The selling of puppies in College Station needs to be restricted to qualified registered breeders and registered shelters and rescue organizations for several important reasons:



1) People will more likely adopt a pet from a local shelter or rescue group, helping to increase the adoption rates of local shelters and rescue organizations in the BCS.

2) Many of those puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills- A puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation where profit is given priority over the well-being of the dogs. Many of those puppies are ill and are then sold to innocent families, only to have their new beloved pet die shortly after the purchase. (College Station puppy stores have contributed to the selling of sick pets countless times, for more information on those sales please watch the youtube video below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPuL9JidEE

The pet store shown in the video above closed down this year after shortly after this video was released. Sadly, two weeks after they shut down, another pet store took their place in the Post Oak Mall and they will continue to operate and sell puppies unless they are stopped.

3) “Many pet store owners will tell you they get all their puppies from "licensed USDA breeders" or "local breeders." In fact, in order to sell puppies to pet stores, a breeder must be licensed by the USDA! Pet stores often use this licensing to provide a false sense of security to customers, when what it really means is that they do, in fact, get their puppies from puppy mills. The fact is, responsible breeders would never sell a puppy through a pet store because they want to screen potential buyers to ensure that the puppies are going to good homes.” –ASPCA.org

4) While the issue of the connection between Puppy Mills and pet stores is of great concern, it is NOT the only issue between the two. Animal Shelters have application policies in place to ensure that puppies and kittens are NOT impulse purchases by requiring all adopters to provide information ensuring that they are allowed to have a pet living on thier property- This alone shows that the "purchaser" is fully able to profide a life long home for the animal rather than purchase a puppy only to find out that they are not permitted to keep it or sell an animal to someone with a unstable living situation- only for that purchased animal to end up in a shelter.

5) If pet stores do not purchase dogs from puppy mills and instead purchase them from individuals with accidental litters of puppies they are only providing a means of incentive to those individials and others in the community to continue to not have thier animals spayed or neutered. and in turn once again- contruibiting to the homeless animal epidemic.

*This petition excludes those pet stores that already participate in the adoption of puppies and kittens from shelters and rescue organizations, or individuals whom are committed to improving and maintaining the standards of their breed, and making money is not the primary intention when they decide to breed thier dogs. This petition is aimed only at those pet stores in College Station that do NOT participate in the in the action of providing adoptable pets and sadly, not all stores have caught on to the fact that selling overpriced puppies that have been bred purely for profit is cruel. Many pet stores in the BCS support adoption (by housing adoptable pets, and hosting adoption events) and rely heavily on the selling of dog and cat necessities, grooming, classes, toys, and other forms of profit, rather than taking part in contributing to the problem of homeless animals in the BCS.*

Please be their voice and sign this petition and join the fight in stopping puppy mills and irresponsible breeders/ backyard breeders from continuously breeding animals in inhumane conditions for a profit. Stopping the sales of puppies in pet stores will leave only the responsible breeders, Animal shelters, and rescue organizations to ensure that each and every puppy or kitten sold and rescued in the BCS will have a life long family and home, using the policies and application/ screening procces these individuals and organizations already have in place. Together we can ban the sales of puppies in pet stores in College Station, and halt those breeders who forget the puppy and new owner as soon as the check is cashed who are also the ones who are producing the dogs that end up in shelters.

UPDATE: 11/15/2013

I called the Puppy Station in the post oak mall and spoke with David and asked about the vet that they claim to use and he said "oh we're done with those guys" They haven't used a vet in six months and he told me that "the employees give the puppies vaccinations themselves at the puppy station."They are clearly LYING to their customers on their fb page by telling them that their puppies are fully checked out by a vet before coming to the store, so in reality the puppies are actually being transported from who knows where and are being sold in the store without receiving ANY health examinations.

Screen shot of their facebook page:

http://i.imgur.com/IzOAHhe.jpg