Pet Store Hate Mail…
Oh, goody. We’ve got some pet store hate mail to share with you today, which always makes for fun reading. I should actually clarify here that the mail came in response to this post that I made over on the French Bulldog experts blog.
I don’t know if the person who wrote it is affiliated with the Pet Store mentioned in the blog. I assume not, but since they didn’t sign their mail other than with a first name, I can’t say for sure.
I’ll give you the entire email first, then break it down bit by bit afterwards.
Firstly I am writing to ask WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE???? You dont know anything about my pet store or probably any pet store anyplace. Mine is as very up scale a place as you will ever find. My puppies and kittens are all clean and healthy and friendly. We are a GREAT PLACE for people to get their new pets from!!!
So what if some people want to use a credit card to buy a dog???? Big deal!!! Do you think only rich people should get to buy a dog???? Money isnt everything you know.
You don’t know where we get our puppies from. For you information we only ever get ours from real LIVE caring breeders. Yes caring sell to us, imagine that!!! We look in the papers and find people who have had a litter and let them know we can find such good homes for them. They are grateful to us!!! And the puppy buyers are too. Other times we have agents who find us puppies from great breeders. All our puppies and kittens are loved!!
If a puppy we sell gets sick we take it back. How many breeders do that huh?? We will even partly pay vet bills or even sometimes just give them a new puppy. You don’t even get that when you buy a car, but we do it because it’s the RIGHT THING to do. We have a vet look at all our animals and he says no breeders can care for them as good as we do.
So you need to get off your high horse and stop thinking that all you breeders are sooooo special and better than pet stores. We are as good as you and better. And people who get a puppy here come back again and again to us. I would say you need to APOLOGIZE but you likely dont even know what that means. Well God bless anyways or are you not even a Christian huh???
Whew. She sure told me, didn’t she? I need to take a moment here and recover from the total shaming she gave me, and then I can move on.
Firstly I am writing to ask WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE????
I think I’m Carol “Just-Gravestock-dammit-stop-calling me-Taylor-it’s been almost ten years now”, and that I breed French Bulldogs under the prefix “Bullmarket”. I also waste my time running far, far too many French Bulldog information sites, because I need to get a life. Oh, and I’m a capricorn, my favorite color is black, my favorite drink is two pots of coffee per day and I’m not a fan of pet stores, BYBs, or stupid people in general.
You dont know anything about my pet store or probably any pet store anyplace
Well, you didn’t sign your full name, or the name of your pet store, so who’s fault is that? If you’re so proud of it, why not share it? As well, I feel I’ve done a good bit of research into the retail pet industry, but again, if yours is so outside the norm, share its name and address with us. I bet one or two of my readers will be happy to stop by for a visit (and a bout of covert photography).
Mine is as very up scale a place as you will ever find. My puppies and kittens are all clean and healthy and friendly.
My Grandmother always said “Pretty is as pretty does”. Clean does not equal ethical. Also, it takes a truly sick baby animal to not be cute, or to not beg for attention.
So what if some people want to use a credit card to buy a dog???? Big deal!!!
Do you want to know why it’s a big deal? It’s a big deal because people should not view their purchase of a living being the same way they purchase a sweater. If you can’t afford the puppy, you’ll be unlikely to afford its on going care, either. No one claimed pet ownership wasn’t a luxury, especially ownership of breeds prone to esoteric diseases and conditions even when bred to the best of a breeder’s ability.
Money isnt everything you know.
Yes, I’m sure you’re one of those non profit charity pet stores. Give me a break.
You don’t know where we get our puppies from.
Yes I do – the same place every other pet store does.
For you information we only ever get ours from real LIVE caring breeders.
As opposed to what, dead caring breeders?
We look in the papers and find people who have had a litter and let them know we can find such good homes for them.
Oh. My. GOD. Did you just admit to trolling the papers for BYB litters, then re selling them? And you think you should be praised for that?
They are grateful to us!!!
Of course they are, because they bred their pet without any idea at all what to do with the puppies, and now they’re getting older, and eating, and pooping non stop, and now they need shots and… that breeder is thinking “Who cares who the pet store sells them to, because my wife/spouse/parents are going to throw a fit if I don’t get them out the door soon, and the kids who kept telling how they’d do all the work are no where to be found, so good riddance”.
