Animal Writings

We called him "Rags." He was just a cur,
But twice on the Western Line,
That little old bunch of faithful fur
Had offered his life for mine.

And all that he got was bones and bread,
Or the leavings of soldier grub,
But he'd give his heart for a pat on the head,
Or a friendly tickle and rub.

And Rags got home with the regiment,
And then, in the breaking away—
Well, whether they stole him, or whether he went,
I am not prepared to say.

But we mustered out, some to beer and gruel,
And some to sherry and shad,
And I went back to the Sawbones School,
Where I was still an undergrad.

One day they took us budding M.D.s
To one of those Institutes
Where they demonstrate every new disease
By means of bisected brutes.

They had one animal tacked and tied
And slit like a full-dressed fish,
With his vitals pumping away inside
As pleasant as one might wish.

I stopped to look like the rest, of course,
And the beast's eyes levelled mine;
His short tail thumped with a feeble force,
And he uttered a tender whine.

It was Rags, yes, Rags, who was martyred there,
Who was quartered and crucified,
And he whined that whine which is doggish prayer,
And he licked my hand—and died.

And I was no better in part nor whole
Than the gang I was found among,
And his innocent blood was on the soul
Which he blessed with his dying tongue.

Well, I've seen men go to courageous death
In the air, on sea, on land!
But only a dog would spend his breath
In a kiss for his murderer's hand.

—Edmund Vance Cooke

I had to read this twice to get the full impact.

Come to the Petland protest this Saturday, June 18, 1:00—2:30 PM!

Recently, the Petland manager was happily telling customers that he expected 45 new puppies just for that ONE WEEK. Those of you involved in rescue know how difficult it is to find good, permanent homes for 45 animals. If you can spare an hour, please join us. Newcomers are always welcome! Our focus this week is adoption from shelters and rescue groups. Bring info about your favorite rescue group, and we will be happy to pass it along to prospective adopters.

FOX MILL PETS on Elden Street, Herndon, VA, has a freezer just behind the fish aquariums at the back of the store. Recently an alert activist caught a glimpse inside, hoping it would just be people's frozen lunches. The entire freezer was FULL OF DEAD ANIMALS. They were in plastic bags, and there were smudges of what appeared to be blood around the freezer door.

Fox Mill obtains its puppies from the Hunte Corp., just as Petland does, and that means puppy mills. The puppies in Fox Mill have more room and seem better cared for than those at Petland, and there are far fewer of them. But as this incident reveals, appearances can be deceptive. A former employee told us that Petland's freezer also contains dead animals. Dead puppies were found in the freezer of the Boston branch of Woof & Co., another Hunte-supplied store which recently closed down because of complaints about sick puppies. Causes of death for all these animals: stress, injury during shipping and handling, overcrowding, disease, overcrowding, inadequate care and most of all, human greed.


Thanks!

www.petstorecruelty.org

Carl Sagan

In Minnesota, during the spring, fishing enthusiasts take to the lakes and rivers in their boats and to their icehouses in the winter. Fishing is a popular year-round activity, but it is not without controversy.

Fishing advocates point to "catch-and-release" as responsible fishing and as a way to conserve fish populations. After a fish is caught and released it may be hooked again and again, causing it more injuries and pain. Trout Unlimited's Charles Gauvin admits that it's possible to see fish that are battered and with bruised lips from being caught many times. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Mike Buntjet, "I've seen fish with their maxillaries (lips) torn off, eyes missing and with flies and hooks stuck all over them."

Fishing advocates rationalize their actions by asserting that fish, being lower life forms, don't feel pain. Dr. Donald Broom, animal welfare advisor to the British government, states, "The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and animals."

Reduced to its basic elements, fishing involves impaling an animal on a hook, throwing it in the water where it will drown or be eaten by a bigger animal. The bigger animal is then pulled out of the water, its entire weight suspended from its mouth, where it is then clubbed, killed by knife, or allowed to suffocate. If the fish is fortunate, it may be released but is not assured of survival.

