Originally Published in: The Dallas Morning News
Published on: Sept. 20, 2024
Written By: Shelby Bobosky
Imagine you or your family wants a new puppy, so you swing by a local retail pet store — just to look. These stores, like the one I’ve been to outside of Houston, are filled with adorable puppies just waiting to go home with you. However, the reality of retail pet stores is far less innocuous than it seems on the surface. Close to 40 retail pet stores in Texas sell thousands of puppies each year. These are separate from large brand chains like PetSmart or Petco, which focus on selling pet supplies and promoting pet adoption in their stores.
Pet stores, on the other hand, have a different business model that requires prioritizing profits over the health of animals and protection of consumers. According to Bailing Out Benji, a nonprofit that tracks puppy mills, Texas retail pet stores primarily source their animals from out-of-state puppy mills to stock the number of puppies needed in the most popular designer breeds.
The Texas Legislature must take action and require retail pet stores to source their animals from shelters and rescues rather than puppy mills.
Puppy mill breeders produce as many puppies as possible in the shortest amount of time. As a result, unsanitary conditions, disease and neglect run rampant. Puppies are transported from the breeder to the store in unsanitary conditions over thousands of miles and receive little to no veterinary care due to the cost. Puppy mill breeders also engage in irresponsible breeding practices, such as overbreeding or breeding dogs that are known to have congenital disorders.
When visiting a retail pet store, employees will be eager for you to play with a puppy — a predatory scheme intended to make you fall in love with a puppy to make the sale. Stores sell puppies for thousands of dollars, sometimes up to $8,000. To maximize profits, retail pet stores have been documented to deceive consumers into agreeing to predatory lending terms. Some have financed their new pet at interest rates as high as 133% and are unaware of the terms until it’s too late. Pet stores verbally make representations about the puppy’s health, but when consumers sign the contract, the contract limits any liability on those representations.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Cara Gustafson at 561-797-8267 or [email protected].