Humane Society says Petland tied to puppy mills

Well this sucks. This is one of those things when you thought everything was safe when it turns out it wasn't at all. That is why conspiracy theorist are needed. Like my boss, that way you have someone who is always looking into what most people think is legit, when it is not.

Many stores of the Ohio-based Petland Inc. pet store chain support puppy mills while telling customers the dogs come only from good breeders, the Humane Society of the United States said Thursday.

The animal protection group made the charge at a Washington, D.C. news conference, saying it conducted an 8-month investigation of the chain headquartered in Chillicothe in southwest Ohio.

Petland's response posted Thursday on its Web site said the company does not support substandard breeding facilities and provides each store with humane care guidelines developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The statement also said reports such as the one by the Humane Society surface every year around the holiday season.

"HSUS has a history of publicizing false information in an effort to raise money," Petland said.

A message seeking additional comment was left Thursday at Petland headquarters.

The Humane Society said investigators visited 21 Petland stores and 35 breeders and brokers who sold puppies to Petland stores and reviewed interstate import records of an additional 322 breeders, USDA reports and more than 17,000 puppies linked to Petland stores.

The stores investigated are perpetuating an abusive industry where dogs are treated like a cash crop instead of as pets, said Stephanie Shain, director of the Humane Society's campaign against puppy mills.

"They know that consumers won't stand for the cruelty inherent in mass-breeding facilities, so they make outrageous claims to hide the reality that the dogs came from puppy mills," Shain said.

In puppy mills, hundreds of breeding dogs are packed into cramped, barren cages with no socialization, exercise or human interaction, she said.

The Humane Society said its investigators saw puppies living in filthy conditions with inadequate care at breeding operations linked to Petland stores. Also, many of Petland's puppies are not supplied directly by breeders, but are purchased from large-scale pet distributors or brokers - some of whom also buy from puppy mills, the Humane Society said.