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LCA's Pet Shop
Project
Committed to Puppy Mill Free Stores
The Problem with Pet Stores
Most of the puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Purchasing pet
store animals entails not only supporting the cruel puppy mill industry but also
taking a home away from one of the 4 to 5 million unwanted shelter animals
killed each year. Most pet shops do not check the references or histories of
their customers. Subsequently, they send animals home with potentially abusive
and irresponsible “owners” and often back in the shelter system. Because of the
inbreeding and filthy conditions common to puppy mills, they often produce
animals with serious health problems, which typically result in hefty vet fees.
On top of this, pet stores generally do not socialize their animals. The puppies
may consequently develop behavioral problems which do not make them ideal as
pets. Pet shops dispose of unsold animals in, at times, unscrupulous ways. For
instance, former pet store employees have reported finding animals starved or
frozen to death. Last Chance for Animals’ (LCA) “Puppy Mill Free Stores”
campaign is aimed at:
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Stopping pet stores from selling puppies supplied by puppy
mills, beginning in the Greater Los Angeles area
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Educating the public to "ADOPT, DON'T SHOP!" when choosing a
companion animal
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Establishing Los Angeles as a national model for putting an
end to the puppy mill industry
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Working with pet store owners by educating them about the
horrific conditions and inherent cruelty of puppy mills
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Supporting pet stores when they agree to stop selling
puppies from puppy mills and to deal only in rescue and
shelter dogs (it is not LCA’s intent for the stores to go
out of business)
LCA is working towards a day in making Los Angeles a
no kill city, where pet stores no longer support
puppy mills and breeders, but shelter animals and
rescue groups. LCA is committed to oversee and
endorse pet stores in Los Angeles that are willing
to change their business practice and re-home
shelter animals. |
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Pet Shop Project Success Stories
Click on the links below to read more about our
successes in the Los Angeles area:
December 2007
LCA’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) along with volunteer, Kim Sill, began
investigating the practices of pet stores in Los Angeles. High profile stores
that sold expensive puppies to the public that originated from cruel and
inhumane “puppy mills” were targeted. Often these stores were practicing
consumer fraud by misleading the customer about the puppies' actual origin.
Utilizing an undercover camera, the SIU captured the owners, managers and
employees of these stores stating that their puppies are “healthy” and came from
breeders living on idyllic sounding “ranches” that are “USDA licensed.” LCA
investigators traveled to the locations where the dogs were bred, either in Los
Angeles County or the Midwest and documented the grim reality of the puppies'
birthplace and the cycle of misery their parents were kept in.
April 2008
The SIU targeted “OrangeBone,” a trendy, upscale pet store on Melrose
Avenue in Hollywood that sold puppies of various breeds from puppy mills ranging
from $1800 to $3500. The then owner of the store was very savvy. While Kim was
posing as a customer with a hidden camera, the owner thought he recognized her
from one of the many pet store protests she led that had been uploaded on
Youtube.
The SIU and Kim continued to investigate and protest other Los Angeles pet
stores, while educating the public about the puppy mill-pet store connection.
From the weekly, non-stop peaceful protests and undercover investigations,
LCA shut down four pet stores in Los Angeles that sold dogs originating from
puppy mills.
Return to Success Stories
December 2008
OrangeBone on Melrose had a new owner, Clark DuVal. Using LCA’s undercover
footage of puppy mill conditions, LCA began educating Clark about the large
scale puppy mill industry and that his pet store was contributing to the
problem. Through a series of educational meetings, LCA convinced Clark to stop
selling dogs that he purchased from major nationwide puppy distributors Hunte
and Lambriar and instead sell only rescue and shelter dogs.
January 2009
OrangeBone becomes the first Humane Pet Store in the nation!
LCA and OrangeBone faced many challenges, including
a collapsing economy, the huge reduction in price
from selling “designer dogs” to mixed breed dogs and
the inescapable reality that about 90 percent of
animals in shelters, including new born puppies,
have already contracted a range of potentially
deadly diseases. A protocol was created for every
puppy going first to OrangeBone and then a new home;
they were first treated for any potential diseases
or health problems they might have and also spayed
or neutered, which is unheard of in a traditional
pet store. |
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Before teaming up with LCA and going humane, OrangeBone sold about 40 dogs a
month at high prices. In order to be profitable and present a viable solution to
the puppy mill pet store cycle, OrangeBone would have to re-home at least 60
healthy dogs monthly. The reasons why this had not been attempted before in the
United States were becoming evident. Rescue organizations, such as
The Brittany
Foundation and
Animal Alliance rally together daily to ensure the success of OrangeBone and
Pets Delight (see story below); volunteers assist with the care and maintenance
of the puppies and the store. Very quickly, a store that had sold expensive dogs
that originated from puppy mills was transformed into a place of hope and
kindness towards animals. OrangeBone has become a compassionate, realistic
solution to not only the puppy mill problem but also to pet overpopulation.
LCA wishes to thank Katherine and Nancy Heigl for their compassion and
continuing support that has contributed greatly to the success of “Puppy Mill
Free Stores”.
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OrangeBone After
Going Humane |
LCA’s Approval Sign |
In 2008, Oprah Winfrey did a special on puppy mills in the U.S. and brought
national awareness about the problem to millions of previously unaware viewers.
Oprah said the show is "for anybody anywhere who loves a dog, has ever loved a
dog, or just cares about their basic right to humane treatment. I would never,
ever adopt another pet now without going to a shelter to do it. I am a changed
woman after seeing this show. By January 2009, LCA was offering a viable
solution and a total paradigm shift to the inhumane practices of the pet store
industry and the pet stores they supply. It’s projected that OrangeBone alone
will re-home approximately 900 shelter and rescue dogs annually. It is estimated
that for every puppy mill dog that is bought by uninformed consumers, TWO dogs
die from breeding, neglect, illnesses and the horrors of transport. The number
of lives saved from ONE pet store going humane will be nearly
3,000 annually!
