Petshop Activist At Shopping Centre Yesterday

[HeavyPaws]

Epping Plaza is a bit of a drive for me, so I don't go there often. But yesterday *off topic* I had to go to get a print out of a recipt from the chemist near the Big W end. I hate that chemist as a certain petshop is there, a sort of paradise for pets, you could say {not sure if we're allowed to name-drop}, and there's about 9 glass cages of various expensive mutts with people hovering.

But yesterday as I walked past I got handed a sheet of paper titled 'The Puppy In The Window' from a young blonde woman.

10,000 X for the paper! I read it in the car and it is fan-tas-tic!

It was a little bigger than A4, double-sided, with little subheadings, all in very easy to digest wording with great truths thrown in, true 'shockers' and websites to visit. all about the truths of pet store puppies, where else to buy a puppy, puppy advice and 'puppy myths' about commercial food, housetraining, etc. PLUS a truly great bit about designer dogs and hybrid vigour myths.

Now, I'm wondering if anyone else saw the person handing out the papers, or if that person is a member of DOL, or if anyone knew about this, because it had the DOL website listed on here with 'helpful advice from dog owners and breeders' next to it.

If so, you're a champion!! A saw quite a few people reading them and she handed one to every person who walked past the pet shop so hopefully they will take it on board and buy pure or rescue!

I have some work to do today {grrr queen's birhtday}, so I'll be on later and will add the text from the pages if anyone wants to know what it said.

Lady, you are an angel!

[spottychick]

That's excellent heavypaws!!

[voloclydes]

nah i have never been bothered to go to that extreme but me and the OH do tend to go in and make fun of prices and pure x breeds loudly.....

so much so we get the eye.... and sometimes the poor staff come over asking can i help.....

i ask explain a pure bred cross breed can ya lovie?

or

so a pure breed mutt? like you find at a pound?

or a henzi varitity.

or

explain the hwy robbery price? when both those pure breeds go for around a 1k each... and you have 1.5k price tag?

[mita]

Lady, you are an angel!

I'd second that. The information you describe covers all the the things DOLers have posted about for ages. Good to see it collected into one handout...& being given to the public.

[Wags]

Epping Plaza is a bit of a drive for me, so I don't go there often. But yesterday *off topic* I had to go to get a print out of a recipt from the chemist near the Big W end. I hate that chemist as a certain petshop is there, a sort of paradise for pets, you could say {not sure if we're allowed to name-drop}, and there's about 9 glass cages of various expensive mutts with people hovering.

But yesterday as I walked past I got handed a sheet of paper titled 'The Puppy In The Window' from a young blonde woman.

10,000 X for the paper! I read it in the car and it is fan-tas-tic!

It was a little bigger than A4, double-sided, with little subheadings, all in very easy to digest wording with great truths thrown in, true 'shockers' and websites to visit. all about the truths of pet store puppies, where else to buy a puppy, puppy advice and 'puppy myths' about commercial food, housetraining, etc. PLUS a truly great bit about designer dogs and hybrid vigour myths.

Now, I'm wondering if anyone else saw the person handing out the papers, or if that person is a member of DOL, or if anyone knew about this, because it had the DOL website listed on here with 'helpful advice from dog owners and breeders' next to it.

If so, you're a champion!! A saw quite a few people reading them and she handed one to every person who walked past the pet shop so hopefully they will take it on board and buy pure or rescue!

I have some work to do today {grrr queen's birhtday}, so I'll be on later and will add the text from the pages if anyone wants to know what it said.

Lady, you are an angel!

Oh what a woman and now I'm feeling meek !!! We have one of those pet shops in our local town which flaunts their puppies in cages on the sidewalk. As you do, I try to dodge the place as every time I walk by, as I can't help stopping to mourn over the babies of various purported pure breeding and designer breeds. A couple of times I haven't been able to keep my mouth shut and warn cooing onlookers, and have even confronted the owner of the shop. The number of times I've left the shop feeling that I want to find an old fashioned soap box to stand on and wave a placard is as the same as the number of times I've done this, but of course, I don't.

[dogbesotted]

I am in seq and at Riverlink there is one of those horrid paradise places..

my brother who goes there frequently with his respite group has been known to stand outside and say quite loudly

"my sister says it is wrong to sell puppies like this... and the shop does not help afterwards "

bless him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

H

ed sp again!

Edited June 16, 2010 by dogbesotted

[Rach...]

would you get in trouble for doing this in shopping centres??

[merijigs]

I would love to do this out the front of the pet shop in my country town when they have puppies in the front window as they do from time to time but I feel sure there'd be trouble. The owner would call the police to move me on as a disruption to business I reckon.

[HeavyPaws]

would you get in trouble for doing this in shopping centres??

