# PETLAND



## hav2 (Feb 26, 2010)

I am sure some of you caught the show last night on Animal Planet about Petland. I have never been in one, but I know one person who purchased a female Shih Tzu from them and her life has been loaded with medical problems. Needless to say they learned that lesson the hard way. However, my question is, Does Petland sell Havanese? Has the Havanese become a mainstream breed? When I got Izzy, I had to do a lot of research and the only way I knew about the breed was through dog shows. Is the Havanese fast becoming as popular as Shih Tzu and Yorkie's? I don't run into too many people who know what they are or have one.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I have a family member who bought a male tzu from Petland. UUUGGGHHH!!! She told me she was rescuing him-I told her she was keeping the poor mama dog confined to a miserable life. Luckily he's healthy and is a really sweet boy, but UUGGHH!!
I'm happy to report that Petland closed, but there's another about 10 miles away that is still doing business. I wouldn't doubt for a second that there are hav puppies there.


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## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

The Petland near my house usually has at least 1 Hav or Hav-mix.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

hav2 said:


> However, my question is, Does Petland sell Havanese? Has the Havanese become a mainstream breed? When I got Izzy, I had to do a lot of research and the only way I knew about the breed was through dog shows. Is the Havanese fast becoming as popular as Shih Tzu and Yorkie's? I don't run into too many people who know what they are or have one.


We don't have Petland around here, but there are DEFINITELY puppy mill Havs available form the "puppy stores" in this area. According to my vet, they rarely see a non-puppy mill Hav in his practice.

Also, I read sometime ast year that Havs had become one of the most popular dogs in NYC... you can bet that most of them come from pet stores/puppy mills.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

hav2 said:


> However, my question is, Does Petland sell Havanese? Has the Havanese become a mainstream breed? When I got Izzy, I had to do a lot of research and the only way I knew about the breed was through dog shows. Is the Havanese fast becoming as popular as Shih Tzu and Yorkie's? I don't run into too many people who know what they are or have one.


We don't have Petland around here, but there are DEFINITELY puppy mill Havs available form the "puppy stores" in this area. According to my vet, they rarely see a non-puppy mill Hav in his practice.

Also, I read sometime last year that Havs had become one of the most popular dogs in NYC... you can bet that most of them come from pet stores/puppy mills.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pixiesmom said:


> I'm happy to report that Petsmart closed, but there's another about 10 miles away that is still doing business. I wouldn't doubt for a second that there are hav puppies there.


Do you mean Petland or Petsmart? I'm not totally thrilled with Petsmart for other reasons, but in MA, Petsmart doesn't sell cats or dogs. They regularly have local rescue groups come in to hold adoption days.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Oh geez-I meant Petland!
I'll have to edit that-thanks Karen.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Just wanted to be sure, because some chains DO have different practices in different states, based on local laws.


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## Posh's Mom (Dec 20, 2007)

no petland, but there is a place just as bad near me. www.amazenfarmyard.com and they always have havanese. meanwhile, most folks have no idea what a havanese is and i met one family who had been "talked" into a hav pup from this place by the owner and didn't even know how to pronounce "havanese." they came home with the pup, and then started doing the research on the breed.

don't get me started.:Cry:

that place thoroughly disgusts me.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Amy- I've looked up that place when you mentioned it before-those dogs look completely miserable. I just love how they run "specials" on dogs that are on sale.It would be "amazen" if that place would just close.


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

I know that these terrible things happen, but every time I see those poor babies it kills me inside. I caught the last little bit of the show, and I cried for 15 minutes straight. I'm trying to muster up the courage to watch the entire thing, but I was waiting for Tim to get home so I can have a shoulder to cry on.

I don't understand HOW any of this is legal, but I dream of the day when it's totally illegal and the people who treat animals this way get what's coming to them!!


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## graciesmum (Feb 5, 2010)

My hav came from our local Petland. We haven't had any health problems with her, but at 10mo she is still not potty trained, and she is terrified of the vet. Our vet showed me in her Petland records that she was vaccinated every 2 weeks, which is how often the new batches of pups come in, so everyone gets revaccinated.

