Petland - does anyone have experience buying a dog from Petland on Fruitville Road in Sarasota (brokers, new home)

[SoFLGal]

For some reason I couldn't get the link to post but if you go to Yahoo and type in Petland Sarasota, these are the two reviews.

by Yahoo User - 02/22/09My mom and I purchased a 8 week old chow chow puppy from here for $1200. Three weeks after bringing her home I took her to the vet because she started to have facial hairloss and scabs. The vet diagnosed her with Demodex mange which is a mite that causes the dog to become very itchy loss of hair and pussuals and scabs appear. Seven weeks later after doing numerous treatments on my poor puppy she is just getting worse by the day. She has completely lost all of the hair on her face legs belly and chest. This is 100% a hereditary issue so it is something that this company and the breeder would be fully aware of ahead of time. So many people tried to talk me out of getting a puupy from this animal crulity store but like an idiot I ignored them. The only thing I can do is inform people (and hopefully you will do the same) to never ever ever buy an animal from this pit ever again

<LI id=yui_3_3_0_1_1304125865437805>by Yahoo User - 05/08/08We purchased an adorable but overpriced beagle from the Sarasota Petland location. We were told we had to wait to pick her up so she could get a clean bill of health from their vet. We waited the two days and went to get her. She had an obvious cold when we picked her up yet had a clean bill of health. We got her home 5/1/08 and noticed she was a little lethargic. We chalked it up to stress and or hypoglycemia. Little did we know that the next day when we took her to OUR vet she tested positive for parvo. The next 4 days were spent at our vet and FVS (emergency vet). We finally got her home on 5/8/08 and hopefully she will fully recover. After almost $2000 in vet bills and a few hours being treated with little to NO RESPECT from the petland manager we told them about her situation and asked if they would make sure they tested the close to 80 puppies that they had at their location. They were very hesitant and rude. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT SUPPORTING THE SARASOTA PETLAND. We never asked for any money or help with the vet bills yet they never offered or seemed to care. They are selling poor little sick puppies to unsuspecting families for a huge profit.
This also comes up but it's a different Petland:
http://pghpetlandprotest.wordpress.com/does-petland-sell-puppy-mill-puppies/:

Then you have this:
http://rlwilsonconsulting.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/protest-petlands-puppy-mill-practices/
The Human Society, after an 8 month investigation, found that Petland stores treated the thousands of puppies it sold every year as a “cash crop” rather than as pets. Puppies were crammed into filthy cages, smelling of urine subject to inadequate care and socialization. I’ve been posting about litigation related to Petland’s practices here and here.

And more on Petland:
petland | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds Reported | Page 2

[SRQ_Sioux]

IMO: Just adopt from a shelter, period!

[Marleys Mum]

you might find the links below interesting reading, along with a link to an interview that was conducted with an ex employee (Former Kennel manager) of Petland.


Former Petland Kennel Manager Speaks Out : The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2008/11/petland_qa_112008.html - broken link)

Pet store chain linked to puppy mills - Health - Pet health - msnbc.com

FindLaw's Common Law: Petland Faces "Puppy Mill" Claims in Class Action Suit


As another poster said, trying to prove that a dog comes from a puppy mill is very difficult and to be honest any decent reputable breeder wouldn't breed that amount of dogs to be able to satisfy the demand to a large Pet store.

Also, if one Petland in another part of the US is buying from mills which I would be amazed if they weren't, I can guarantee you all of their chains are.

A reputable breeder normally wants to interview you and check your credentials before they are happy for you to have a puppy from a litter that one of their dogs have produced.

If you are looking for a particular type of breed of dog, why not just google that breed for a resuce. They have rescues for all breeds almost, and often include young dogs and puppies.

I would also be very cautious about buying any dog off Craigslist as these can often be back street breeders. I am not saying always, but be aware.

I would not tell you what to do as another poster remarked. However, there is a pretty good chance if you buy from a place like this, that dog has probably come from undesirable place and quite often can have health problems, sometimes due to the actual mother being so poorly cared for and neglected, this in turn can affect the health of the pups.