Other times we have agents who find us puppies from great breeders.
Umm, those agents? They’re called brokers. They’re the middle men between you and the puppy mills, and the big outfits like Hunte Corporation. This makes you different from other pet stores how?
If a puppy we sell gets sick we take it back. How many breeders do that huh??
Every single good breeder I know. That’s sort of the line in the sand between ‘good’ and ‘bad’.
We will even partly pay vet bills or even sometimes just give them a new puppy.
“Partly”? “Sometimes”? Let me guess – the only way they get a refund is if they ‘return’ the puppy to you so you can ‘euthanize’ it. That’s called the death card insurance policy – the odds that someone will return a sick puppy they’re emotionally invested in weighed out against the risk of refunding their money. I bet you don’t have to pay out very often, do you?
You don’t even get that when you buy a car, but we do it because it’s the RIGHT THING to do.
You do it because most states require it by law. Also, dogs – living beings. Cars – hunks of metal. Not a good analogy.
We have a vet look at all our animals and he says no breeders can care for them as good as we do.
Have your vet breathe on a mirror. Does it fog over? No? That’s proof your vet has no soul, a common trait among the living dead. He sold his soul when he came to work for you. I’d pity him, but really zombies just sort of freak me out.
So you need to get off your high horse and stop thinking that all you breeders are sooooo special and better than pet stores.
I like my high horse. It’s comfortable, and the view from up here is great. Plus, I don’t think all breeders are so special, but I do, however, think all pet stores are the debbil.
people who get a puppy here come back again and again to us.
Of course they do, because they are the type of Paris Hilton esque nitwits who change their pets like the rest of us change our socks. They buy a cute puppy, get sick of the not so cute adult, dump it, then buy another cute puppy. Stupid people are a pet store’s best friends.
I would say you need to APOLOGIZE but you likely dont even know what that means.
No, I do apologize. I apologize to every puppy hauled cross country in a truck to be sold by you. I apologize to every sick kitten sitting in your display window and shivering with FLV. I apologize to every well meaning person who ‘rescues’ a puppy from you, only to have it break their heart when it dies.
Who do you apologize to?
Well God bless anyways or are you not even a Christian huh???
Why? Why do they always, always have to throw in the God part? Do they think it’s some sort of animal cruelty get out of jail free card?
Am I a Christian? Not if being a Christian means that I have a special dispensation to commit acts of animal cruelty. Not if being a Christian means cloaking myself in God every time someone questions my very dubious morals. Not if you’re one.
Somehow, I have the feeling that Jesus would be saying the same thing – “If that’s what they’re calling themselves, I’m getting a name change”.
So, Mr. Pet Store owner, if you have any more to share, please do so. And, like I said, share the name and address of your store with us, too. Come on – prove me wrong. It would be a relief, actually.
???!!!!???!!!!
EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! QUESTION MARKS???? ALL CAPS!!!!
God… Money. Rich people. Puppies. The only thing missing here are perhaps all of the sad, starving, wittle crying children this benevolent pet store owner has helped by trudging through the snow drifts uphill both ways to peddle puppies and kitties.
And Carol, I like your high horse, too. May I pet her?
Stupidity…. they gots it.
Fuzzy Logic’s last blog post..Shh.. don’t tell.. it’s a surprise!
Boy, you really set her panties on fire, didn’t you? Geez.
Katie’s last blog post..Baby mauled by? baby.
“We have a vet look at all our animals and he says no breeders can care for them as good as we do”
OK, I know this is too easy but have you ever met a vet who would say ‘as good as we do?’
What a moron.
People probably keep coming back and back because a) the pups die; b) nobody else will give them another dog; c) they’re ignorant slobs who want to become ‘great breeders’ for this illiterate twit.
Huh?
Caveat’s last blog post..EVERYBODY SING
I use to breed and you are right in everything you are saying about pet store. I have never had a pet store agree to give me what I wanted for my litter.
I noticed your blog is showing wrong in the top part, the page is all crooked slightly I suppose it happens from time to time when you cant check it in all browsers. Anyway i just figured i would notify you
Ahh the post just went to a blank page is it your site or my dumb computer being strange?
