letters to pet stores

An article in Pet Business discussed the profit margin on puppies. It indicated that for puppies sold in the first two weeks the margin is 101% percent. If the puppy is sold in two months, the margin is 4% and if sold at three months, the margin is a negative 26%. According to that article, the profit margin for puppies at Petland stores is between 5 and 10%. The impact that slow sales can have is very evident. Stores will only sell puppies if it improves their bottom line. If you boycott stores that sell puppies, it's so important for them to know that you are boycotting them. Otherwise they may attribute it to some other factor. Please send them a letter. Also, you might include a copy of your sales receipt for products you purchased at a different store that does not sell puppies just to show them how much business selling puppies cost them. But sure to take off any credit card numbers from the receipt.




Your letter could say something like this:



Dear Pet Store Owner:



I am very concerned about the sale of puppies in pet stores. I do not support commercial kennels that breed puppies for resale. Often the conditions in these kennels are abhorrent. Additionally, according to studies by the United States Center for Disease Control and the State of California, half of the puppies sold in pet stores are incubating diseases. This does not even count the number of pet store puppies that have genetic defects that are not initially obvious. And finally, there are millions of dogs killed in this country every year. Since pet stores often encourage impulse purchases, they are large contributors to this crisis. This is evidenced by the fact that according to several studies 30% of the dogs in shelters across the country are purebreed dogs.



Consequently, I think you should know that I will not purchase anything from your store until you stop selling puppies. Please do not contribute to the misery of the dogs in commercial kennels or to the misery of dogs dumped in shelters. Dogs are our companions and our best friends. They deserve better from us. I appeal to your compassion.



Thank you for your attention.