Even if the fish appear to survive their ordeal and are released, the odds are against them surviving. Lactic acid builds in fish's bodies as they try to escape. This causes their muscle cells to start decomposing from lack of oxygen. As a result, their chances of surviving are greatly decreased. A Canadian study found that fish exposed to the air for 60 seconds or more had a 72% mortality rate. Water provides fish with oxygen and helps to dissipate the high levels of lactic acid caused by struggling at the end of a hook. Other factors affect mortality as well. Cuts from fishing line, wounds from hooks and boat-side injuries all decrease a fish's chances for survival. Fish that bite bait often swallow the hook, resulting in internal injuries. In addition, the ingested hook may become encysted, making the fish more susceptible to deadly viral infections. Outdoors columnist Paul Vang, notes that "Releasing a mortally wounded fish isn't any different than shooting an elk and not recovering it."

Fishing is also dangerous for other wildlife as well. Every year anglers leave behind a trail of victims that includes birds, turtles, bats and other animals that suffer debilitating injuries or slowly starve to death after swallowing discarded fish hooks or becoming entangled in fishing line. Wildlife rehabilitators have treated birds poisoned by lead sinkers and otters that can't digest their food because their intestines are full of plastic lures. The loon, Minnesota's state bird, is especially susceptible to lead poisoning from ingesting sinkers. Waverly Traylor, a wildlife rehabilitator from Virginia Beach, Virginia, points out that "By far the greatest threat to the health and safety of waterfowl is not the hunter nor the polluted water, but actually the fishing tackle carelessly discarded by...fishermen and so-called sportsmen."

Fishing is not only bad for fish but for people as well. Minnesota has 6000 fishable lakes. Fish from 856 lakes and 51 streams in Minnesota have been tested for contaminants. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), mercury is found in most fish tested from Minnesota lakes.

Fish and shellfish can accumulate extremely high levels of toxins (as much as nine million times that of the water in which they live) such as PCBs, mercury, lead and arsenic. These poisons can cause health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired mental development to cancer and even death. Fish in some lakes and nearly half of the rivers which have been sampled contain PCBs.

Recent reports of toxaphene in lake trout taken from Lake Superior suggest a potential environmental health problem with this insecticide. Though banned in 1990, toxaphene, a mixture of over 670 chemicals, continues to be a problem in certain areas.  (full article...)

(Fishing article excerpt reprinted by permission)

Here's a visitor who showed up on my parent's deck:

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."

"We and the beasts are kin."

Photos: Farm Sanctuary.

"Many years ago, I was in a Broadway show and I had to wear a fox fur around my shoulders. One day my hand touched one of the fox's legs. It seemed to be in two pieces. Then it dawned on me.... her leg had probably been snapped in two by the steel trap that had caught it."

--Dr. E.J. Finocchino

The truck carrying this cow was unloaded at Walton Stockyards in Kentucky on a September morning. After the other animals were removed from the truck, she was left behind, unable to move. The stockyard workers beat and kicked her in the face, ribs and back. They used the customary electric prods in her ear to try to get her out of the truck, but still she did not move. The workers then tied a rope around her neck, tied the other end to a post in the ground, and drove the truck away. The cow was dragged along the floor of the truck and fell to the ground, landing with both hind legs and her pelvis broken. She remained in this state until 7:30 that evening.

The cow lay in the hot sun crying out for the first three hours. Periodically, when she urinated or defecated, she used her front legs to drag herself along the gravel roadway to a clean spot. She also tried to crawl to a shaded area but could not move far enough. Altogether she managed to crawl a painful 13-14 yards. The stockyard employees would not allow her any drinking water; the only drinking water she received was given to her by Jessie Pierce, a local animal rights activist, who had been contacted by a woman who witnessed the incident. Jessie arrived at noon. After receiving no cooperation from stockyard workers, she called the Kenton County police. A police officer arrived but was instructed by his superiors to do nothing; he left at 1 p.m.

