Proposed Regulations: HUMANE TREATMENT OF PUPS IN PET STORES

The AAS proposal for pet store regulations

In 1999, AAS sent the following request, with these pictures, to the Mayors and Councilors of Abbotsford, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley City, Langley Township, Maple Ridge, Mission, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, West Vancouver, and White Rock, in British Columbia.

The Need For Pet Store Bylaws For Dogs and Pups

Puppies silently suffer in the misery of pet stores, victims of the bottom line, and victims of the lack of the enforcement of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in B.C. We ask that this municipality adopt our proposal for Humane Treatment of Pet Store Pups, and also the North Vancouver District Pet Store Regulations bylaws, with our recommendations for their improvement.

Breaches of common, humane treatment of animals have been reported to us by many people, about almost every pet store we know of, and we hope you will provide protection for the helpless animals that are just merchandise to pet store owners.

AAS's letter requested regulations to prohibit:

• 1. Isolation
• 2. Tiny Cages
• 3. Metal-grid cage bottoms

1. Isolation - We would truly like to see pups kenneled only at night, and then with at least one other pup for company. And that pups be kept in a common play area during the day.

Puppies get along with each other, and it would vastly help their healthy socialization, and their physical health too, as wrestling and playing helps their bones and muscles develop properly, and chewing on each other helps their teeth and jaws form properly, and teaches them social skills necessary for them to have long, happy, lives, and not be rejected and euthanized because of behaviour problems. There is no physical reason to justify the extreme cruelty of keeping puppies in isolation. Dogs are by nature the most gregarious creatures in the world. They do not wish to be alone for even one minute, much less months. Their physical and mental well-being requires the company of other dogs. Yet they are taken from their mothers and siblings at a tender age and put in lonely, torturous cages.

As for the objection that they may contract diseases from each other: the diseases are airborne, or transferred on staffs' and customers' hands; and the pups are supposed to be certified healthy, and to have had their vaccines.

2. Tiny cages - we would like to see kennels that are large enough to hold several pups.

We have witnessed a six-month old dog in a cage so small that it had to stand with its feet in its food and water bowls, and perpetually bow its head. Pups need each other for comfort and security when they are sleeping. When they are not sleeping, they should be in the common play area.

3. Metal-grid cage floors - designed for quick (and therefore cheap) cleaning of urine and feces.

Pet store owners may pay the breeder as little as $300 for a pup that they are trying to sell for $1000 or more. That’s why the pups are forced to endure such long periods of miserable, lonely isolation, and the physical cruelty of steel racks to live on which have been designed for quick (and therefore cheap) cleaning of the urine and feces, and where they sometimes stay isolated for many months. Pet store owners, in contradiction to their insistence that they treat their merchandise humanely, are reluctant to infringe on their bottom line by spending money to treat these helpless pups with common kindness.

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The SPCA says complaints about puppy treatment in pet stores are "TRIVIAL". What do you think?

We sent our proposal for humane pet store regulations to:

Abbotsford - Invited and made presentation July 12/00. Decision was that Abbotsford doesn't need these regulations, that their pet stores are fine. Some of the worst conditions we saw were in Abbotsford.

Burnaby - Invited and made presentation. Well-received and a decision was made to form a committee of Councilor Celeste Redmond, City staff, the Burnaby SPCA, nine pet store owners, and AAS. The first meeting was held September 22/99. SPCA superintendent, Carson Wilson, said that the Burnaby SPCA receives about 11 calls a year. We don't believe this. Surrey SPCA (Surrey has only three pet stores) told us it gets 2 - 3 calls a week. Burnaby has 5 stores selling dogs and cats. Wilson also said that there are no bad pet stores in Burnaby.

These are the stores that Carson Wilson, the long-time superintendent of the Vancouver Regional/Burnaby SPCA says are not bad, and that complaints about them are trivial. He also said that pet store owners are very cooperative. This was confirmed by the pet store owners who said, or agreed, that "the SPCA is our friend, that they don't know why the SPCA bothers to come, because everytime they do, they always say they can't see anything wrong." Perhaps Wilson can't see anything wrong with animals in little cages because that's how the SPCA keeps animals. And perhaps Wilson can't see anything wrong with selling dogs, as he breeds and sells dogs himself. (See: Feeding Your Own Industry - the SPCA Breeds and Sells Animals)

Second meeting was held April 25/00. AAS could not attend. A decision was made to draft a bylaw. So far nothing has been done.

