Petland Protest

Written by Terry Mayer

Monday, 11 May 2009 09:54

These are some of the position's that the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project stand by:

"PETLAND sells puppies from mass breeding facilities. We do not support the mass breeding of puppies.

PETLAND sells other species to “anyone who walks into the store with the money.” We do not believe that this leads to a happy and healthy relationship between pets and people. Too many of these animals are purchased on a whim and when the fun wears off, these animals are abandoned to our shelters. Shelters end up “cleaning up the mess” and taking on the responsibility for the care of these animals while the pet peddlers and distributors cash in.

The Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project will fully cooperate with any action directed at educating the public about responsible pet ownership and the industry behind the “cute puppies” in the glass cages at pet stores.

We will continue to tell the pubic that over 8 MILLION homeless pets are put to death every year due to lack of homes. Until pet SELLERS take responsibility for the lives they create, sell and make a profit from, we will continue to ask people to support pet supply stores that are part of the solution rather than part of the problem."

Group protests local pet store

By Paul Sloth
Journal Times

MOUNT PLEASANT — A small group of protesters stood in the pouring rain Saturday just off Green Bay Road right before the entrance to the Regency Pointe shopping center.

Organizers expected a larger turnout for the demonstration outside the Mount Pleasant Petland store.

Members of the newly formed Milwaukee Pet Store Protest Group say they want to encourage people to adopt dogs rather than buying them from pet stores such as Petland.

Members say stores such as Petland get their dogs from disreputable breeders that they refer to as puppy mills.

Emily Koehler and her dog, Azrael, picket with the Milwaukee Pet Store Protest Group Saturday outside of Petland. Photo by Gregory Shaver, Journal Times.

Nancy Brandt, 61, of Muskego, bought a pet store puppy in 1989, she said. Before the

Internet, before people knew a lot about where pet stores get their dogs, she said.

While her dog lived to be 15 years old, it had every known problem under the sun, Brandt said. It started out as a puppy with a heart problem, then thyroid problems and liver problems and bad teeth.

When Brandt finally had to put down that dog, she decided she would get her next dog from a rescue organization. She now provides foster care for Italian greyhounds.

Brandt joined the group because of her experience. It protests outside pet stores throughout the Milwaukee area.

“We’re here to educate the general public in the hopes that they will choose not to support this horrible industry,” Brandt said. “I don’t have anything against pet stores selling pet food and things like that, but these animals suffer terribly.”

Reached by phone Saturday afternoon, Gabriel Kujawski, general manager of the Mount Pleasant Petland store, said he thought a similar group had protested the store before, about a year ago.

Kujawski said he thought the store was unfairly lumped together with other pet stores, many of which get their dogs from what are considered puppy mills.

“I do agree that puppy mills are wrong and they do need to be gotten rid of,” Kujawski said. “But all of our breeders that we get our puppies from are USDA-certified.”

The store gets dogs from a couple of different breeders, and the store’s owner, Steve Gauntt, visits them to make sure they meet the required standards, Kujawski said.

Emily Koehler, 29, of Racine, stood under an umbrella holding a sign and her dog, Azrael.

Koehler learned about Saturday’s protest on the Internet. She is involved in other local groups and works at Kinder Kitties in Kenosha. The group will hold another protest at the same location in two weeks that Koehler said she plans to attend.

“I just think people need to be informed. It’s not people’s fault that they don’t know the facts,” Koehler said. “There’s a lot of things out there that people don’t know about the mistreatment of animals. Why buy a dog when there are so many that need a home?”