The stockyard operator informed Jessie at 1 p.m. that he had obtained permission from the insurance company to kill the cow but would not do so until Jessie left. Although doubtful that he would keep his word, Jessie left at 3 p.m. She returned at 4:30 p.m. and found the stockyard deserted. Three dogs were attacking the cow, who was still alive. She had suffered a number of bite wounds, and her drinking water had been removed. Jessie contacted the Kentucky State Police. Four officers arrived at about 5:30 p.m. State trooper Jan Wuchner wanted to shoot the cow but was told that a veterinarian should kill her. The two veterinarians at the facility would not euthanize the cow, claiming that, in order to preserve the value of the meat, she could not be destroyed. The butcher eventually arrived at 7:30 p.m. and did shoot the cow. Her body was purchased for $307.50. (Usually animals who are bruised or crippled or who are found dead are considered unfit for human consumption and are used for pet food.)

When the stockyard operator was questioned earlier in the day by a reporter from The Kentucky Post, he stated, "We didn't do a damned thing to it," and referred to the attention given the cow by humane workers and police as "bullcrap." He laughed throughout the questioning, saying he found nothing wrong with the way the incident was handled.

This is not an isolated case. It is so common that animals in this condition are known in the meat industry as "downers." After PETA brought much-needed attention to this issue, the Kenton County Police Department adopted a policy requiring that all downed animals be immediately euthanized, whether they are on the farm, in transit, or at the slaughterhouse. Sadly, other law-enforcement agencies don't have such policies and downed animals continue to suffer everywhere. It is up to the public to demand change, and it is up to consumers to refuse to purchase the products of this miserable industry.

This happens to me all the time:

Curious omnivore (CO): So, why are you a vegan?

Me: Well, there are a few reasons, but mostly it is a question of ethics.

CO: How so?

Me: Well, the conditions that animals are kept in to produce eggs, meat, and cheese are deplorable.

CO: Oh, sh**, wait. No no no! Don’t tell me. I’d rather not know! (taking a bite of meat)

They’d rather not know because if they did, they might have to think twice about eating animal products. This is the ultimate in consumer hubris: as long as you can continue to consume without knowing or thinking about the conditions of exploitation involved in production, you can fool yourself into thinking that your conscience is free.

Yet, oddly, some of these people see fit to call me an extremist. Me? I’m just living by my conscience. If I’m to be true to my ethics, this is what I must do. Yes, it meant giving up blue cheese (which I loved, though which now seems gross), ice cream (though Soy Delicious rocks my socks), and cream in my coffee (soy milk works just fine, thanks) but these were the only choices to make since I couldn't in any way justify daily consumption of products that caused so very much suffering. Once I made myself think about it (which took some time, admittedly) there was no other way to go.

I knew, and couldn't un-know.

If it is true that this paradigm of generous, costly service is at the heart of the Christian proclamation, then it must also be the paradigm for the exercise of human dominion over the animal world. We do well to remind ourselves of that ethical imperative arising from early Christian reflection upon the work and person of Jesus:


If we "take to heart" this pattern of generosity we can perceive moral meaning to our relationship of power over the non-human Creation. The pattern of obligation disclosed by Christ makes no appeal to equality. The obligation is always and everywhere on the "higher" to sacrifice for the "lower," for the strong, powerful, and rich to give to those who are vulnerable, poor, or powerless. This is not some by-theme of the moral example of Jesus, it is rather central to the demands of the kingdom, indeed those who minister to the needs of the vulnerable and the weak minister to Christ himself:


In this respect, it is the shear vulnerability and powerlessness of animals, and correspondingly our absolute power over them which strengthens and compels the response of moral generosity. I suggest that we are to be present to Creation as Christ is present to us. When we speak of human superiority we speak of such a thing properly only and in so far as we speak not only of Christlike lordship but also of Christlike service. There can be no lordship without service and no service without lordship. Our special value in Creation consists in being of special value to others.

