[capt_noonie]

This is the email newsletter I received from them today. Often times I see shops that sell pets, but also sell premium dog food. I wonder if the dog food companies have reps come to check out the shop before they open an account with them? When I want to bring in a new line or company, a rep has to come meet me and approve us before we can place an order. I'm wondering if these companies to send people out and don't care they sell dogs?

Anyway, here's the email:

Welcome to our Puppy Issue! This month, learn some useful tips on puppy nutrition, and save money on our two puppy recipes, Thrive and Embark (which are also suitable for active adult dogs, and those who need a lower-carb diet)

While we're on the topic of puppies, we're sometimes asked why we are so strongly opposed to allowing our foods to be sold in retail outlets that sell puppies and kittens. We have refused to allow Honest Kitchen products to be sold in stores that sell puppies and kittens for the past nine years, because they are often linked to puppy mills and backyard breeders.

There are about 100,000 to 200,000 dogs inside puppy mills at any given time in the United States. We believe that puppy mills do not constitute 'responsible breeders', since puppy-mill pets are not sufficiently socialized to normal everyday situations, causing them to suffer various social problems and making them difficult house pets - which in turn makes them even more at risk of ending their days in a shelter. In addition, puppy mills do not offer lifetime support to puppy owners and do not agree to take back any puppy they have raised, for the duration of its entire life, as a responsible breeder does. Also, when puppies are sold in retail outlets, there is insufficient vetting of new homes to ensure that owners are sufficiently educated on how to care for their new animal, have the means to care for their new family member and properly understand the lifetime responsibility they are undertaking.

The mass scale breeding of puppies on farms, transportation across the country and re-sale in shops is the single biggest cause of massive over-population of companion animals in the United States and has caused puppies to be considered as commodities or possessions rather than members of the family. The greatest victims in the puppy mill problem are the breeding parents, because they will live their life in a cage and it generally ends fairly brutally.

However, we support rescue organizations and responsible breeders, as well as pet supplies stores who refuse to support irresponsible backyard breeders and the puppy mill trade.

We hope that you join us in taking a stance against these stores, and the irresponsible breeders who supply them. No matter how cute that puppy might be in the window - if there's no demand, the supply will stop.

Now that it's off our chest, let's celebrate our love for puppies; from their tummies to their toes! Here are a few pictures we'd like to share, brought to you by our Facebook Fans!