U.S.D.A. approved breeders.”
Kelly’s post goes on to say the phrase “U.S.D.A. approved breeders” is a red flag. I never thought of that.
Missy our Christmas dog turned out to be psycho. Nature or nurture? Remember there were six kids between four and eleven years old in the family and not a dog trainer in the bunch of them. Missy lived until I was in my late teens or early 20’s. Missy was from a small, local breeder. One girl dog, one boy dog?
Buddy my dog is from the Capital Area Humane Society, he’s a mutt. He is wonderful.
Places to adopt a dog locally include rescue groups and shelters:
- Franklin County Dog Shelter (link above)
Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch article about the Franklin County Dog Shelter was upsetting. According to Kelley’s ‘The Puppy Mill Problem ‘ (link above) Mary O’Connor-Shaver of Columbus Top Dogs, who was a spokesman for the protesters said:“Lisa Wahoff, director of the Franklin County Animal Shelter pulled data in 2006 showing that as many as 7 out of every ten dogs coming into the shelter each day could be traced back to Petland sales.”
What can Ohio do to solve the Puppy Mill Problem here? One of the local TV stations (I don’t remember which) recently said our laws about companion animals are not as good as laws in other states.
*I am an animal lover but I am not fond of PETA or HSUS.