A dusty parking lot in Mexico

A bunch of boys hanging around

A confused rat runs to a wooden box for shelter

He gets his snout stuck between two slats

One boy picks up a two-by-four

He lifts it above his head,

With all his might, he smashes the rat's nose

The other boys find that amusing

All except one...

The couch doesn't care if it's mistreated.

The cat does.

Excerpts:

"Contrary to the depictions in the Happy Cows ads, the vast majority of California dairy cows...are not typically permitted to roam freely in grass-covered, pastures of rolling hills and shade trees, but are kept on dry lots of urine- and dung-fouled dirt (urine- and dung-fouled mud at some times of the year), and sometimes concrete. According to a University of California-Davis study, because of the expense of real estate in California, dry lot farming was developed and is the predominate method of keeping dairy cows today. 'Dry lots allow for a more intensive system of milk production than traditional pasture-based systems.' (Dairy Care Practices, University of California-Davis, 2d Edition, June 1998"

"The result of dry lot farming is that California dairy cows are kept in larger numbers in smaller areas than anywhere else in the country. In 1998, the national average dairy herd size was 60 cows; California herds averaged 650 cows. And the herd sizes are growing; by last year, the average had ballooned to 720 cows. Currently, a number of operations in the state milk as many as several thousand cows each day."

"A significant number of cows arrive at slaughterhouses throughout the country unable to stand. Whether it is because they are injured, diseased, crippled, or simply too weak to support themselves, these cows suffer greatly as a result of their difficult lives. Invariably, the highest percentage of downer cows arriving at slaughterhouses are dairy cows. Among the reasons for this are the intense difficulties and dangers associated with a life of constant milk production. Dairy cows are forced to produce significantly larger amounts of milk than their bodies are designed for. Nutrients, such as calcium and magnesium, that would otherwise be used for the cows' own nutritional needs, are diverted to the milk the cows produce. As a result, cows often suffer from brittle, broken bones, milk fever or other diseases, or emaciation and weakness to the point that they cannot even stand up."

(June 7, 2005) Newly elected Pope Benedict XVI's well-known love of
stray cats apparently is not shared by the Dominican Nuns of the Corpus
Christi Monastery in the Bronx, New York. The Mother Superior has ordered the
removal of seven feral cats who are almost all neutered, rabies
vaccinated and have lived on the monastery's five acres for the past 8 years.

In a decision backed by the Archdiocese of NY, the plan is to first try to
force the cats to leave by withholding all food and starving them. Then if
they don't go on their own, the resident Sisters will trap them and hand them
over to the city. Shelter workers would be forced to euthanize the cats
because they are feral and unadoptable and have nowhere else to be
placed.

The Vicar of the Religious Office for the Archdiocese, Sister Helen
C., stated, "my compassion does not extend to these animals" and "they will
be removed eventually, one way or another."

"The plan is not only cruel for depriving these cats of their long-
time home and causing their suffering and likely deaths, it is ineffective
feral cat population control," said Bryan Kortis, Executive Director of
Neighborhood Cats, a leading feral cat organization and a member of the
Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. "Maintaining neutered feral
colonies, using a method known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), is the only proven
way to reduce feral numbers in the long term. Otherwise, new unneutered cats
will simply replace the ones removed and the cycle of suffering and killing
will go on indefinitely."

Over the past eight years, at their own expense, volunteers have
removed nine cats from the grounds of the monastery and placed them in homes.
The cats too wild to be adopted were neutered and returned, stopping their
reproduction, and were then fed by the nuns. Now, however, the nuns and
the Archdiocese refuse to even meet with animal advocates to discuss the
situation.

To protest this heartless and ill-guided assault on the cats, please
contact the Corpus Christi Monastery and the Archdiocese of NY by phone,
email or fax (see below.) Let them know we expect more from our
religious leaders than pointless cruelty towards innocent animals:

Corpus Christi Monastery
phone: 718-328-6996
fax: 718-328-1974
email: nunsop.bronx2@verizon.net

Archdiocese of NY
phone: 212-371-1000 (ask for Public Relations or the Vicar of the
Religious Office)
fax: 212-826-6020
email: contactus@archny.org

Act now! The cats have not been fed for five days and counting!!

From www.nunsopbronx.homestead.com:
"The DOMINICAN NUNS of Corpus Christi Monastery, Bronx, New York, are a
monastic community dedicated to a life of prayer and penance for the
preaching mission of the Dominican Order and for the salvation of
souls."

For more on Trap-Neuter-Return: www.neighborhoodcats.org

Dear Sister Helen C. And Followers Of Christ,

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Our priority on earth is doing God's will, which means having mercy, which means having mercy on any creature that benefits from mercy and suffers from indifference.

If you consider your priority to be lifting humans from depravity to redemption, then show by example how we can be more compassionate stewards of the earth rather than coldhearted and selfish.

The feral cats sharing their small patch of earth with you, each an indirect victim of human ignorance and negligence, eking out a life in the inhospitable city environment, through the grace of God and — up to now — human charity, are made by the same Creator as us, and declared Very Good by God.


Pope John Paul had a dream, that he said moved him like no other, in which a mother cat and her kittens walked the city streets in search of shelter and kindness. They were rejected by everyone, including churchgoers, until they finally found solace with a poor old woman who took them in and fed them. What is Pope John Paul, looking down from heaven, thinking now?

Very Respectfully,

...

Attention, carnivores...

--Jim Mason

May 18, 2005
Letter to Donald H. Rumsfeld
May 12, 2005

The Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

1 page via fax: 703-695-1219

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

You have said that you weren't aware of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, but I don't want you to be caught in the same position over the torture of another group of individuals who, while different from the average American citizen in many ways, still bleed, feel pain, and experience fear just as we do. Because people can change over the years, I would like to get the story straight from you, rather than relying on old newspaper accounts of what you said about this shameful matter when you were NATO ambassador.

Will you please tell me whether your views on bullfighting have changed since you personally "ran with the bulls" in Pamplona? I believe that you can safely say that like most, you had no idea until now that before reaching the streets in Pamplona, the bulls are debilitated with laxatives, blinded with Vaseline smeared into their eyes, and agitated with firecrackers and whips to make them stampede. You probably didn't realize that the bulls who crash onto the cobblestones, bruising and breaking their horns and limbs, are the very same animals tortured to death in the arena that night, having their ears cut off by a matador (literally "killer") while they are still conscious.

I'm happy to note that bullfighting is a dying business. It has now been banned in several Spanish cities. I hope that you will add your voice to this sign of progress and awareness that all torture is wrong.

I invite you to tip the scales back a bit by coming to Spain to participate in the Running of the Nudes— also called the Human Race—an alternative to the cruel spectacle that occurs three days later.

We all live and learn, and we often become more caring as we age. PETA would be pleased to welcome you to run with representatives from Spain and from around the world, wearing as much or as little as you like.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President, PETA

PUPPY MILLS

Think about how you felt physically and emotionally the last time you were limited to a small area for only a few hours--taking the SATs, a long car ride, flying on an airplane, sitting through a day-long conference. Antsy? Claustrophobic? Like you would scream if you had to sit there for another day? Now think about having that sensation FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. That is the horrible fate of breeding dogs confined to small cages virtually from birth till death in thousands of commercial breeding facilities, commonly known as puppy mills.

A puppy mill is a facility, large or small, that breeds dogs for profit. These facilities are notorious for ignoring the dogs' physical and emotional needs. The dogs go crazy from boredom, and their bodies waste away. Dogs are usually prized for their boundless enthusiasm and zest for life, but in puppy mills, they receive no compassion, and their spirits are broken. They live and die in pain and misery.

