Some interesting info I found~
Please write to Dateline today and thank the producer and correspondent for doing such an intelligent and thorough piece on the puppy mill and pet shop industries. The exposé highlighted the terrible suffering breeding dogs endure on puppy mills day in and day out, the lack of government oversight on USDA-licensed puppy mills and the role the AKC plays in perpetuating the cruel trade in dogs. It was a story that needed to be told, and Dateline did it bravely and accurately.
Dateline NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
E-Mail:
dateline@nbc.com
Tel.: 212-664-7501
Fax: 212-664-7073
Please address your letters to:
Susan Barnett, Producer
Chris Hansen, Correspondent
Write or meet with rental agents who provide space to your local pet shops — including mall managers — and ask them to prohibit the sale of live animals in their rental properties. Instead of contributing to the overpopulation problem, pet shops can provide local shelters with a forum for adopting homeless animals, as is done at the Houston Galleria in Houston, Texas (click here for a sample letter to pet store managers). Ask Donald Trump to take the first step by closing down Le Chien, a pet store located in Trump Plaza that purchases dogs from puppy mills including Nielsen Farms (click here for PETA’s letter to Donald Trump).
Monitor local pet stores that sell puppies. Many animals from puppy mills are sick or have serious congenital health problems. Immediately report sick animals to local humane and health authorities.
Write to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and ask for a crack down on all puppy mills. Had PETA not investigated the Nielsen’s, the USDA charges never would have been brought. (Click here to see PETA’s letter to the USDA and the USDA news release about its complaint against Nielsen Farms.) Write to Daniel R. Glickman, Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20250.
Tell the governor of Kansas (The Honorable Bill Graves, Office of the Governor, State Capitol, 2nd Fl., Topeka, KS 66612-1590; fax: 785-296-7973; e-mail:
governor@ink.org) that state agents are not enforcing puppy mill regulations and that his state is adding to the dog overpopulation crisis.
PETA has corresponded with the director of the Kansas Animal Facility Inspections Animal Health Department, Deborah Duncan (in charge of enforcing the Kansas Pet Animal Act and the Kansas State Anti-Cruelty Code) as well as Jackson County Attorney Micheal Ireland (in charge of enforcing the state anti-cruelty code) asking them to investigate Nielsen Farms based on evidence our investigator uncovered — to no avail. Micheal Ireland’s "rants" to PETA indicate how little his office cares about animal cruelty and the laws that exist to protect animals. He, instead, is "willing to let God sort it out." (Click here to view the letters.)
If you would like to write Bill and Amy Nielsen, owners of Nielsen Farms, you may contact them at:
P.O. Box 3780
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
When you buy from a pet shop, you kill a pound pup. Adopt from an animal shelter if you have the time and resources to care for a dog. Warn your friends and relatives never to buy puppies from pet stores — boycotting them is the only way to stop the cycle of abuse. By purchasing supplies only from catalogs or stores that don’t sell dogs, cats, fish, or small animals, you help animals who suffer terribly on breeding farms.