We did not buy her from there, I refuse to step foot in that store. Friends of ours bought her and at 6mo of age asked us if we would take her. And so our adventure in little havanese began...


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Wow-every two weeks? No wonder the poor baby is scared of the vet. You'd be amazed how they will come aroung though will love and time.


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## BeverlyA (Oct 29, 2006)

I live in Lincoln, Nebraska, one of the largest puppy mill states. We don't have a Petland in Lincoln, we have Pet Doctor. I recently found out there IS a Petland in Omaha. All those puppy mill puppies are going somewhere. We do have auctions here in town were the breeders will sell their breeding stock. Absolutely deplorable. Also deplorable is what these "breeders" can do that isn't even against the law (as if it were ever actually inspected). 
I just continue to pray that someday, everyone can put aside their differences and find a way to work together to at least write legislation that will protect the breeding dogs and puppies. Breeders, millers, AKC, HSUS, rescue...

Beverly


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Amen Beverly :amen:


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

I missed the show, so hope I can catch it somewhere. Petland near me sometimes has cats from the local shelter, no puppies. But, I have a store in my town called Shake-A-Paw that sells puppies - all types - big and small breeds. I won't even go in there to buy a Flossie for my dogs. It is heartbreaking to go in there.


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

There is a famous no-kill shelter on Long Island - North Shore Animal League. They are lauded for being a no-kill shelter and doing so many puppy mill rescues. Maybe they should stop doing so many rescues and do shut-downs
instead. They have a continuous supply of kittens, cats, puppies and older dogs. I was there last week and the entire puppy room was full of lab mixes. There must have been a raid on a mill that had labs.


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## BeverlyA (Oct 29, 2006)

Michele,

I understand that frustration.

We have a "nationally known" no-kill shelter very close to me that in my eyes is barely better than a mill. I'm certainly NOT saying that about NSAL.
When I had gone there hoping to get a dog, I saw cage after cage of dogs stacked, just like in a mill, in old chicken coops, just like in a mill. 
I was told time and again the dogs I was interested in were "going to the East coast" and were not available for adoption. Finally I found a small Dachshund with liver disease that I was willing to take on and was "available". 

My friend Cowboy John, who many of you know as Barki's dad, had given me a ride to this place, and as we were looking around he got talking to one of the women about some of the very large dogs and how happy they would be on a working farm. The woman said yes, but they would have to be inside a fence. Well John was thinking of a farm of a few thousand acres and this woman was thinking every dog stays inside a fence. Period. 
Long story short, by the time I got home, about an hour later, I had received an email stating that I had been rejected as a parent for one of their dogs.

Soon I found out that my vet had been rejected, as had his assistant!!! They both have fostered dogs for rescue also. 

This ...place..has built one new building, an adoption center where people go to wait to see dogs, this keeps people from seeing the wire stacked cages and the chicken coops. While they wait, someone walks around with one of the most sad, pathetic, sickly little dogs at the place trying to get donations. This place is the biggest buyer at the puppy mill auction here.

No, I am not bitter about being rejected as an adopter, I'm pissed off that they prostitute those poor little mill dogs in order to get money from well meaning people who think they are really helping dogs and saving them from the very conditions they are still living in. I don't think that's having a "Heart" at all!

Beverly


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I have a real problem with a lot of the rescues. I have been turned down twice for rescue cats. Several years ago, I tried to get a cat and innocently told them that it would live outside and they rejected me. The cat was never adopted. Two no-kill shelters are here in my county. The web page for one of them must have over 200 cats living in cages. There is no way in the world that they can find homes for them. Wouldn't it be better that they go to a place where they can live out their lives happy outdoors than in a cage for the rest of their lives. Another time I tried to get a dog and was told that this great big doberman must live inside. Nevermind that I have a great fenced back yard or over a quarter acre. The dog had been at the shelter for over a year at that time in a cage. 