I just wanted to say I like your website! I was clicking around on some different forums when I found your site. After checking out this blog I’ve come up with some great ideas for my website. I just thought I’d let you know
Blanket statements based on no scientific evidence are just prejudiced sputtering of slander. It is funny to me how there is a perceived hierarchy in the pet industry where breeders find themselves on top and slander those that are perceived to be below.
I have spoken with several breeders who also wouldn’t give a rodent’s behind who they sell to so long as the check clears. And why is it that most breeders do not accept credit cards? Is it a tax thing? This to me is a strange phenomenon. Besides, given the oppurtuniy, ALWAYS use the card and get the points as long as you can pay off the charge at the end of the month. Just makes more financial sense.
The most protective of the pet industry, the rescue orgs, are overly protective of the animals and use an over-simplifide formula to determine if you’re able to care for a pet. The formula is simply this “if you don’t have a fence and/or if you have young children, no pet for you”. I’ve been around dogs all of my life and this overly-fussy discrimination based on the possession of a fence and children is ridiculous.
How about an apartment? No happy dogs in apartments? There MUST be some rescues out there willing to put forth a little more effort and reviewing each potential home on a case by case basis. But as this thread has pointed out, it is a long and onerous process even if you do “qualify”.
I have never been on the sell side of dogs and cats. I have had several dogs and cats though. One through a breeder, some from pet shops and some were rescued. They have ALL been healthy, trainable, well behaved and just a joy to have. The breeders don’t have anything over a well run pet shop. The warranties offered at better pet shops are as good as those from the breeders. No less and no more. The depression factor of returning a pet to a breeder or a pet shop is the same. Both breeder and pet shop will from time to time sell a sick pet no?
In the end, breeders and pet shops are in the same business: the _purpose_ of the business is to provide the public a means to procure a dog. The goal of both establishments is to turn a profit so that they can eat. BEYOND THIS PRIMARY PURPOSE AND GOAL, each pet shop and breeder has their standards and motives. Those standards and motives CANNOT be captured in a blanket statement for those standards and motives are as varying as there are breeders and pet shops.
I wonder if your spy cam has made its way into some of the breeder facilities I have visited. It would put the scare on anybody thinking breeders are superior to pet shops. If you need a good sample breeder to visit, I can provide one. Just email me.
BTW i have gone back to the same petshop for another pup not because my previous one died, or was given back or tossed away because she got too big (bullmastiff)… but because we had so much success with her that we wanted to get a companion for her.
Regards.
Addison
It is funny to me how there is a perceived hierarchy in the pet industry where breeders find themselves on top and slander those that are perceived to be below.
Where do you think pet stores get their puppies from – immaculate conceptions?
I have spoken with several breeders who also wouldn’t give a rodent’s behind who they sell to so long as the check clears.
And *those* would be the ones selling to pet shops.
And why is it that most breeders do not accept credit cards?
Because we’re not businesses, and don’t breed enough to bother setting ourselves up as such. Also, there’s something inherently icky in selling puppies the same way we sell sweaters.
I wonder if your spy cam has made its way into some of the breeder facilities I have visited. It would put the scare on anybody thinking breeders are superior to pet shops. If you need a good sample breeder to visit, I can provide one. Just email me.
I don’t have a spy cam, so I have no idea what this is about. Here’s a hint – tin foil hats do wonders to foil the little men who are watching you all the time. As for visiting bad breeder facilities – hello? We discussed this already. Of course there are bad breeders, and one of the hallmarks of them is their happy willingness to sell to anyone – say, pet stores, for example.
A hallmark of a good breeder, on the other hand, is that not only are they happy to have you come to visit, they insist on it. Also? They’d sooner slam their head in a door than see one of their puppies languishing in a pet store.
I have no idea where you got the idea that this was all about breeders versus pet stores, competing for market share. It’s about the fact that the idea of the puppies we produce being shipped across country in a transport truck to strangers, so that they can be jammed into display cases like sides of beef, is sickening. As it should be. Are some pet stores not run by evil trolls? Of course. Are some people who buy from pet stores good homes? I’m sure they are. But if I had NO OTHER CHOICE but to let my puppies be sold in that way, I’d spay every bitch I owned in a heart beat before it ever happened to me or mine.
the spy cam i refer is referenced earlier in the thread by the author of the blog. I didn’t make up the term. And no, i dont believe in immaculate conception for human or canine.
let’s not try and insult each other’s intelligence here.
