I agreed 100% with you Woogieman. Tammy8833~We are not attacking MaW or St. Jude for the work that they do with sick children. I have repeatedly stated they are both wonderful charities and do great things BUT I am questioning the ethics of Petland donating to sick children for their personal gain. You need to go back and reread what has been said about this subject.

There are certain requirements that need to be met for the Make a Wish program and if they only way to grant a puppy would be from puppy from Petland it just should not be an option. :thumbdown How can you possibly say that puppymills are not OK except for kids that are in the Make a Wish program? Your logic here is beyond my comprehension. :confused: Puppymills are not acceptable in any shape of form EVER. I just don't understand how breeding sick dogs so that you or anyone else can have a "cheap" puppy is even an argument? To further say that because they are busy it is OK to condone the actions of Petland? All they have to do is say NO! I am not asking MaW or St. Jude himself to fight puppymills! I was questioning whether or not they knew the implications of Petland's donations and was shocked by the response that I received. I believe you have totally missed the point of this entire thread.

Here is the response that was attached to the email with the email that I received this morning from MaW:

On Nov. 20, 2008, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) launched a full-scale media attack on Petland Inc., with false allegations regarding the purchase of pets from substandard breeders. The HSUS held a press conference in Washington, D.C., disseminated their video and report to media nationwide, and conducted a massive e-mail campaign to its members.

The video used by The HSUS is a gross distortion of the truth and the validity of the report and investigation is HIGHLY SUSPECT.

In The HSUS' report of its 8-month investigation, it claimed to have visited 21 Petland stores, and 35 breeders and brokers. The HSUS also claimed to have examined the records of more than 17,000 individual puppies.

On Nov. 21, Petland asked Stephanie Shain, program manager, The HSUS, to release all documentation that detailed the Petland store and breeder investigation, and the nearly 17,000 puppies in question. To date, this documentation has not been turned over to the USDA or the proper authorities. In fact, the Pet Rescue Examiner reported that the USDA released a statement about the charges filed by The HSUS and said that it had not received any complaints by The HSUS about any particular breeder or about Petland.

On Nov. 24, Petland urged The HSUS again to turn over the documentation to the proper authorities through an open letter to the editor. Within the letter, Petland stated, "Petland is outraged that HSUS would intentionally use video footage of unrelated kennels in the report to try to mislead the general public into believing these facilities have a connection to Petland."

On Nov. 27, Petland finally received a packet from The HSUS with documentation, but all that was included were USDA reports, information which is available to the public. There were NO documents of The HSUS' inspections of 21 Petland stores and 35 breeders, and there was NO documentation of the 17,000 puppies HSUS referenced. There was simply NO evidence that The HSUS actually did an investigation. Even the video of the kennels tied to Petland only showed the exterior of the kennels. Also, no interviews with the owners, no inside shots, no specific shots of violations were ever provided.

What Is The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)?

The HSUS is a national animal protection agency based in Washington D.C. that is essentially a public relations entity with no affiliation with local humane societies or local animal shelters.

The Real Issue is Substandard Breeders

The real, disturbing issue is that there are substandard breeders in operation. The way to end the suffering of animals in these facilities is to eliminate those substandard breeders or to bring them into compliance with humane and acceptable standards.

For years, Petland has been a leader in the stand against substandard breeders. Petland is part of the solution. As such, the objective of The HSUS to “shut down” Petland is illogical. The misguided attack by The HSUS does nothing to stop these poor breeding practices, and in fact, hinders the fight against substandard breeders.

Petland – A Leader in Responsible Pet Care

As the largest national pet retailer, Petland continues to raise the bar and set the gold standard for pet care. Petland has developed the following programs to address critical issues, and to protect the welfare of pets and educate pet owners:


Humane Care Guidelines

The Petland Humane Care Guidelines represent commitment of its member breeders and distributors to provide the best possible care for all the animals in their kennels. These guidelines govern care of dogs that live under their care as part of a well-managed breeding system as well as those that are raised through puppyhood for the enjoyment of pet owners across The United States.

Petland strictly enforces these guidelines through the landmark Petland Certified Kennel Program, which mandates regular inspections by licensed veterinarians in addition to current licensure by the governing state and federal agencies.

Spay/Neuter
Petland Pet Counselors educate new puppy and kitten owners about responsible pet care and participate in cooperative programs with local veterinarians. Petland provides families with discount incentives to spay or neuter their pet. More and more Petland stores are making already altered pets available or offering a free or discount spay/neuter certificate to pet owners who purchase a puppy or kitten.

Petland's Adopt-A-Pet(SM)
Petland's Adopt-A-Pet(SM) has helped place more than a quarter of a million homeless pets in the last 10 years. Petland Pet Counselors work with staff at local animal shelters, pet rescue groups and with members of the local community to place homeless pets, such as puppies, dogs, kittens, cats and a variety of small animals. As part of this cooperative program, Petland store operators make available their highly visible Petland display windows to aid in the placement of homeless pets in local communities.

Enhanced Protection Program
The Enhanced Protection Program is a partnership between the American Kennel Club's Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR) program and helpmefindMYPET™. Together, these programs provide a comprehensive pet recovery process that includes microchipping, tattooing, tagging and Amber Alert-type registration. This successful program returns 87 percent of lost or stolen pets, compared to the national average of 12 percent.

Pets for a Lifetime(SM)
Petland puppies go home with Pets for a Lifetime Resource Kits. This free, comprehensive dog training program includes a DVD on puppy training by a professional canine behavior specialist and a free canine behavior training membership. Petland offers a free helpline for dog owners with canine behaviors that are not addressed in the provided educational materials. The resource kit also includes information on local pet care specialists and coupons for savings on pet care products from Petland.

Pet Therapy
Pet therapy is a natural extension of Petland's retail environment. By definition, pet therapy is the use of animals in the therapeutic treatment of humans. Petland commonly takes its pets to visit school children and nursing home residents. Studies have shown that the human-animal bond that pets provide are good for people, enhancing verbal and social skills in children, reducing stress in adults and providing companionship and lowering blood pressure in seniors.

These are just a few examples of how Petland is committed to the welfare of pets. Petland continues to be at the forefront of setting industry standards and will continue to fight and raise awareness of substandard breeding.

Petland's Response

After reviewing the material that The HSUS provided, Petland responded to The HSUS' allegations on its Web site stating "…healthy, happy, well-socialized pets within our care are our number one priority, as they have been for 41 years. We do not support substandard breeding facilities and we provide each Petland store with 'Humane Care Guidelines,' which were developed in conjunction with the USDA to assist with breeder facility inspections."

Since the initial response, Petland has reached out to its franchisees, employees and the media with the truth. We will continue to disseminate the truth and protect the good name of Petland.

I would think that the charities could afford to buy a dog from a breeder, isn't that why people donate, so the charities have money to make the wish come true?

I give up, too many people now associate HSUS with PETA. They think the are some radical organization and believe the propaganda put out by commercial breeders. I think HUSU is very different than PETA, while they are both concerned with humane care of animals, HUSU is not against breeding or pet ownership. If you don't believe me, here's a comment from none other than Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh Speaks Up For Humane Society

Yes, this is true but unless I'm reading it wrong isn't Petland donating the pups to the sick children? If that's the case then my suggestion would give Petland another alternative other then using a store that gets their pups from mills. MAW is not going to use funds to buy a pup if they are getting a pup for from from Petland. It comes down to dollar and cents and not necessarily where that pup came from. Elaine

This was just sent to me:

http://www.stoppuppymills.org/pdfs/f...-v-petland.pdf

Ugh! A lot to wade through. Some of those stories were heartbreaking. I have always loved my pets growing up(they were cats). I could not imagine what some of these families have gone through with regards to thier kid's heartbreak, let alone the expense. This is just horrible and unforgiveable. Companies like this should NOT be alowed to stay in business.:mad:

Jodi, Can all of us start a petition and send it to the appropriate people? I have also emailed Oprah and Dr Phill. We need to get this out to the media. Let me know your thoughts.