How do you tell if a pet store gets puppies from puppy mills? First of all, pet stores that have a large selection of purebred puppies (say, 20 to 30) year-round are almost guaranteed to be getting dogs from this type of facility, since otherwise they would not be assured of a constant supply.

Second, people who care about puppies look for good homes for them. They do not ship them off to be sold in pet stores.

A third indication that a pet store's puppies are mass-produced in puppy mills is if pet store employees are reluctant to tell you the name of the breeder or where the breeder's facility is located. They may say they get puppies from "private breeders." Puppy mills ARE private breeders. Our local Petland has cited a "strict privacy policy" regarding its breeders. On registration papers provided to customers, it has in several cases, and most likely in many other cases, failed to provide any information about the dog's breeder.

In Virginia, THIS IS ILLEGAL! Section 3.1-796.78 states that pet dealers who sell dogs with registration papers--such as AKC papers--must provide the NAME and ADDRESS of its breeders. Most likely, Petland fears that customers who see Missouri, Kansas, and other Midwestern addresses will think "puppy mills," since the Midwest is "Puppy Mill Central" in the United States. If you or anyone you know purchased a puppy at the Fairfax Petland and received papers that do not contain the breeder's name and address, PLEASE contact us at all4theanimals@yahoo.com.

In the case of Petland, there is clear evidence that Petland has obtained puppies from puppy mills. During an April 2000 Dateline NBC exposé of puppy mills and pet stores, investigators visited two of Petland's "private breeders." One facility housed over 500 dogs; the other, 200 dogs, all in cages. During their investigation at the first breeder, Dateline investigators never saw the dogs let out of the cages, but they did find dogs with neurotic behavior caused by long confinement. They saw filth on and around the dogs, maggot-infested food, timid dogs housed together with aggressive dogs, untreated wounds, broken bones, mange, open sores, and rotted teeth--conditions causing the dogs tremendous pain and long-term suffering.

A former truck driver for the second Petland breeder told Dateline of how her boss ordered her to throw live puppies into a trash burner because they were sick. A sickly puppy purchased at a Petland store was traced to a third facility housing over 200 dogs. That puppy had expensive health problems including hip dysplasia and chronic diarrhea. This is not surprising, as puppy mills are also known for breeding animals with genetic defects as well as breeding dogs as often as possible, causing the mother to wear out and die young after producing many litters of sickly puppies.

After the story aired, generating a huge response from the public, Petland refused to be interviewed by Dateline. Petland merely sent a letter claiming the story was "unfair" and apparently did not pledge to change its operations in any way. If you would like to borrow a copy of the Dateline video, contact us at all4theanimals@yahoo.com.

Petland openly states on its website that it obtains many dogs from USDA-licensed breeders, as if this ensures a certain level of quality and humane care. Is that the case? The USDA requires that anyone with 3 or more breeding dogs who sells animals to pet stores be licensed. It has minimal requirements regarding food, water, sanitation, and space, but enforcement of the USDA's regulations is extremely lax. For example, the USDA requires that the commercial breeders have an exercise plan for the dogs, but they do not make sure that the plan is ever carried out. If more than one dog is housed in a cage, the dogs are not required to ever be let out at all. The USDA's head veterinarian, Ron de Haven, admits that only about half of the roughly 4,000 USDA-licensed facilities even meet USDA's minimum regulations, a disgraceful example of the USDA's failure to enforce existing animal-protection laws.

De Haven attributes this failure to the USDA not having enough inspectors, but even when the inspectors find problems, fining and closing down puppy mills is very rare. The USDA's mission is to support agriculture, and apparently it considers puppy mill owners to be "dog farmers" worthy of its protection. Bottom line: if you buy a puppy from Petland or other pet stores, it's very likely that his or her parents are enduring a lifetime of cruelty.

