Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is the biggest shopping day of the year. It is also the kick-off for "puppy season," when puppy stores anticipate they will sell 50% of their annual inventory of pups. On Black Friday 2009, the SD Animal Defense Team staged a Dead Dog Spectacle -- a street theater production with dog masks and animal cages concluding with a die-in -- at Pet Works puppy store in Grossmont Center Shopping Mall.
This year, led by the Animal Defense Team, activists from the Animal Protection and Rescue League, the Olympian High School Animal C.A.R.E. Club, the Sweetwater High School Animal C.A.R.E. Club and the community-at-large from all over Southern California protested in front of the mall on Mission Center Rd.
They then formed a slow procession and paraded through the Mission Valley Mall to the Puparazzi store. Wearing bright yellow BAN PUPPY STORES badges and carrying banners and large signs, they lined the outside of the store windows and surrounded the store itself in the very heart of the mall, leaving only the legal space to allow door access.
The USDA disclosed in October that San Diego consumers purchased 763 puppies just from Missouri puppy mills in 2009. Of those, 116 were documented as being delivered to the Puparazzi store.
We are also delighted to notify you that the Pet Works store in Grossmont Shopping Center has announced it is closing. The Animal Defense Team has been instrumental in the protests at Pet Works, first as the behind-the-scenes organizers of all protests held
there from April 2009 to October 2009, then continuing weekly protests on Sundays for a total of 48 weekly protests at the Pet Works store. At that point, we chose to diversify our protests to include other puppy stores in San Diego County.
Three cheers to all of our great activists who have continued with us as we have taken the fight against puppy stores from Pet Works in La Mesa to California Pets in Carlsbad to Pups and Pets in Santee to Puparazzi in Mission Valley. Stay tuned!
And now for the best part -- the photos! Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment