March 29, 2012

Channel 10 updated news

Some of the Channel 10 coverage of the raids on the three stores included additional news about puppies confiscated from a home in El Cajon. Good news! They may run but they can't hide!

From our most recent protest. Good job, ADT!
SAN DIEGO -- The owner of pet stores in Clairemont, Rolando and Oceanside was under investigation Wednesday for possibly mistreating animals for sale.

Investigators seized more than 100 animals Tuesday said Kelli Herwehe, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Humane Society.

A home in El Cajon also was searched as part of the operation
Among the confiscated animals were nearly 60 puppies, rabbits, a 35-pound turtle and a 7-foot python.

"These animals have been transported (and) received full veterinary exams, and several have received medical treatment and surgery," said Randall Lawrence, law enforcement director for the San Diego Humane Society. "All of the animals are now being housed ... as potential evidence for the pending investigation." None of the impounded pets were available for immediate adoption, as the investigation could be ongoing for months, Herwehe said.

Charges that potentially could result from the investigation include animal cruelty and neglect, as well as violations of state health-and-safety codes, according to Lawrence

"Any possible charges that may be pressed against the owner of these pet stores will be determined based on the evidence we collect from the public, along with the condition of the animals," he said.

A grassroots group that calls itself the San Diego Animal Defense Team has been protesting the stores since last August and filed complaints with the county, calling the businesses "puppy mills."

Note from ADT: Thanks Channel 10. It sure looks like they found the pups from Puppy Stars and they are now safe!

March 27, 2012

Humane Society raids local pet stores - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Humane Society raids local pet stores - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Thanks for the coverage, Channel 8. Thanks for the raid, DAS, SDHS and SDPD!
Love,
the SD Animal Defense Team

PUPPY STARS/PET PLACE/NAEDEEN PUPPIES RAIDED TODAY!

Puppy Stars, Pet Place (both in San Diego) and Naedeen Puppies (in Oceanside) were all included today in raids by the San Diego Police Dept., the San Diego Humane Society and the Department of Animal Services! All stores are owned by the same owners and all have been the target of a constant campaign with protests and investigations by the Animal Defense Team. Here are photos taken during the raids. Channel 8 News was there and interviewed one of the SD Animal Defense Team organizers who was also on the scene.
 
Channel 8 News at Puppy Stars back door

SDPD inside Pet Place
 
San Diego Animal Defense Team!
Our hard work has paid off!


As always, we caution that our work is not done, but each and every one of you who have raised your voices in concern, made signs and calls and videos and photos and stood on the frontlines with us at these stores deserve to sleep well tonight...knowing that you have saved many dogs.
Thank you, thank you.

March 26, 2012

Beware of Puppy Stores Suddenly Selling "Rescues"

From the Huff Post Impact:

'Dog-Flipping:' Animal Activists Fight
Selling Of Adopted Pets


Posted: 03/26/2012 7:58 pm Updated: 03/26/2012 7:58 pm

Some looking to make a quick buck are willing to go so far as to adopt a dog in need and sell it to the highest online bidder.

Animal experts are calling the concept "dog-flipping" and say the cruel practice of adopting a free pup only to turn around and sell it is on the rise, WMC reports.

These "dog-flippers" are posing as feasible adopters, but then go on to just pack them in at home with the other pooches they're looking to sell. "There are some predatory people out there who will take your dog in, say they are going to give it a good home," animal rescuer Sarah Clinton told WMC, "and then turn around and sell that dog for $50, $60, a couple of hundred dollars."

But activists and pet owners are catching on to the trend and are working to put a stop to it.

Though Amy Cannon couldn't afford her dog's litter of nine puppies, she spent hundreds of dollars to have them vaccinated and she extensively screened the potential adopters she met on Craigslist and Facebook, according to HLN.

But when the Ohio woman saw that one of the puppies she gave away was posted for sale on Craigslist for $60, she was horrified and immediately rescued him.

Cannon hopes to protect other dogs from similar fates with her Facebook awareness page -- Citizens Against Flipping Dogs, according to WMC.
"I don't think a lot of people in this country have even heard about something like this," Cannon told HLN. "It's one of those hush-hush things."

March 23, 2012

FB and Oodle.com to stop sale of puppy mill dogs on their sites!

David Salinas and San Diego Puppy: This means YOU!
Pet Place: This means YOU!
Puppy Stars: This means YOU!


Facebook Rejects Puppy Mill Ads for Good!


March 23, 2012

In response to concerns raised by the ASPCA and its national “No Pet Store Puppies” campaign, measures will be put in place to ensure that puppy mill dogs will no longer be sold via Marketplace on Facebook. The ASPCA is working with Facebook and Oodle, the online classifieds service that powers Marketplace on Facebook, to restrict listings of puppy mill dogs on the popular social media site. Through an ongoing removal process, ads placed by puppy mills have already started coming down. The process was designed to ensure that individuals may continue to post dogs available for a nominal adoption or rehoming fee.

The ASPCA believes that reducing Internet venues through which puppy mills can offer their dogs will help combat the inhumane puppy mill industry. Many puppies sold online come from puppy mills—these are large-scale, commercial facilities that commonly keep dogs in unsanitary, overcrowded and often cruel conditions without sufficient veterinary care, food, water or socialization.

"Removing an online platform for the cruel puppy mill industry sets a positive example of corporate citizenship and will help improve the lives of countless dogs," says ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres. "Most consumers are unaware they are perpetuating animal cruelty by purchasing a puppy online, and given the visibility of Marketplace on Facebook, this move has the potential to raise critical awareness about unscrupulous online breeders.”

