If I adopt from his store, aren’t I still saving an animal?
No, you are purchasing an animal from an unknown source and contributing to the problems surrounding the commercial breeding industry. The animals he is importing to our community are coming from commercial breeders that specialize in pure-bred animals. This is threatening our No Kill Community by bringing in animals when we are battling an overpopulation problem as it is.

What’s wrong with Commercial Breeders?
These facilities are difficult to track and investigations have shown that many pet stores who sell animals from commercial breeders are many times putting profits above the health and welfare of the animals sold. We need to focus on our homeless animal population, right here in the Lowcountry.

What if a person wants a pure-bred animal?
We urge people who want a pure-bred dog to use a local, responsible breeder, so that you can see the animals living quarters, and the way they are being raised and produced. Secondly, on average, 25% of animals that enter shelters across the country are pure-bred.

Doesn’t this business have the right to do this?
There is no law preventing him from selling animals from commercial breeders. We are simply pleading with him to do the right thing for the thousands of homeless animals in the Lowcountry. Every other Lowcountry pet store that we know showcases shelter animals in their stores.

If your shelter is at a crisis point, why did you pull out of Petland?
We may be short on space, but we are not short on morality. We cannot team up with a store that promotes commercial breeding when our own shelters are overflowing dogs, cats puppies and kittens that have nowhere to go.

If someone wants to do something what can they do?
A concerned person can do a few things: first, we urge people to ADOPT, not SHOP and that means supporting local pet stores that showcase shelter and rescue animals in their stores. Secondly, you can use local, responsible breeders where you can actually visit and see conditions. You can also contact Petland and urge the store to stop importing puppies and use homeless animals from local shelters and rescues. Finally, you can urge your lawmakers to look into this issue to see if there is a legislative solution that is needed. Visit DorchesterPaws.org and other local shelter websites for more information on this important issue.

What is the position of the ASPCA?
Because there are homeless pets awaiting adoption in almost every community in the nation, the ASPCA strongly advocates that persons wishing to acquire a pet consider adopting one from a shelter or other source of homeless animals. Those who are committed to acquiring a specific breed of animal should locate a breed rescue group or a responsible breeder. The ASPCA does not support purchasing or otherwise acquiring animals from large-scale commercial breeders, the retail outlets they supply or casual “backyard” breeders. While we support the use of the Internet to locate adoptable animals and responsible breeders, the ASPCA does not support purchasing or otherwise acquiring animals via the Internet without first meeting the animal and seeing the conditions in which the animal is kept.