Guidelines for Dealing with the Petstore Pyr

by Catherine de la Cruz, GPCC Rescue

1.) DON'T get overtly angry at the pet shop manager or employees.

2.) DON'T think you can "educate" the pet shop manager or employees.

3.) DON'T bother asking where the pup came from. They will tell you "a breeder, not a puppy mill." One of the larger multi-breed puppy mills supplies photos of her children and family with dogs purported to be the parents of the pup in question.

4.) DO notify your regional Rescue representatives, giving the name of the store and the approximate age of the pup.

5.) DO be polite - even pleasant - in your dealings with pet shop personnel. Remember the adage about honey and vinegar.

6.) If you want to leave breed information, DO have your phone number and the number of a regional club member on every piece; DON'T have club logos on the literature - unethical sellers use these to imply endorsement of their practices. Ask that they pass this information on to the eventual purchaser of the pup.

7.) If you get a look at the Blue Slip--either at the store, or later from the pup's purchaser--DO note the registered names of the parents and their stud book numbers--those are the numbers in parentheses following the AKC number (9-95). Don't worry about the AKC number - it's the name and stud book number that allow the puppy mill committee to track these breedings.

8.) Finally, if you are lucky enough to be contacted by the pup's purchasers, DON'T launch into a discourse about how terrible buying from a pet shop is. They may figure this out themselves if the pup is not healthy. DO help them find a good vet. DO get them immediately involved in the local club so they learn about proper practices from the beginning.

DO remember that "lifetime responsibility" for our own dogs means insuring such good relationships with your own puppy buyers that no grandpup of yours has the chance of ending its life as a puppy mill dog.

East Penn Pyr Rescue, Inc.
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