Pet Supermarket

[jezza]

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Just thought some people who shop here may be interested in this story below. Crossposted with permission from another forum :thumbsup:

A few weekends ago I was scheduled to be at a pet supermarket here in High Wycombe both days. They were holding an information weekend for their customers with myself as the dog trainer for questions and answers, several rescues represented, dog groomer, nutritionist and a few others.

I heard on the Wednesday prior that the store in Enfield sold puppies. I had been told that they didn’t sell kittens or puppies when I was first asked to take part in the weekend. I investigated. It would appear that within the store at Enfield they rent space/a room to a company by the name of Brothers and it is this company who sell the pups. At the time I rang there were six different breeds available of both sexes between 8 and 12 weeks of age. They tell me they charge £1200 for a pup to ensure that only serious people will purchase one. The only after sales service they provide is that they ask the new owners to bring the pup to see their vet a week to ten days after purchase.

No-one was prepared to tell me where the pups come from but did tell me that some were KC registered - I may be wrong here but I thought that KC registered pups had to be sold by the breeder and not a third party?

They don’t take the pups in before the age of 8 weeks and they are seen weekly by their vet. The RSPCA conduct checks and have no complaints. It would seem that the pups are kept clean, their areas are kept clean, they get food and water - all the basic requirements are fulfilled. The RSPCA of course can only deal with and report on the pups in situ not question from whence they came or who they go to. I asked what happens to the pups who don’t get sold? The answer was that they reduce the price until it does get sold. I asked what socialisation the pups get if they can be in store for 4, 6, maybe 8 weeks. I was asked what socialisation was. I tried to explain about development and the key times in a pups life to experience things to be stable in later life but it was wasted I feel. It was mentioned that the average time most pups are there is a couple of weeks ( how many pups is that a year?)

I spoke again to the manager here at High Wycombe expressing my concerns about being associated with a company who condone such business and said that I would not be there for the weekend. I also spoke to a few of the other participants who I have met and some of them also withdrew, surprisingly not the local rescue or local Blue Cross.

Not going to this weekend has cost me business. There would have been the chance of one to one bookings locally and I am certain that out of the weekend I would have filled 3-6 places for the clicker training day I held yesterday. I still wouldn’t do it but the store doesn’t appear to have the same ethics and are happily making money from the rent they get for the space plus the purchases made by the new puppy owners on the way out through the store.

I felt that I should bring this to the attention of as many people as possible and ask that you inform others also.

(mods - if this is not allowed, please change the name to 'popular pet supermarket' )

 

[Bedlam]

my local store (doncaster) doesnt sell livestock. only food, bedding, etc

 

[JAX]

Thats really bad news for puppies

What breeds were they ? I suppose , Westies, cavaliers , cocker spaniels , shelties ? were among them .

When I was in Las Vagas . they had a pets store in a shopping Mall , selling really unusual breeds , such as Basenji , Husky , ( In Las Vagas (w00t) ), pugs to name but 3 breeds ,

I didnt go in the store , these poor mites were in the window , Reduced to clear !! :rant:

It really spoilt my holiday seeing these little babies on display like bags of sugar :

Good on you for sticking to your princibles :huggles: , but what can be done . I didnt think it was the law now to sell dogs in shops .

Perhaps someone in the area could do a protest outside . We have 2 of these stores , but neither sell pups , . Lucky for them

 

[jezza]

JAX - it wasn't me, I have crossposted from another site, the lady who wrote this is a dog trainer/behaviourist and was supposed to be working at this store giving out advice for the day. She refused when she found out the information about the puppies they were selling.

I don't think that the pet shop itself sells the puppies, rather that they rent a room to a company which does. I would hazard a guess that this company was a dealer for a puppy farm (although there is no evidence to support this - just a guess).

I really don't know what can be done about puppy farmers, they make me sick to my stomach. Why does everything these days have to revolve around money and making a quick buck :rant:

 

[LasVegasNo1]

I have seen the puppies for sale The only thing I can say is they are kept in extremely clean pens, I've never seen any 'mess', still don't like it though

JAX, the breeds I have seen to date there are Labs, Cockers, Springers, Jacks, Westies, Boxers, British Bulldogs, Shi Tzus, Staffys, Border Collies and probably more but I can't remember.

 

[jezza]

Meant to add, I think that you can still sell pups in shops - Harrods do don't they? They were involved in a puppy farming scandal a while ago weren't they?

 

[jezza]

I have seen the puppies for sale The only thing I can say is they are kept in extremely clean pens, I've never seen any 'mess', still don't like it though
JAX, the breeds I have seen to date there are Labs, Cockers, Springers, Jacks, Westies, Boxers, British Bulldogs, Shi Tzus, Staffys, Border Collies and probably more but I can't remember.

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Well at least they are being looked after in the store, but I just wonder where they are coming from and going to. No reputable breeder would supply to a pet shop, surely?

 

[JAX]

No self repecting breeder would sell pups this way :rant:

but they are getting them from somewhere :rant: , Id love to see the pedigree of one of them :- "

 

[kris]

theres a puppy supermarket in manchester,when you look at the pedigrees of most of the pups they are bred in south wales,unfortunately fueling the puppy farmers in that area

 

[jinnyfizz]

It's bad enough that these pet megastores sell small furries to customers whose closest contact with any animal, until they buy one, has been on a plate (w00t)

But to be selling puppies in this way is despicable :angry:

It's all very well keeping them in clean conditions (as well they should) but I presume they sell them to whoever pays the money and don't give a damn about where they're going or how they're going to be kept :rant:

I expect a very high percentage of these poor pups are ending up in rescue and God only knows how many will be bought as Christmas presents :rant: :rant:

Sorry ...... I'm going off on one, but I feel very strongly that NO WAY should pet shops be selling puppies or kittens.

 

[FeeFee]

No 'proper' breeder is ever going to sell their pups via a pet shop, so you can bet your life these are farmed puppies.

In the end, the shop and the suppliers are running a business and doing whatever brings in a profit. It's people who buy from these outlets that ultimately fund the puppy farms - I wonder how many of them know (or care) what they are supporting? :rant:

 

[kris]

i think all joe public sees are nice fluffy puppies in a nice clean superstore enviroment.if they saw pictures of the filth and terrible conditions these pups were reared in they might act differently. there again theyd probably buy them cos they feel sorry for them,when i was young i went with my dad to buy a budgie from a pet shop.and true to form i picked the sad one sitting hunched over in the corner! it died within a few days and my dad had said to me dont buy that one its obviously ill.but i wanted that one cos i felt sorry for it :b

 

[nina]

I think its a shame in this day & age that these set ups are allowed to still be selling puppies.

They are just a profitable outlet for the puppy farmers & backstreet breeders & lets be honest they do well enough plying their trade as it is without places like this helping them even more :rant:

 

[LasVegasNo1]

I have just remembered that these particular puppies starred in a movie: The Martins. With Kathy Burke and Lee Evans in 2001. If you want to see just exactly how the puppies are kept see this movie as they filmed in the animal room and as far as I remember nothing was changed it was filmed as is.

 

[JAX]

My sister helps with Cat rescue and take in many cats and kittens when thy cant sell them through papers or shops , but they take the mum as well , have her spayed and give her back ( thats if they want her ) There was a lady( I say that loose ly , ) who said , let me sell the kittens, then you can spay the mother .

Nope , mum was spayed and the kittens and all their little visitors (w00t) are now in my sisters care :cheers:

Jose does her very best to stop pet shops in our area getting their hands on any kittens thats for sure :thumbsup: