3/26/11 CALIFORNIA PETS ESCONDIDO PROTEST!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the March 26 BAN PUPPY STORES protest at California Pets in Escondido and to all of the community members who so strongly supported us!

It is not possible to love dogs and simultaneously support puppy stores. Many of the four million dogs produced by mass breeders in the United States and sold through pet stores each year end up in rescues or worse. Five million dogs are euthanized in the US every year -- not because the dogs did anything wrong but because their owners couldn't or wouldn't keep them. Puppy stores like California Pets in Escondido and Carlsbad add massive numbers of dogs to those sad statistics.

San Diego's 10 News.com ran a news segment which reported 763 puppy mill puppies from Missouri (the "puppy mill capitol of the US") were sold to San Diego County customers in 2009. The analysis was performed by the Humane Society of the United States.

Of those, 309 were purchased by California Pets Escondido and 130 by California Pets Carlsbad -- more than half of all the Missouri puppy mill pups sold in San Diego County that year. This does not take into account all of the puppies coming in from other notorious puppy mill states such as Nebraska, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc. The HSUS State Director said, "It's easy to fall in love with an adorable puppy...at the mall, but behind the cuteness is cruelty no pet lover could support.

See the post on this website from November 10, 2010 for the complete news article.

The owner of California Pets agreed to send the Animal Defense Team the names and USDA numbers of the breeders and brokers he is using. That would be a small step in the right direction. In turn, we said we would share our investigative findings so he could at least weed out the worst of the breeders. We did remind him that he has the ultimate responsibility to investigate all the breeders of his puppies. As of this date, we have not received any information from him.

He also stated on camera that he does not use the Hunte Corp. as a broker because it is a notorious broker for puppy mill breeders. When questioned, he revised his statement to say he formerly used the Hunte Corp. but stopped doing business with them 5-6 years ago.

We are investigating the records of both breeders and brokers for this store through the US Department of Agriculture and the Freedom of Information Act and will post the findings.

Buying A Puppy in a Pet Store is an Act of Animal Cruelty

BAN PUPPY STORES!

PROTEST ALERT -- THIS SATURDAY MARCH 26 !!!

PROTEST CALIFORNIA PETS ESCONDIDO

BAN PUPPY STORES!

We need your support to protest at the biggest puppy store in San Diego County.

This store brags they sell 5,000 puppies a year. We have already initiated our investigation into their breeders from Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas -- three of the biggest puppy mill states in the country.

WHERE: Escondido! California Pets, North County Fair
Westfield Shopping Mall (IMPORTANT! Meet in the Sears parking lot to enter the mall as a group.)

WHEN: Saturday, March 26 2011

TIME: 11 AM - 1 PM

DIRECTIONS: Take I-15 North. Exit at Via Rancho Parkway, which takes you directly to the shopping mall. Park near the Sears store which is the anchor store at the west end of the mall.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Park in the shopping center lot, close to the Sears Store. We will gather in parking area S3 and will only enter the mall AS A GROUP. Bring water, signs. At 1 PM, we will take a break and then meet again at 2 PM at a second protest location in the area. Details for the second protest are not being made public but will be given to you at the California Pets BAN PUPPY STORES rally!

CA Court Upholds Puppy Store Protests Legal in Malls!

Calif. Court Says Shopping Malls Must Allow Anti-Puppy Mills Groups

March 03, 2011

LOS ANGELES—Three California Court of Appeal justices ruled this week  that shopping malls in California must allow puppy store protesters, including Best Friends Animal Society, to demonstrate near a puppy store business during all hours that the mall is open to the public. The Court of Appeal, reversing a ruling by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz, said protesters from Best Friends Animal Society cannot be denied free speech just because they wanted to educate mall customers on where Barkworks, a Westside Pavilion pet retailer, receives its puppies.

“The court held that Westside Pavilion must permit Best Friends to protest within sight and earshot of Barkworks every day the mall is open,” said Ira Bibbero, an associate in the legal firm of Browne Woods George LLP, which represented Best Friends in the appeal of an earlier court decision.

“It is a victory for every protester targeting any store in any mall throughout California as the same rules apply throughout the state.”

Best Friends staff and volunteers have been handing out puppy mill education materials at Westside Pavilion every weekend for the past two years. They stated, "It’s a just ruling that ensures free speech for citizens who are advocating for the animals, and also enables us to more effectively educate the public about the abused breeding dogs that must spend their entire lives within the grim reality of puppy mills."

Grossmont Center Vs. Pet Works Owner

Pet Works at Grossmont Center Shopping Mall, permanently closed the doors of its 2700+ sq ft puppy store in December, 2010. In January, the mall sued owner Richard Fuller for $800,000 and attorney fees to recover money owed on the lease. The lease was set to expire in January 2015.


Fuller filed a countersuit this month, alleging that Grossmont Center didn’t protect his pet store from the weekly protests. Fuller maintains the protests caused him to lose revenue and eventually close the store.

The filing contends: “Fuller was forced, due to the breaches of the lease on the part of Grossmont Center, and due to ‘civil commotion’ … to shut and abandon the Pet Works store … and to stop paying rent under the lease.”

News coverage and photos can be found at lamesa.patch.com

Missouri Senate Shows Contempt for Voters,Puppies

The Star’s editorial Senate shows contempt for voters, puppies - KansasCity.com

Apparently determined to preserve Missouri’s status as the nation’s “puppy mill capital,” the state Senate has passed legislation dismantling the humane protections approved by voters in November.

The bill gives breeders permission to continue business as usual — stacking dogs in wire cages, subjecting them to extreme heat and cold, and depriving them of clean water.
Breeders who repeatedly violate the law would be subject to misdemeanor charges, not felony charges as called for in the voter-approved Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. Operators also could no longer be limited to 50 breeding dogs at one time.
Passing the bill on a 20-14 vote, senators showed an arrogant disrespect for Missourians who passed Prop B with 51.6 percent of the vote.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/03/10/2715368/the-stars-editorial-senate-shows.html##ixzz1GV36TR3j

Pet store protest to stop puppy mills - San Diego Animal Advocacy | Examiner.com

Pet store protest to stop puppy mills - San Diego Animal Advocacy Examiner.com

This is a great article just published about our upcoming March 26 protest at California Pets.
Click on the link to read it and watch the moving video.
Then join us to put an end to the sale of puppy mill puppies!