Protesting the Sale of Puppies from Kansas-Based Breeders

Guilford resident Heather Bradley showed up to protest Branford’s this past Saturday, armed with brand new lawn signs and knee-high rain boots. The overcast and rainy weather did not keep Bradley or her crew of more than 15 animal rights advocates away from their cause. “I think we’re starting to bring awareness,” said Bradley. “We’d like to do this every weekend and not just here but stores around the state.”

A middle school teacher at Elizabeth C. Adams in Guilford, Bradley added, “We want to inform consumers and spread awareness about where these puppies come from.”

Now organized as CT Coalition Against Puppy Mills, the group has been protesting puppy mills in front of All Pet’s Club for three months. What Bradely and her fellow protestors want to make clear, is that they support the pet business, just not the sale of puppies.

All Pet’s Club owner Jerry Pleban, who has locations in Wallingford, North Windham and Southington, declined to comment this past weekend but shows no signs of changing the way business is done. Currently, they have 30 puppies for sale but as the Branford Eagle reported last month, puppy sales only make up about 25 percent of the pet store’s business.

Bradley said last month that she sat down with the store’s owners for two hours to discuss their sale of puppies from breeders such as Dot’s Little Doggies and Puppies Extraordinaire, who are both larger-scale breeders based out of Kansas. Bradley said, “We just could not see eye to eye. We will keep protesting them as long as they keep selling puppy mills dogs.”

The Eagle reported that the owners of the pet store are considering some rescue options but there are no details regarding those plans. Bradley was quick to add, “Even if they do rescue, it’s not OK if they are doing this.”

In the not too distant past, All Pet’s Club offered a showroom for adoptable cats of the near the front entrance of the store. Since the BCC opened their own permanent home, there are no cats or kittens on display at the store.

Much of Bradley’s campaign against All Pet’s Club is based on her disdain for the Kansas-based breeders from which the store purchases puppies for as little as $80 and re-sells for as much as $2,000, she said.

Puppies Extraordinaire based in Whiting, KA was home to more than 675 adult dogs and 266 puppies, according to the USDA in July, 2011. Bradley said, with the average age of a breeding dog being five years, “How many of those are they getting rid of after?” she asked.

Puppies Extraordinaire was cited by the USDA for 11 repeat non-compliance violations during their July, 2011 inspection; those violations include the following:

“An adult male Chihuahua had hair loss and thinning hair along the paws, chest, neck, muzzle and eyes… the nails were also excessively long and were beginning to curl or straighten out to the point that was inhibiting the natural walking ability of the dog.”

“Paint and “Kilz” products were stored on a shelf directly above the food storage area.”

Dot’s Little Doggies, based in Lyndon, KA is another All Pet’s Club supplier that Bradley is unsatisfied with.

In 2011 they had five indirect and one repeat non-compliance violation. In 2010 they had five indirect. However, in 2009, the puppy breeder was given a clean slate with no issues.

In November 2011, Dot’s Little Doggies was in violation for the following:

“Two outside enclosures containing two dogs in each enclosure have inadequate shelter. Each enclosure has only one shelter structure being provided to the dogs to have access to.”

 “There are six black plastic nesting boxes with a chewed, jagged or rough surface… six dogs are in contact with the boxes, the sharp edges could lead to potential injury.

You can download the reports attached to this story.

On their website, All Pet’s Club maintains that their breeders are researched. “All Pets Club collaborates with a select handful of breeders, and we’ve worked with these same breeders for over 10 years. We think it is important to have a long-term relationship with our breeders to ensure quality and consistency in the breeds. We have a connection with our breeders – they are people who love and cherish these puppies as much as we do.”

You can read the company’s full message regarding breeders online.

Despite Bradley’s efforts, customers still flowed in and out of All Pet’s Club on Saturday as protestors waved and cheered when passing cars honked their horns in support.

One shopper was Guilford resident Julie Cashman who said she was shopping for a comb for her dog. “I wish I could buy all the puppies,” she commented in support of Bradley’s efforts. Of Bradley’s platforms regarding poor breeding conditions, Cashman said, “I just think it's something that exists without any regulations and is subject to abusive conditions.”

With plans to come back in April, Bradley said she’s not backing down. “We don’t want to put anyone out of business, we just want them to stop selling dogs.”