Then last year in March I answered an ad from a Nashville shelter to foster kittens. I thought it would be fun so I answered and they brought me two mama cats with four kittens each. They were adorable and didn't have their eyes open yet--looked like little pansy faces. I and my hubby had the best time. The mamas left after four weeks and I kept the kittens for twelve weeks. Playing took place. I wanted to keep one of them; but had to agree that it would never be let outside. I have a real problem with that as I grew up on a farm and have had many cats and they all lived outdoors--chasing mice, swapping dead mice for food, etc. I love to work my flower beds with a cat playing near me and "helping weed". Anyway, I would n't lie and tell them that the cat would live out its life inside, so did not keep one. Oh yes, they were neutered and spayed at 12 weeks then sent to Petsmart for adoption. Make me believe that the average person who adopts on the spur of the moment a kitten from Petsmart would be a better person than one who had made a concious decision to give the kitten the best of life for however long that life was. Yes I know that they are more likely to get killed outdoors and die young; but that is much more preferable than being dragged around by the two-year old child that they implusively got the kitten for and then abandoned when it didn't work out, or living in a cage or never feeling the sunshine on their backs or chasing a mouse or doing all the things that cats have done for millions of years.

This little one that we now have came from a barn-cat litter. It was born outdoors and when it gets big enough it will have the run of the yard and the house.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Lucille, I completely agree with your thinking about cats living indoors/outdoors. In your case, especially, it makes no sense whatsoever to keep a cat indoors when you have all that lovely space outside. We have 3 cats and 2 have been outdoor cats, one has given that life up to stay in the basement and fatten up like a christmas turkey (her choice)! Anyway, I agree with all the pros and cons of letting cats outdoors. I live in an area where yards are small and very close together so a cat can be a bloody nuisance out there, but Shadow would die if we kept him inside. We decided that better a happy cat, living naturally than one miserable in the home. We are trying to keep our latest addition in the home, but summer's starting and it's a challenge! lol 

Beverly, how heartbreaking! Quebec is the puppy mill capital of Canada and we get operators from the states setting up shop here because it's so easy. Makes me sick! Jenn, to answer your question, yes there are Havs and Hav mixes in pet shops, but for now, I haven't seen, nor heard of, a single one in my province. Of course, I don't get the inside scoop, but I am in contact with many rescue groups. There are 2 or 3 BYBs that offer Havs in my areas but for some reason, they never reply to my email requests about them! :angel:


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

I also wanted to mention that it is very common for pups to be taken away at 4, 5 weeks and to travel for days in the dark and cold/heat of the back of a truck to get to diff. states and provinces. Some die on the way, many get sick and weak. I know of at least one franchise here (and I'll bet a million$ others do the same) that keeps these new arrivals 'in the back' and medicates them, spruces them up and waits a couple of days before placing them in the window. If they make it, fine, if not .... another batch is coming in soon anyway, so.... :Cry:

A young man who used to work in one of these shops came to the store I work at and when finding the fliers and documents against puppy mills/pet stores, he told me stories like this one that made my head spin.


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

My hometown, Richmond, BC, is in the process of trying to ban all dog and cat sales in pet stores. They have already banned the sale of rabbits, as people were purchasing them and then releasing them into the city parks when they could no longer care for them. Well all now how bunnies work, so before we knew it, the parks were being overrun by these stray bunnies!

Anyway, there is a pet store there, Pet Habitat, in the mall where I used to work. For some reason I can't walk by without going in there and looking at the poor puppies. And of course, finding the manager and telling him off!!!!! I really, really hope that the law is passed so that I never have to walk by there again and hear the mewing of baby kittens or the desperate barks of poor, sweet little puppies


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## Annie Clark (Nov 6, 2008)

I just don't understand how the puppy mills are not illegal. I get very sensitive about it. I don't know much about Nala but it looks like she was purchased at an auction before being used for breeding. Although I don't think she thinks of her past often. She is incredibly good at being adored and spoiled.


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## Jammies (Apr 4, 2009)

*I told my DH that I wanted to get a T-shirt made that says,"DON'T BUY A DOG OR CAT FROM A PETSTORE..THEY ARE FROM PUPPY MILLS" and on the back say, "BUY FROM A REPUTABLE BREEDER AND GET TO KNOW THEM" I have a gf who has her own printing business. If anyone is interested, let me know. Also, if anyone can think of something better to put on the T-shirt, that would be great!