Petland's puppies also usually come with some kind of registration papers, such as AKC (American Kennel Club). Many people are under the false impression that this means the parent dogs are in good health. As the AKC will tell you itself, that is not true. The papers only mean that the two parent dogs were of the same breed, and the AKC takes the breeder's word that that is the case. (The sickly Petland puppy featured in the Dateline story turned out not even to be a purebred.) Parent dogs can be toothless, lame, undernourished, have serious genetic defects, and still have their litters of puppies registered with the AKC.

Haphazard breeding can result in both physical and behavioral problems. For example, one woman we met had purchased a puppy from the Burke Pet Center, which like Petland obtains puppies from the Hunte Corporation. Although she has successfully housetrained many dogs, she has never been able to fully housetrain this one.

IN-STORE CONDITIONS

Petland's broker (middleman between breeders and pet stores), the Hunte Corporation, is based in Missouri, often considered the puppy mill capital of the country due to its large concentration of puppy mills. Other states with many puppy mills include Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania (especially Lancaster County).

After collecting puppies from many Midwestern breeding facilities, weeding out the sickliest ones to suffer an uncertain fate--most likely death--the Hunte Corporation packs caged puppies into its trucks and drives them to Petlands and other pet stores all over the country, usually a stressful trip of several hundred miles. At the store, having spent their whole life of 8 weeks in cages, the puppies again spend most of their time in small cages.

According to veterinarians, the confinement of large numbers of animals to a small store, with new animals being added all the time, is an invitation to rampant infectious disease. The neatly stacked rows of cages at Petland resemble isolation chambers--ideal for driving people and animals crazy, but not a proper environment for animals adapted to life on this planet through millions of years of evolution. The barren cages do not allow the puppy to experience the outdoors, where a normally developing puppy would be able to see the sky, feel the sun and wind, and run and play with human and canine companions in the dirt and grass and leaves. Small cages do not provide a rich indoor environment for the puppies to explore. Rarely do the puppies ever have a soft surface to lie on, although even in the wild, animals seek out soft nesting spots. All Petland puppies have is a mesh-floored cage (uncomfortable for their feet), maybe a single chew toy, and, if they're lucky, a hard floor tile, about 1 foot by 1 foot, that is supposed to serve as their bed. The sad faces of the puppies entice well-meaning visitors into "rescuing" puppies by buying them, even for the outrageous prices of well over $1,000 per puppy that Petland usually charges (the adoption fee for dogs at our local shelter is $85). Of course, each time they sell a puppy, Petland orders more from the Hunte Corp.--approximately 25 puppies each week for one Petland store.

Since Petland's cages are standardized, one might assume that they are in compliance with all state anti-cruelty laws as well as laws that prohibit the sale of certain species, but this is not necessarily the case. The Petland in Fairfax, Virginia, was found to be in violation of the Virginia state law that prohibits pet stores from housing puppies in cages in which their feet could fall through the mesh. This went on for many months, even though it was obvious to any observer that the tiny puppies, such as Chihuahuas and Toy Rat Terriers, could only hobble painfully around their cages, their legs falling through the mesh each time they tried to move.

The Fairfax Petland also failed to consistently provide a solid resting platform until ordered to do so by Animal Control. When it did, it used one or two hard floor tiles that were still not completely solid. Some of the larger puppies, such as the Golden Retrievers, could only fit their two front legs on the tiles, not their whole body, as required by law. Recently, when a citizen reported the absence of ANY resting platforms in the cages, Petland admitted to police that it removes the platforms each night because they make a mess. This is against the law.

Petland was also selling one or more tarantulas, even though tarantulas are prohibited as pets in our county.