[PixiStix]

Wanted to add... I took my dog into the vet last week for shots & was speaking with the vet tech as she has the same dog breed I do. Unfortunately, her dog came to her under really bad circumstances. It was a female from a puppy mill & she was dumped after pumping out countless litters & her health started to fail. She was loosing her hair & most of her teeth by the time she was rescued. Just breaks my heart...

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Although I agree with the pound puppy comments, I don't see any problem with buying from a store that doesn't buy from mills. Those dogs need owners, too.

They all buy from Puppy Mills because reputable breeders do not wholesale puppies to stores.

[Floridaa]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Although I agree with the pound puppy comments, I don't see any problem with buying from a store that doesn't buy from mills. Those dogs need owners, too.

Most dogs from PetStores come from PuppyMills,they say they don't but yes they do.

Some states are notorious,Mo,Pa,Nebraska,The Amish,the list goes on an on.
I would not buy a 10 cents item from a store that sells animals.
(Lots of people feel this way)

Why keep them in business.?

Why adopt a dog? Well you are saving a life,you will get a great dog.Some even are pedigrees and there are plenty of Rescues that work with just certain breeds.

Also you are making space for another dog to be saved at the kennel.
If you buy a Puppy from a breeder,you are just encouraging that breeder to breed more dogs,when there are thousands of dogs needing homes.Why encourage more breeding?

Can you only love a dog,if they look cute,or whatever you think is the right look?


Adopt!!!

[Coachgns]

DON'T DON'T DON'T!!!!!

Either a reputable breeder, or a shelter is the way to go!

We were looking for a specific breed due to allergy issues and we spent a lot of time looking for a rescue, but there were none of that breed available. We were fortunate to find a breeder near Tampa. It was a difficult screening process however - she wouldn't just sell us the dog. She had to meet us, and she had to feel comfortable with us. And in the contract, she gets the dog back if we ever want to get rid of it (NO WAY that will ever happen now that we have her!).

COL - our dog is often mistaken for a Min Pin, so much so that I want to get her a T-shirt to wear that says: "I am not a Mim-Pin." I haven't met too many Min-Pins. It might be cool for the dogs to meet - maybe when I get back to SRQ we could arrange a Play Date? She is an American Hairless Terrier.

[Col.W.Deering]

Originally Posted by Coachgns

COL - our dog is often mistaken for a Min Pin, so much so that I want to get her a T-shirt to wear that says: "I am not a Mim-Pin." I haven't met too many Min-Pins. It might be cool for the dogs to meet - maybe when I get back to SRQ we could arrange a Play Date? She is an American Hairless Terrier.

A play date would be great! Let me know when you're in town and we will meet you with our girl Sheba.

I had to look up American Hairless Terriers, since I'm not familiar with the breed. What a gorgeous breed and it's true, they look so much like MinPins. What kind of personality traits do they have?

You must post a piccy of your dog, please.

[Marleys Mum]

Originally Posted by =^..^=

Reputable breeders do not wholesale puppies to stores.

Perfectly put

[bbronston]

I have to say that you all have opened my eyes to this stuff. I did get my shepherd from a store that claimed that they got their dogs from breeders not mills (I had heard that mills were bad but didn't really know much about them other than to ask) but now I am beginning to wonder if they were telling me the truth. They are not around anymore, though, so I guess I'll never know. I find it really difficult to understand how anyone could be in a retail business that provides a product that literally defines "warm and fuzzy" yet be so callous about it.

I took some folks out looking at properties recently and they had their rescue dog with them. The dog had been kept in a cage all of its life as nothing more than a breeder from someplace in New England. The place was busted and the dogs were shipped out to shelters around the country. They were from Kansas City (if I remember right) and I was impressed that they were so dedicated to this pup. She was still a little skittish but doing very well and she had already come a very long way in her socialization skills. I think you do get something of a mixed bag with some shelter dogs (probably no more than any other source though) but I also think their capacity for forgiving us as a species by recognizing and returning unconditional love is amazing.