I'm not sure Rach.

She wasn't yelling or forcing people out of the store, she wasn't even inside the store. She was about 20 metres away from the entrance, in front of the jewellery store, and being quiet.

All she said to me was "You'd find this interesting", and offered a paper. She didn't even do that annoying thing the people who want you to fund their soccer teams {or whatever they want} do, like thrust the paper in front of you as you walk. She just held it out as I started coming up to her.

I don't see how it'd be illegal, seeing as how she wasn't bothering anyone, calling anyone over, making any fuss or noise, referring to the shop in question at all, or making anyone take her papers.

Then again, who knows? The paradise for pets might resent the intrusion into their private puppy-mongering.

[MalteseLuna]

Whenever I walk past the same chains store in Sydney I always proclaim loudly that they are all from puppy mills and it's horrible what their parents have to live through etc

I wanted to hand out letters in front of the store but haven't got the courage yet

[Staranais]

If they got really grumpy they could probably do you for libel, depending on what you said in the info sheets?

I don't think they can make you move away if you're on public property, though, so the footpath outside their shop should be OK I'd presume?

[Greytmate]

would you get in trouble for doing this in shopping centres??

You could be asked to leave, or even removed by security if you refused, because shopping centres are private property and you would expect the management to look after their tenant.

On street shops it would depend on what local laws say about pamphlet distribution.

But it isn't illegal to put forward your views about pet shops to people if you do it in a polite way.

[Red Fox]

Lady, you are an angel!

I'd second that. The information you describe covers all the the things DOLers have posted about for ages. Good to see it collected into one handout...& being given to the public.

x 2 What a great idea. And much more effective than making a scene.

I'd love to see a fact sheet like that available for download. There are no petshops around here but I'd be more than willing to post one up on the local noticeboard

As far as it being illegal, I don't see how. If you are on public property, not causing a scene and not naming anyone in particular you're not really doing anything wrong.

[Moselle]

Terrific idea, hope it proves successful! :D Every little step means something to educate the public about the reality of puppy millers! :D What steps should be taken to educate the public about registered puppy farmers?

[mita]

What steps should be taken to educate the public...?

My turn to get a nice surprise! I was reading the July 2010 Australian House & Garden magazine.

And there was a sensible article about choosing a pedigree dog. The columnist talks about how he did his research by talking with good registered breeders & also to the Australian National Kennel Association. The latter told him that the horrors about purebreds set out by the British TV program are countered to some extent here, because Australian breeders have a history of importing new bloodlines into their dogs to safeguard against inbreeding.

The article gets even better. The writer says that the registered breeders he interviewed were 'helpful, enthusiastic and, above all, very caring about their animals.' Then he goes on to contrast this with unscrupulous 'breeders' called puppy farmers who, he says, are just after money.

'By forcing their bitches to constantly turn out litters, failing to keep adequate records to prevent inbreeding, & keeping their animals in crowded, unsanitary conditions, puppy farmers not only damage the individual dogs they breed, but also the breed itself.'

The columnist goes on to give readers some tips 'to avoid supporting this obnoxious trade'.

His answers are to deal directly with a breeder & find out who you're buying from. He says a sign of a consienctious breeder is that they like to know (& approve of) the sort of home their puppy is going to. So these same breeders would be equally open about where their puppies come from.

Also he tells people to do their research. So they can ask about any health problems associated with a breed. As he says 'Good breeders keep good breeding records....& expand the gene pool.

Then, he tells people to be patient. 'Waiting lists are common, as good breeders will limit the number of litters to what is healthy for their dogs'.

He points people to the associations for lovers of particular breeds. Get in touch & ask for recommendations of breeders to talk with.

Last sentence...'And think - a lot - before you take the plunge & take a puppy home.'

The magazine deserves full marks for publishing this info....& the writer deserves even more for researching so well before writing it.

Edited June 16, 2010 by mita

[armahani]

Don't know if it is related, but the RSPCA currently have a campaign running against puppy-mills - see this web site - http://www.closepuppyfactories.org/index.php

I stumbled across it through a banner-ad on an on-line major newspaper that was titled something like "Puppy in the Window".

If you want a real surprise - follow the link titled "Take Action" and then "Where to Purchase a Puppy". Yes, that's right, the RSPCA is currently actively promoting registered ANKC breeders! I almost died with shock! Happy shock that is .

The first part of the text on that page is as follows:

Purchase your next puppy without the fear of supporting puppy factories.

Find a reputable breeder through your State's kennel association (i.e. Dogs Victoria). Generally, these breeders will ask questions about your circumstances and environment to ensure you are choosing the most suitable dog for your lifestyle. They provide very high standards of care for their animals and will happily let you meet the parents of your puppy also.