February 2009
LCA hosts a star-studded event to launch OrangeBone as the nation's first Humane
Pet Store!
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Clark DuVal, Cori & Susie Feldman
and Chris DeRose |
Chris DeRose,
Kim Sill,
and Katherine & Nancy Heigl |
There is growing public support of Puppy Mill Free Stores and the new humane pet
store model. Through education and the media, people are becoming fed up with
the cruelty of the puppy mill pet store connection, the resulting problems of
pet overpopulation and the misery of overcrowded shelters.
J.T. Austin, Geezer Butler, Rachelle Carson and Ed Begley, JR., Elizabeth G.
Daily, Corey and Susie Feldman, Katherine Heigl, Quincy Jones, Kim Kardashian,
Jack Lesley, Cesar Millan, Sharon Ozbourne, Charlotte Ross, Bianca Ryan, and
Diane Warren are just a few who support LCA’s new humane pet store model and
“ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!” campaigns.
Return to Success Stories
March 2009
LCA helped an additional three stores switch their business models:
Pets Delight in West Covina, Pasadena and Monrovia, California have aligned with
LCA to GO HUMANE! by replacing the puppies in their windows with shelter and
rescue dogs.
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LCA & Cesar Millan at
Pets Delight Press Conference |
Window at Pets Delight |
Click HERE
to see Pets Delight Pet shop owners visit Kern County Animal Shelter with LCA!
Shannon Anderson, owner of Pets Delight in Covina, sold animals from puppy mills
for the past 20 years, only stopping recently after learning about the practices
of puppy mills.This is why LCA and The Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Millan chose her
store to have a press conference announcing the special episode, “The Dog
Whisperer: Inside Puppy Mills.” Click on the links below for coverage on the
press conference:
Return to Success Stories
October 2009
Last Chance for Animals (LCA) succeeded in convincing another pet store to carry
only rescue dogs!
The Montecito Pet Shop in Santa Barbara will no longer buy pure breed
puppies from breeders but instead will only re-home shelter dogs!
Santa Barbara residents contacted Kim Sill who heads LCA's "Pet Shop Project,"
wanting to protest the pet store after watching the special Dog Whisperer
episode: "Inside Puppy Mills" this past May. LCA's investigation of the Pet Shop
determined that the store was buying pure bred puppies from backyard breeders.
Elyse Kuhn, who has owned the Montecito Pet Shop for 22 years, agreed to work
with LCA after many meetings with Sill. She decided it was time to help the dogs
on death row in the overcrowded shelters in California instead of participating
as part of the problem.
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Newborn pups found in a hole, trying to
avoid the burning sun of Mojave, CA |
All the pups rescued from Mojave will be given a
chance at a loving home |
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The same pups found in a hole in Mojave, CA, now relaxing at The Montecito Pet Shop.
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On October 23, 2009, The Montecito Pet Shop welcomed their first litter of
rescued puppies to their store! Sill delivered the six eight-week old pups, the
last of the dogs to be removed from a dangerous hoarding situation in Mojave.
Click here to watch video of The Montecito Pet Shop
welcoming their first litter of rescue dogs!
Kim Sill of LCA commented: "It was very rewarding to watch the change in
perceptions as the customers viewed the rescue puppies. The mood is different
when people know that it is a rescue, there is hope and there is change in Santa
Barbara tonight."
Return to Success Stories
February 2010
LCA’s “Pet Shop Project” sends 47 dogs on a "Flight for Life!"
Last Chance for Animals (LCA), The Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation, The
Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, Animal Advocates Alliance, and North Shore Animal
League America joined forces and sent 47 small breed dogs on a “Flight for
Life!” in the early morning of February 1, 2010.The dogs were rescued from the
overcrowded San Bernardino City, CA shelters where euthanasia was imminent.
The dogs, which included various breeds such as Chihuahuas, Brussels Griffon,
Jack Russell Terriers and a Papillion, were transported via airplane by Cloud
Nine Rescue from California to New York, where they were greeted by North Shore
Animal League America’s mobile adoption unit, and transported to their campus in
Port Washington, NY. After being safely nestled into North Shore's facilities,
the dogs will receive complete medical and behavioral evaluations, be spayed or
neutered, vaccinated, and groomed. Once this process is completed, the dogs will
be adopted into carefully screened homes.
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Some of the lucky San Bernardino shelter
dogs waiting for transport. |
Small breed dogs at San Bernardino shelter waiting for transport. |
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Pre-transport evaluation of the dogs. |
With an excess of small breed dogs on the West Coast, many of them end up in
high-kill shelters where euthanasia is used as a means of population control.
Small breeds are highly desirable in the Northeast as they are not available for
adoption there. This rescue mission, the first of many to come, saved the lives
of these animals as they faced little chance of adoption from the San Bernardino
shelter, which kills 80% of the dogs that pass through its doors.
Click
here to see more of the rescued dogs at North shore animal League.
Return to Success Stories
The Work Continues
Selling only rescue and shelter puppies is a bold venture; nothing
like this has been attempted before. While the program is exciting and
innovative, it’s still in its infancy and needs your support! LCA cannot do it
alone. With your help, LCA can bring the cruel puppy mill industry to its knees.
The solution has been implemented; the humane pet store model. Your help is
needed to assure its continued success. Do not buy products from pet stores that
carry puppies from commercial breeders. Support the pet stores that have gone
humane and educate others to “ADOPT, DON’T SHOP!”
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