The San Diego Animal Defense Team sent the following letter to the Clairemont Puppy Star's store on Septemember 10. As of today, September 24, we are sorry to say there has been no response at all.
________________________________________________________________________________
September 10, 2011
Le Kim and Nguyen Huong, Owners Puppy Star’s
6171 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Dear Le Kim and Nguyen Huong:
The San Diego Animal Defense Team works to stop the cycle of cruelty that begins with the mass breeding of puppies and ends with their sale in pet stores while thousands of adoptable animals die in San Diego shelters for lack of homes. Animal Defense Team would like to offer Puppy Star’s a unique opportunity to join us in standing up against the needless death of homeless pets and the cruel mass dog breeding industry by becoming the first “Rescue Only” pet store in San Diego.
The public is becoming increasingly aware that mass breeding facilities, often called puppy mills, supply pet stores that sell puppies, and they do not want to support such an industry, especially when millions of healthy and adoptable pets are put to sleep every year in shelters. Cities across the United States are passing ordinances banning the retail sale of dogs and cats. (http://network.bestfriends.org/initiatives/puppymills/pages/retail-pet-sale-bans.aspx )
Glendale and West Hollywood are the most recent cities in California to pass such legislation, and judging from public interest and increased awareness, we believe that San Diego will soon follow.
As you can see in this video that shows the celebration put on by the City of Glendale for “Pet Rush” and store owner Rene Karapedian, the community strongly supports a humane model where a pet store focuses on grooming, retail sale of pet products, and other pet services rather than the sale of puppies. The County of Los Angeles and many local rescue groups have teamed with “Pet Rush” to offer rescue puppies for adoption at the store, and the result has so far been amazing! Pet Rush now has the reputation of being a model to the community for helping to battle the homeless pet problem by supporting rescue puppies rather than perpetuating the cruel mass breeding industry, and their business is booming. See the video of the opening of Pet Rush as the first rescue only pet store in Glendale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BB8TNd3s4Ek#et Pet Rush has the following statement on their website, found at http://www.petrush.net/adoption.html
“Pet Rush is Glendale's first rescue-only pet store. We have formed partnership with most Los Angeles county shelters with the help of Best Friends Of America and the Jason Heigl Foundation. Our goal is to find good loving homes for homeless pets who might not be adopted if left in government-run shelters and would have to be put down due to overcrowded conditions. Pet Rush is part of a movement that is happening across Los Angeles and throughout the nation, people are becoming more consumer-savy and socially conscious. Buying a breeder dog from a pet store is often compared to the blood diamond industry and people are less inclined to risk being a part of such a sad reality. At Pet Rush we believe that given enough time and know-how, a home can be found for almost every animal, and we do not believe that euthanasia is the answer.”
We're sure that you and your staff genuinely care about dogs but have never seen where your puppies actually come from. We invite you to research the breeding facilities that supply your brokers and see for yourself what a cruel industry this is. We believe that once you realize that you are supporting such places, that you will not want to be associated with them anymore. The following video is a good example of where pet store puppies come from: http://video.bestfriends.org/community/m/programs/1344.aspx
Animal Defense Team is willing to assist in your transition to a humane model, to provide contacts with breed rescues and shelters in San Diego, and to promote your store and celebrate it as the first rescue only pet shop in San Diego if you decide to cooperate with us in combating animal cruelty and promoting the adoption of rescue and shelter pets. We can also give you contact information for Best Friends Animal Society’s “Puppies Aren’t Products” campaign where professional marketing and PR people will volunteer to work with you to transition to a humane model. See:http://network.bestfriends.org/initiatives/puppymills/default.aspx
We sincerely hope that you will take the time to look into the puppy breeding industry that you are supporting and consider becoming a leader in offering a “humane model” pet shop, which we believe is going to be the trend in San Diego, especially when new legislation banning retail sales of dogs and cats, is passed. Please contact us at keafs2@yahoo.com to further discuss this matter.
Sincerely,
San Diego Animal Defense Team
No comments:
Post a Comment