Here is what I have been doing........Late last night I was really thinking about how to get a good petition together as suggested by nancy1999 and Manolo'smom. I did a search right here on YT and found a post from Yorkiesmiles

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...peaks-out.html

It listed all of the contact emails for people involved with the Petland protests that are going on all over the country~so I emailed them all :D Believe it or not even they were not aware this was going on! But they are NOW:D:D

An online petition is being put together by a member of HSUS and as soon as it is up and ready I will let everyone know. In the mean time if you have not already done so please send an email to the Make a Wish Foundation regarding Petland and their association to puppymills.

Finally, I would like to stress AGAIN my intent is not to cause problems to MaW or deny a child their wish. I fully intend to do whatever is in my power to enlighten MaW of the facts surrounding Petland. Like Nancy said earlier, there is no reason to accept dirty "money" puppymill dogs from Petland~they could purchase from reputable breeders to fulfull a child's wish! This association is what bothers me and how Make a Wish is being douped into believing that Petland is doing a great thing for these kids. :thumbdown This is the website that the petition will most likely be placed but for now you can go and check it out. Puppy Mill Dogs Voice - HOME

Hi!
 

Hi everyone! I am "the one" from the other thread. Tammy, I agree with you whole heartedly, which is why I joined the forum to express my displeasure at the thought of punishing a charity for accepting a donation. I told everyone that I was an ex-franchisee to support my agrument and not seem like I was pro Petland; which I am not. Unfortunately some irrational people think that because I stated my opinion, that I am part of a conspiracy with Petland. My question is: why would I admit to being an ex franchisee if I was part of this alleged conspiracy? I would like to see all Petland stores closed down because I do not think the Petland monitors their franchisees enough to ensure that puppies are not bought from puppy mills. However, I would not like to see a charity suffer because they tried to make a dying child's wish come true. Puppy mill politics should be addressed on its own, write a campaign to Petland or the state, or the federal government...whatever you want. By these charities losing your support, the families they help are the ones that suffer. Petland will not be affected by it at all- if you want to stop Petland you need to reassess your target. ;)

PS- I'm sure Make a Wish is enlightened about Petland; they just have priorities- which is to help families get their wish. Your goal seems to be to stoop MaW from accepting donations from Petland. Even if MaW stopped taking donations from Petland, it would not affect Petland. Petland donates these puppies, they do not receive money for them. So ceasing to donate to MaW does not hurt their sales- which means they will continue to purchase from these puppy mills. The "publicity" that you think MaW donations get Petland does not help their sales. The publicity is mostly from Petland Corp. And there are never spikes in sales. I just wanted to further elaborate on my point about how MaW is getting caught in the crossfire against your anti-Petland campaign. Since apparently you read into everything I say as pro Petland...I will make this clear: I would like to see all Petlands closed. I would not like to see the MaW foundation unnecessarily financially hurt in order for this to happen.

Regarding MaW buying from a direct breeder. I think that is a perfect idea. And a campaign to MaW to support this would be a good idea; but please dont stop donating to them.

Once again, I do not understand were you are getting that we want to "PUNISH"" a charity?:confused: I email Make A Wish and asked that they please reconsider offering puppies from Petland for a child's wish. Somehow you are twisting this into I am personally attacking Make A Wish :confused::confused::confused::confused: That could be further from the truth. I wanted MaW to underastand that Petland was not a good choice when it came to granting a wish not that I wanted to stop people from donating to their very worthwhile charity. Not only that but you quoted Tammie in your reply and this was also clarified to her as well and she now understands what our point is~to not accept Petland donations.

Do not worry because this is now being taken care of and address in a very positive manner. HSUS is not a radical organization as Petland is presenting them to be to MaW as a matter of fact they have a resource to direct people to good breeders that are not puppymills. Hopefully in the future with a little encouragement MaW will use donation money to purchase a puppy for a child wish instead of taking puppies from Petland.

I am still curious how you found this forum so quickly when it came to Petland and an thread about Petland birthday parties that turned into Petland granting Make A Wish donations? I don't think I am trying to make this a conspiracy :rolleyes: as you stated, I truly am curious how you found us. This is a question that is asked often on this forum.

How many times do we have to write that no one wants these charities to suffer? It's just that they need to make an informed decision about receiving a pet from Petland. You seem to be suggesting that we should keep the whole thing quiet, I hope this is not the case. This is an ethical sort of question, similar to "Should a church stop taking donations from someone who they know has stolen money from others?"