If breeder’s are not a business, then why do they register themselves as such? Pay taxes? Sell product? Breeders are absolutely businesses. They are in the business or providing the public with pets or show dogs.
The point that i am arguing is that one cannot make blanket statements that a pet shop will ALWAYS sell you an inferior animal or have inferior motives and standards to those of breeders.
I got the idea about pet shop vs. breeder from the hubristic demeanor of some of the posts here. It leads the reader to believe that if you get a dog from a pet shop, it will be a failure from the begining. Moreover, not every petshop puts their dogs in a case. The generalizations that i read here is what i am debating.
save your tinfoil hats and nasty remarks for another. I am beyond those and need not dabble at that level.
If breeder’s are not a business, then why do they register themselves as such?
If they are, then they’re a pretty bad business model, as almost every breeder I know loses money hand over fist. The only breeders I know who make money are commercial breeders – the kinds who supply pet stores. I bet lots of those ones take credit cards.
The point that i am arguing is that one cannot make blanket statements that a pet shop will ALWAYS sell you an inferior animal or have inferior motives and standards to those of breeders.
See, that’s the good thing about having my own blog – I actually CAN make blanket statements. As many of them as I want! Like this one:
EVERY single pet shop puppy came either from a backyard breeder, a puppy mill, or a commerical high volume breeding facility. Those facilities are almost ALWAYS going to produce puppies that are inferior to puppies that come from environments where they are raised as well loved, well socialized family members, which is the hallmark of puppies produced by ethical, small volume hobby breeders.
Therefore, purchasing puppies from pet stores will dramatically increase your chances of getting an ill socialized, often unhealthy puppy, compared to obtaining one from the kind of breeder I just mentioned.
Is that blanket enough for you?
Also, if you don’t want to get accused of wearing a tinfoil hat, then leave your paranoia (and your hat) at the door. We have a special bin for them. You can park your black helicopter out on the lawn, for those who were wondering.
Obviously you don’t care if your blanket statement contain half truths to promote your agenda. Sure, go ahead with your bad self and write til your heart’s content.
If you are soooo responsible a breeder, why not a responsible blogger? Cite references and provide scientific evidence that dogs from pet shops are inferior to those of breeders like yourself. You probably have a lot of truth behind what you say but it all comes off as soap box rantings. If you want people to see the truth about what you have to say, you must beat it into them with facts and not just your opinions.
“Those facilities are almost ALWAYS going to produce puppies that are inferior to puppies that come from environments where they are raised as well loved”
Another blanket statement… “ALMOST always”. is it almost always? more often than not? is it because they have more volume that the ratio is skewed when compared to breeders? what breeders do we compare pet shops, puppy mills, back yarders to? Up your game and lower your attacks. What you have stated here is a hasty generalization unless you can show proper references.
You’re witty albeit a little abrasive and if nothing else take this as constructive critique on your site and how you present information. If you want to be taken seriously that is. Otherwise just stick a big close face on your blog and let people know you really aren’t TOO serious about what you say or write.
Obviously you don’t care if your blanket statement contain half truths to promote your agenda. Sure, go ahead with your bad self and write til your heart’s content.
You’re right, I really don’t – mostly because this has all been beaten to death before, both here, and on numerous other blogs. Honestly, you’re pretty much the last person left who enthusiastically gives a big ‘thumbs up’ to pet store puppies – well, other than the breeders of pet store puppies, and the store owners themselves. And you’re not either of those, right? :eye rolling:
And, since I’m not claiming to write for Scientific American, I’m not going to feel compelled to back everything up with research – and, really, how much more research do you need then Google and the term ‘Hunte Corporation’ to know where the majority of America’s pet store sold puppies come from? Is it somehow a shock to know that puppies taken young from their mothers, stored in holding facilities, and then shipped cross country in transport trucks get sick?
Also, I did try to stick a close face (whatever that is) on my blog, but the glue just refuses to stick to my monitor. Why not toddle off and stick one on yours – oh, right. You don’t have one – you just have your super sekrit puppy store peddlin’ agenda. Off you go, then, and peddle it someplace else. That’s another nice thing about having your own blog – a little thing called the ‘ban’ button.
just stick a big CLOWN face