Puppy mills that sell directly to consumers over the Internet are exempt from any federal oversight, allowing unregulated breeders to sell tens of thousands of puppies a year via online transactions. The Internet Crime Complaint Center notes that hundreds of complaints are filed every year from victims who are scammed when buying a dog online.

“Consumers who purchase a puppy from a website run the risk of acquiring an unhealthy animal and often end up with expensive vet bills and broken hearts,” said Cori Menkin, Senior Director of the ASPCA Puppy Mills Campaign. “We hope additional online retailers and classifieds listings will follow this example and stop providing a platform for puppy mill sales.”

To learn more about the ASPCA’s campaign to eradicate puppy mills and sign our pledge not to buy any items—including food, supplies or toys—from stores or websites that sell puppies, please visit http://www.nopetstorepuppies.com/.

March 22, 2012

PUPPY STARS! We are coming!

Puppy Stars Protest! ***everyone welcome***
Tomorrow night, Friday, March 23     5 PM - 7 PM
167 Balboa Ave. in Clairemont
We will have a special surprise action. Don't miss this one --
and be sure to wear your red ADT scarf!

Message Sent to Dr. Osawa, Pet Hospital of North Park

Dr. Osawa
Pet Hospital of North Park
2444 University
San Diego 92104

Dr. Osawa:
We would like to register our dismay and real concern about your partnership with Puppy Stars and Pet Place. We have documentation that they are selling puppy mill pups from out-of-state, purchased through Lambriar, Inc. in Kansas. Someone from your office was in Pet Place recently, briefly examining puppies and passed a Beagle puppy as healthy when it quite obviously had a seriously extended stomach. Pet Place has been sued three times and lost --all the cases were for selling sick dogs. People are now contacting us consistently with similar stories of purchasing sick dogs.

We would very much like to hear an explanation of why, as a veterinarian, you are partnering with an industry that creates so much pain and suffering.
We look forward to your response,
San Diego Animal Defense Team

Huntington Beach looks to halt retail sale of cats, dogs [The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.]

Huntington Beach looks to halt retail sale of cats, dogs [The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.]

March 19, 2012

HBO Cancels 'Luck' after Deaths of Three Horses

The HBO series "Luck" has been cancelled after the deaths of three of the horses used in filming. What a tragic and unnecessary loss. Read PETA's coverage here.

HBO Cancels 'Luck' | PETA.org

March 17, 2012

Puppy Stars Alert

 
 
 
Posted by Picasa

On Friday evening, March 16, members of the ADT saw lights on in the store. Blinds were closed but through the door they saw DOGS IN THE CAGES. They reported that the dogs were not puppies.
There were many open cages but the ones with dogs in them had about 4 dogs each and were very crowded. Three people were inside the store. One said through the closed door that they were closed to "regroup" but would open again in April and are "trying it with some rescues."
No reputable rescue would ever partner with a Pet Store.

On Saturday, March 17, the store windows and door were completely covered with newspapers so it is impossible to see what is happening inside. (See photos above.)  The sign reads "We will be open at the beginning of April. We will also have some rescue dogs available. 760-458-5778 Thanks Puppy Stars"
WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?  If the dogs in the store at 8 PM last night are still in there, they are alone and completely in the dark due to the covered windows. There are no other windows in the facility. Is this unit now being used as a temporary storage place for the dogs? Where are the puppies from both this location and Naedeen's Puppies in Oceanside? Where are they being held? We will continue to monitor and report on this alarming situation.

March 14, 2012

BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!

Saturday, March 10:  Members of the San Diego Animal Defense Team (ADT) found the Puppy Stars store on Balboa Ave. in Clairemont to be empty.

Where are the puppies!
Where are the employees!
Where are the customers!

Cages were completely cleaned out -- empty of both puppies and bedding.  No water bottles on the cages. The mailbox was full and overflowing. Doors were locked. Blinds were pulled.
Puppy Stars
6167 Balboa Ave.
San Diego
   EMPTY!
After a bit of cautious celebration and finding out from other tenants that although the sign said back at 1:15, the store had actually been closed for three days,
we went to their sister store on El Cajon Blvd. in Rolando: Pet Place

Pet Place was open and the veterinarian who is in a business partnership with the store
(Pet Hospital of North Park) -- in spite of ongoing warnings from all animal welfare groups such as HSUS and ASPCA  to NOT partner with puppy mill stores -- was giving the pups a rudimentary once-over. At the same time, the employee was telling a customer that they got a shipment of 6 puppies just the day before and 3 of them had already died. Here's a photo of a puppy who passed inspection. We see a distended stomach indicating a problem, possibly worms. What do YOU see?



SD Animal Defense Team investigators have already compiled a significant amount of evidence against Puppy Stars and Pet Place --
lawsuits with judgments against them
for selling sick puppies, 
proof that they use Lambriar Inc.,a notorious puppy mill factory from Kansas as their broker, 
proof they sell pups from several large "cash crop" breeders in the Midwest.
Sunday, March 11: The SD Animal Defense Team we visited their third facility in Oceanside on S. Coast Highway. It too was CLOSED! No puppies! No employees! No customers. Just empty rooms and a mountain of trash piled outside the back door:

WOW!
It may be a bit too soon to celebrate. We still have work to do at Pet Place.
Our next protest is scheduled for Friday evening, March 23, 5 - 7 PM.
Location? TBA on our website
BUT...

We thought you all might enjoy this email sent to one of our supporters
from Puppy Stars. She had inquired about their hours of operation.
"...unfortunately, we are closed down."