Documentary Crew Exposes Puppies of Westport and Others

A documentary crew was the latest to pay attention to the Puppies of Westport store. And as usual, the attention is for their involvement in the puppy mill business.

More than 20 protesters turned out to fill the roadside in front of the store. Members of the Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills were interviewed at length.

Also interviewed were local residents who purchased pet store puppies and found out after the fact. They incurred giant vet bills and experienced a multitude of problems in dealing with the store.

Thanks to all who turned out. And thanks for the MANY honks of support from motorists!



Thanks also to The Norwalk Hour newspaper for it's coverage.

Meanwhile, we continue to receive reports of people buying sick puppies from this store and others like it. Everything from parasites and lung infections to serious eye conditions.

Here's the press release on the documentary too!

Suppliers to Westport Store Under Microscope

Is Missouri finally waking up and realizing that it's not exactly a badge of honor to supply pet stores all over the country? Missouri is a HUGE source of dogs for Puppies of Westport. This story on MSNBC does a good job of looking at the true conditions we're talking about. I guess buyers of puppies in pet stores prefer not to acknowledge this is the reality of where the dogs are starting out. They also often have this odd notion that they're rescuing dogs in pet stores. Er, no. Those buyers are actually perpetuating the cycle. Breeders like those in this MSNBC story are ready and willing to keep filling those empty pet store cages.

Pet Store Puppies Should NOT Be On Your Holiday Shopping List

'Tis the season to buy puppies and traffic to the Puppies of Westport store is, as expected, up as people order puppies for their holiday gifts. Of course the orders are placed with the recipient often completely unprepared and of course unaware of where these dogs truly come from.

We saw a little brown poodle leave the store last weekend...such a sad cycle of abuse.

Let’s hope these puppy buyers are also seeing all the stories in the local press about devoted pets losing their homes due to the economy and foreclosure - on top of the pets that are relinquished every day for the litany of (mostly pathetic) reasons. We need to do more to help the pets that are already here and in need. We do not need puppy mill/pet store puppies adding to the mess.

And, in case you don't believe pet store pups are puppy mill pups - see our latest revelation that Puppies of Westport purchases from MAM Kennels - one of the puppy mills exposed in the latest HSUS investigation of the Petland chain of stores.

The good news is we have had a bunch of interest from students in the area doing school projects on puppy mills. This is a great step toward helping young people understand that pet store pups are puppy mill pups…which means they (hopefully) won't beg their parents for one. They will want to adopt and really rescue a dog. Let’s be real clear here: there is no such thing as "rescuing" a puppy from a pet store. Ask us...

Just when you thought reality shows couldn't get any worse, cast and crew from MTV's The Real World show turned up...where else...Puppies of Westport.

Apparently oblivious to the fact...yes, it's a fact...that the store buys its dogs from puppy mills, the flagging reality show team crossed a protest picket line to shoot at the store. The new show is currently being shot. It's based in Brooklyn this season.

Protesters offered to educate them on the reality of the lives of the parents of dogs sold at the store. Of course, they know better. They'd rather operate without facts I guess.

We have thousands of pages of documentation that shows the horrendous conditions these dogs are bred in.

If you care about dogs, let the folks at MTV know exactly how you feel about the network promoting cruelty to animals by filming at this store. MTV even has an activism program...perhaps we can use their own site to raise the issue. Start your thread and oppose the Real World shoot at Puppies of Westport!

Maybe the reality show team should take a leaf out of President-elect Obama's book and consider a shelter dog.

If this store was doing the right thing, do people truly think protesters would stand in front of their store for two years!!! Wake up MTV.

Face Facts

Fed and bred. That’s the life of dogs in puppy mills. And make no mistake, that’s where the dogs sold by Puppies of Westport come from.

Dogs from these mass breeding facilities are often sold at auction like livestock. There’s one coming up on August 30 in Ohio. It’s just a business to those involved. Breeds as varied as Pomeranians and Boxers end up on the block at these auctions.

Also, check this link for details of what goes on behind the scenes.


And be sure to mark your calendars for Puppymill Awareness Day, 5th Anniversary to be held on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at Intercourse Community Park (Leacock Township, PA) from 11:00 AM - 5 PM EST.

Committed to educating the public about the connection between consumers and commercial breeding facilities, this event is being sponsored by Adopt A Pet, Inc., Last Chance for Animals, Inc. and Best Friends Animal Society.

Pondering The Habits of the Puppy Buying Public

The rain held out for our protest and we had a good turnout. This week, a friend of one of the volunteers recognized her protesting and stopped by to say hi. Turns out she had been given a puppy from a local pet store as a gift from a friend for her kids!! The puppy was healthy and she really had never stopped to think about where the puppy came from and where the mother was! I think we gave her something to think about.

So, once again, we find that people do not understand the real problem which is concern for the mother of the puppies that no one will ever see and which are locked in cages for most if not all of their existence. No chance of a happy home. Afraid of the world. Questionable health status. Another reminder that there is A LOT of work that needs to be done educating the public...and that is our mission.

How do we help people connect the dots? We have the reports that show so many of the puppies come from what the average person would certainly call a puppy mill. We have inspection reports of these "breeders" that we know would make people sick if they would only read them. Like so many issues, this is another where many people just don't really WANT to know and instant gratification trumps good sense. However, we know there are a good deal of humane people in this community that would not want to enable or tolerate businesses that profit from the inhumane treatment of dogs.

It's also clear that people are concerned about the pet store puppies. If they are concerned about puppies in small cages in stores are they equally concerned about the puppies and kittens in shelters living on death row? That's not yet clear...

To be honest the dogs in local shelters I've seen have bigger cages...

Video Evidence

So Puppies of Westport purchased four dogs from a place that truly needs to change its name. Get this...it's called Carole's Puppy Palace in Pocola, Oklahoma. Puppies of Westport customers are told the dogs are from high end breeders which perhaps makes the high price tag more palatable.

But we were given some of the video taken in an investigation of this place by the Humane Society of the United States. The tiny cages stacked high and crammed with unsocialized dogs sure don't look too high end. And, um, not really a palace.

Meanwhile, Puppies of Westport is saying this on their Web site: "We understand the concern about 'pet shop puppies' and have worked very hard to establish relationships with over 150 private breeders that meet our high standards."