We have a mall about 7 miles from here that has a Petland in it and I want to get my shirt and wear it to the mall! Do you think I'll get arrested and make "NEW AT 11:00...local woman sent to jail over T-shirt"?*
:rant:


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Jammies said:


> *I told my DH that I wanted to get a T-shirt made that says,"DON'T BUY A DOG OR CAT FROM A PETSTORE..THEY ARE FROM PUPPY MILLS" and on the back say, "BUY FROM A REPUTABLE BREEDER AND GET TO KNOW THEM" I have a gf who has her own printing business. If anyone is interested, let me know. Also, if anyone can think of something better to put on the T-shirt, that would be great!
> 
> We have a mall about 7 miles from here that has a Petland in it and I want to get my shirt and wear it to the mall! Do you think I'll get arrested and make "NEW AT 11:00...local woman sent to jail over T-shirt"?*
> :rant:


you can find alot of ideas on the Cafe Press website...just go there and search puppymills.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Debbie, check out Amy's thread: http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?p=335244#post335244 Great idea!!

Natalie, I just happened to read something from PIJAC http://www.pijaccanada.com/en/ that was sent to my boss at the store I work at (health food for cats and dogs) and they have been rallying their members to help them FIGHT the ban on the sale of animals in their stores! They even stated that they were "successful" in turning the decision in B.C., towns of Richmond, Vancouver and another I can't remember..., in their favor.

There were those fighting the sale of pets in stores and PIJAC said they managed to stop them and were proud of it. It made me sick to read this, but hubby reminded me that this is all business. It's all about money and if those like us succeed in banning the sale of puppies, kittens and other pets, then they will have lost millions of $$ ! They just can't let that happen, don't you know. URGH!!! :frusty:


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## ShirleyH (Sep 13, 2009)

*Bad, Bad Place*

When a Petland opened nearby, a friend's daughter wanted to purchase a small dog (can't remember the breed) that was priced at $3,000. After telling my friend that her daughter was really, really wrong on this, I went into the store to see the dog. The store had only been open about a week. I asked about the price and was told that it was, after all, a pedigreed dog. After informing the clerk that I could have purchased a pup sired by the Westminster Kennel Club Best of Breed winner for less, and that these puppies were born in puppy mills, she vehemently denied it. I advised her to become educated. Surely I'm never allowed back in, but that's no problem--I wouldn't buy a dog toy in this place. They constantly run 1/2 price sales by posting someone in a puppy suit out in front to flag the traffic-makes me sick.

Keeper's Mom


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## Mom2Izzo (Jul 1, 2009)

Posh's Mom said:


> no petland, but there is a place just as bad near me. www.amazenfarmyard.com and they always have havanese. meanwhile, most folks have no idea what a havanese is and i met one family who had been "talked" into a hav pup from this place by the owner and didn't even know how to pronounce "havanese." they came home with the pup, and then started doing the research on the breed.
> 
> don't get me started.:Cry:
> 
> that place thoroughly disgusts me.


WOW, that place has puppymill written all over it. So sad  They had a TON of puppies available and those Havs don't even look like typical Havs


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Marj, I think they are wrong. My mom was at the most recent Richmond city council meeting at they still have not come to a decision on the bylaw. The city of Langley is also considering a ban on the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits.

But, even if the two cities vote to allow the sales to continue, there is a bill in the Provincial legislature now that, if passed, will ban ALL cat, dog, and rabbit sales in pet stores in the entire Province of British Columbia! This would be a definite hit to puppy mills and IMO, the only way to come close to eliminating them. Unless of course, we were to just make mills illegal, which seems like the logical step to me, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

And for those of you who read the comments of Ernest Ng, the owner of Pet Habitat, he is a LIAR. I have gone into the store pretending to be interested in their puppies. They will show you a document of the "breeder", and when you look it up online, you actually find a broker or a mill.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

BC has always been ahead of most of the other provinces in these types of changes and I hope you're right, Natalie. That would definitely be a step in the right direction! Keep me posted.


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