Puppies are by no means the only animals suffering in Petland stores. Petland also sells kittens, rabbits, parakeets, parrots, chinchillas, ferrets, hamsters, fish, and a variety of other animals. Because even fewer laws protect these animals, they most likely come from breeding and warehousing facilities even worse than puppy mills. These animals are also housed in cramped cages or aquariums at the store and are sold with a minimum of instruction on how to properly care for them. This can lead to premature death, abandonment, and for long-lived species such as parrots, many years of suffering in an inadequate environment.

People who take jobs at Petland because they love animals sooner or later find out, as one told us, "It's all about time and money." This employee saw a lot of deaths among the small animals at the Fairfax City store, particularly birds and hamsters, and saw that many of the puppies arrived with respiratory problems. The puppies also had sores from lying on the hard mesh cage floors. Another Fairfax City Petland employee tried to nurture the puppies and was told something along the lines of (not a direct quote), "They don't need petting; they're just money. If you want to do that, go to the shelter." An employee from another Petland told us that puppies are taken from their mothers at 5 weeks old and go through so much stress and handling that Petland recommends that once the puppy arrives at the store, he or she be left alone for 48 hours. Our local Petland puts puppies on display immediately, and they are available for sale about 24 hours later.

One customer of the Fairfax Petland unknowingly purchased a dog with hereditary defect that makes simple anesthesia a grave risk to the dog's life, so that any situation requiring anesthesia, even spaying or neutering, can be fatal. Another puppy purchased at the Fairfax Petland developed a cough within a couple of days. Because it was the weekend, the dog had to be taken to an emergency clinic, voiding the Petland warranty, which requires that the dog be brought to a particular vet who works with Petland. Neighbors have seen the huge truck that arrives with its weekly delivery and heard the cries of the puppies as they are unloaded.

Several local vets who have treated puppies purchased at the Fairfax Petland have stated that the many of the puppies are sick. One said, "I HATE Petland!" Another said of a Petland puppy, "This puppy is a walking time bomb." A local trainer working with Petland puppies found many of them unsocialized, extremely difficult to train, and mentally and emotionally ill.

If you purchased a sick puppy at the Fairfax Petland, please contact us at all4theanimals@yahoo.com. We are not going to give out names of vets, former employees, and other people who give us information about Petland unless specifically given permission. But we will encourage people to ask their vets about the health of pet-store puppies, and they will be able to confirm what these experts are saying.

HOMELESS ANIMAL CRISIS

All this abuse is made worse by the fact that it is completely unnecessary. Petland sells animals for one reason only--profit--in flagrant disregard for the homeless animal crisis not only in our local area but the entire country. In 2003, in Virginia alone, over 60,000 dogs and 73,000 cats were killed in animal shelters. Nationwide, year after year, a minimum of 3 million dogs and 4 million cats are killed in U.S. animal shelters due to lack of homes. For dogs alone, that's 6 killed every minute, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's estimated that a quarter of the dogs killed in shelters are purebreds. If you have trouble visualizing this tragedy because of the huge numbers of animals involved, please go to www.pleaserescueme.com/gone.cfm to see just a few of the innocent animals who have been killed simply for lack of homes.

The vast majority of the animals killed in shelters are healthy, friendly, and young. The 7 million dead does not even include the animals being killed outside shelters (for example, Greyhounds bred for racing and slaughtered when their racing days are over). While our local shelters and rescue groups struggle valiantly to rescue homeless animals, spending their energy and money to save innocent lives, Petland's contribution is to pump mass-produced animals into our community, as well as similar communities all over the country.

Because the number of small animals killed due to homelessness is not even counted at shelters, many people are unaware that there is a homeless animal crisis among small animals, too. Our local rescue groups cannot even begin to save all the rabbits, birds, ferrets, iguanas, and many other small animals that desperately need homes.

Please do not buy ANY animal at a pet store, but please do contact local shelters and rescue groups (both purebred and mixed breed groups) if you can provide an animal with a good home.

--Alan Roocoft, retired senior elephant keeper at the San Diego Zoo