You could be a very valuable ally in this task, as you have first hand information about Petland, I hope you focus on what we are trying to accomplish, and that's educating these charities that Petland is not the sort of company that they should associated with. I hope you will join us in educating others about the problems. Once the facts are out there, we can all make a decision on what to do.

Perhaps I should have been more conscientious as to the fact that I had switched threads. Initially on the thread regarding Petland offering birthday parties, the members had decided to no longer donate to charities that accepted donations from Petland. I felt as though this was not fair to the charities. Hence, when I switched to this thread as momma suggested, I brought my prior arguments with me. For this I apologize because I did not pick up on the cause. If you want to spend time requesting that MaW not accept these donations that is fine. I just feel as though your time would be more effectively spent determining ways to directly impact Petland and their purchasing.

I am sorry to say that I do not agree with the HSUS either. I agree that puppy mills should be stopped, but I feel as though the HSUS is mostly propaganda. They actually do not believe in purchasing from breeders either, according to some of their own posts, shelter dogs are the only humane way to purchase a dog. But I disagree with Petland more so. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so I guess I would have to side with the HSUS.

I answered the question about how I found the forum on the other site. However, I received a popup that said a mediator had to review it before it would be posted (this happened on one of my other posts as well... Im not sure why, Im assuming that someone did not like what I had to say so I got reported and now I have to have things checked first?) last time it took about 12 hours or so before it came up. Its pretty long... but basically i search weekly for updates on Petland complaints and I limit the search criteria to websites that have been updated within the past week. I do this to see if anyone has any issues with any puppies that were sold from my store,- not that I can do anything about it now, just for curiousity's sake. Anyway, this forum popped up and I thought I would put my two cents in.

You are spreading propaganda put out by commercial breeders. HSUS is not against breeding. They believe in responsible breeding. Of course they say that a person should first consider a rescue or shelter, that a wonderful suggestion, and one that I agree with, but they also see no problem with getting a pet from a responsible breeder. As they have said, responsible breeders dogs don't end up in kill shelters. If you don't like the HSUS that's your prerogative, but be sure the reason that you don't care for it is a valid reason, and not some lies spread by commercial breeding interests.

Super.

I would have to agree with you Nancy. When I contact HSUS it was their first suggestion that there were other sources out there that MaW could be directed to for puppies to help grant a wish.

In addition to this after emailing many of the member of HSUS not one said that they were opposed to MaW granting wishes to children that involved a puppy but they all were outraged and shocked that the puppies were coming from Petland store! I was amazed that somehow this entire link between MaW and Petland has not been discovered prior to my search.

Sevenfortythree~thank you for answering my question as to how you found us. I have to say that you posted within a very sort time of the original post and I was truly courious as to how you found us. I would suggest that you stick around an continue to enjoy this forum. There is so much knowledge that is shared and YT is a great place to learn many things about yorkies and dogs in general. :)

[/QUOTE]

When new members join and post to controversial topics I believe you might be moderated for a time. Not sure why it too 12 hours for your post to be seen. I personally did not see your reply prior to now how you found us. Thank you for clarifying this.

I assure you that it was purely coincidence. As I said, I look for the most recently updated articles/blogs, which I guess would be why it popped up. This time [the mediator's check] only took about 30 mins...the last one took a lot longer...

I hope a petition gets circled around soon. Both organizations need to be aware that by accepting donations from places like Petland (and I mean donations in the form of a puppy) they are inderectly supporting an organization that makes its gains on the suffering of living things.

I hope those that think we are trying to attack noble organizations like St Judes or Make A Wish will take a secong to think about this...
Big organizations like St Judes and Make A Wish have different departments. Some for public relations, a department for housing (if they offer housing to families... I really should be more informed about these types of organizations!!!!), and a department solely dedicated to research.
By bringing this information on puppy mills we will not be disrupting any of the great research done by doctors or scientists that work endlessly to help all the people that can benefit by their findings. We would only be bothering those people who is their job to speak to the public. Isn't that what public relations is for????

Just food for thought!

Oh! And one more thing, if a person decides they are so appauled by this situation that they will no longer be donating to these charities, then isn't it their poragative to do so? That doesn't mean that everyone else feels that way. Some can want to bring this to MAW's attention without stopping any intent to donate.

i never said puppy mills were ok for the sick kids i said go to the root of the problem, not the organizations that are doing good for the kids. go off on pet land and all the puppy mills. if MAW and St jude have been notified of petlands reputation great, well now its their call. i just think more energy should be concentrated on the ones doing wrong.

:thumbup::thumbup:
I agree with you, and to answer your question about the petition, Megan's mom is working with the HSUS to come up with a petition, she will post this and links as soon as this is done.

i think that is a great idea elaine!!

Believe me lots of energy is spent on the ones doing wrong, it just that Petland is trying to improve it's reputation by using good charities names, and this is wrong.

I think if places like St Jude and MAW were to stop their affiliation with places like Petland it would hurt Petland a lot more than news reports. News reports can publish and bring to light the plight of the animals that suffer in mills, and the people that are heartbroken over their loss have done a lot of good of putting this problem out there. I do also think that if St Jude and MAW were to cut ties and take away whatever good image Petland is getting by their association to these organizations it would HURT PETLAND TREMENDOUSLY!!!!

You know I never even thought of it from that perspective, but I believe that you are right.

There is an alternative for MaW and St Jude and any other charity that associates itself with Petland give of puppies to sick children. I believe it is called the Breeder Registry and that is what should be offered as an alternative to the aforementioned charities. I have stated this before and for some reason you seem to be missing this point~I believe that they are being misguided by Petland's notorious lies and manipulations of the truth. HSUS has diligently been working on the puppymill crisis in this country through legislation and their class action suit by all of the customers that were lied to by Petland and their employees. I am well as many others on this board support their efforts through donations and volunteerism~do you? These charities have been deceived into thinking that this is all a made up lie by a bunch of extremists. All I was trying to do was inform MaW about their notorious history and business practices. I naively sent an email I received am answer that shocked me further. Did you not read that part of this thread? :confused: The response that I got back from Nancy Whetstone who by the way is the Director of Marketing and Public Affairs had my mouth hanging open in disbelief! I now believe that HSUS will address this issue directly with these charities with hard evidence to change their current stance and help to enlighten them to the real truth of Petland. What Petland is doing is dispicable because they have attached themselves to SICK CHILDREN AND PUPPIES IMO you really cannot get any lower than that! :thumbdown

I agree with this statement 100000%! That is what will be accomplished now that this has been brought out into the open. As soon as I hear anything back from HSUS I will be sure to let everyone. In the mean time it has been suggested to me that if you are as concerned as I and many other are that you take a minute and write to Make a Wish at this email address:


Nancy Whetstone
Director of Marketing and Public Relations

NancyW@makeawishohio.org

Wow...there is so much that could be said about this situation and the comments that have been made in both threads, but I wouldn't even know where to begin! :eek:

I can see what I consider to be valid points on both sides of the argument here. So just a few disjointed observations and opinions.

I don't believe that the "new member" deserves a lot of the crap that she's getting here and quite frankly I'm a bit shocked that some of the insinuations made towards her have been allowed to remain. Some of her points I agree with, some I don't, but either way...I'm not sure why she seems to be an exception to the rules here on YT.

I personally think that Petland is about as shady a business as they come and would love to see them all shut down. However, I also think it's incredibly unfortunate that MAW and St Judes stand to lose support or credibility because of their association with them. It sickens me that they are actually in support of them, but as a whole, I still think the two organizations do a whole lot more good than bad. That doesn't excuse supporting them, IMO, but there are LOTS of organizations out there that work towards a good cause overall, but that have both agreeable and condemnable methods of getting there. (Dare I say PETA?)

I see it being mentioned that there are better options, but are there? Really? I'm not so sure that may respectable breeders would be willing to donate a dog to the organization at no charge.....?

I see it as nothing more than a chance for Petland to make themselves look good by using the names and reputations of two well established and respected organizations. And that is just SORRY! They are not "out" anything. They are likely just going to write off the would-be price of the dog as a business expense and come out smelling like roses in the end.

The whole idea of hosting a birthday party at Petland is just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of in my life. :rolleyes: I fully expect to see the Octomom there with her kids celebrating their birthdays in the near future. :p