Chilliwack - Told us no regulations needed.

Coquitlam - Invited and made presentation August 16/99. Well received, especially by Councilors Mae Reid and Diane Thorne. Still no action.

Delta - No action.

Langley City - No action.

Langley Township - Discussed at council meeting of July 19/00. No action. Councilor Barnard especially interested.

Maple Ridge - No action.

Mission - Invited and made presentation August 3/99. Well received. No action.

New Westminster - July 5/99 - sent to Directors of Engineering and Strategic Services for review and response. No action.

Pitt Meadows - No action.

Port Coquitlam - No action.

Port Moody - No action.

Richmond - Will send to ad hoc dog and cat committee. No word back.

Surrey - Invited and made presentation October 4/99. Well received. Councilors Watts and Higginbotham especially interested. No action.

Vancouver - No action.

West Vancouver - Invited and made presentation October 12/99. Unanimous vote to do nothing. Noah's Ark pet store praised. This store keeps pups in isolation, in small cages, for long periods of time. The picture above of the Shih Tzu was taken at this store.

White Rock - No action.

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Print this letter and send to your mayor and council and tell us that you've done this and what response you get...

Address to Mayors and Council
Re: Pet Store Regulations

Good evening Mayor and Councillors, my name is Judy Stone, and I’m the President of Animal Advocates Society of B.C.

These photos taken by Animal Advocates Society are of puppies silently suffering in the misery of pet stores in the lower mainland. The cages look just like what they are – prison cells, but violent criminals are treated more humanely than these silently suffering innocents are. The metal grates, the cramped space, the isolation, are here to see. There are no blankets, not even a piece of cardboard to protect the puppies’ tender skin and feet from the metal grating. Walking is painful, so they remain huddled in their corners, for days and weeks and months of incomprehensible loneliness. These pictures show just how widespread is the assumption that the bottom line justifies misery. These breaches of common, humane treatment of animals have been reported to us for several years in every municipality in the lower mainland. We know of other animal welfare groups who have been complaining to the SPCA for twenty years. We hope you will provide protection for these helpless animals who are just merchandise to pet store owners.

North Vancouver District’s bylaw eliminated the cruel metal racks, but the other abuses, lack of socializing, exercise and healthy play were not addressed. We ask that you improve on the North Vancouver District legislation.

We would truly like to see pups be kept in a common play and sleeping area. Puppies get along with each other, and it would vastly help their healthy socialization, and their physical health too, as wrestling and playing helps their bones and muscles develop properly, and chewing on each other helps their teeth and jaws form properly. Play also teaches them social skills necessary for them to have long, happy, lives, and not be eventually rejected and euthanised because of behaviour problems. We frequently hear of pups purchased from these stores who are so neurotic and untrainable and unhealthy that their owners "get rid" of them or have them put down.

Animal behaviourist and veterinarian, Dr Ian Dunbar of the Department of Psychology, the University of California, Berkley writes "The large amount of time that is spent playing, is of utmost importance in the physical and behavioural maturation of the dog".

And the famous Monks of New Skeet ask of pet stores: "how humane is it to have a puppy on display...isolated from its mothers and littermates, in a separate cage, lacking adequate exercise and handling."

As for the objection that the pups may contract diseases from each other: since the diseases are air-born, or transferred on staff’s and customer’s hands; and the pups are supposed to be certified healthy anyway, and to have had their vaccines, we see this as just a justification to run a business more cheaply and can’t accept this as a valid objection.

There is no physical reason to justify the extreme cruelty of keeping puppies in isolation. Dogs are by nature the most gregarious creatures in the world. Their physical and mental well-being requires the company of other dogs. Yet they are taken from their mothers and siblings at a tender age and put in tortuous cages, which have been designed for quick (and therefore cheap) cleaning of urine and feces, and where they sometimes stay for many months. We have witnessed a six-month old dog in a cage so small that it had to stand with its feet in its food and water bowls, its head perpetually bowed. We’ve been told that a pet store had a Sharpei for sale for over a thousand dollars, for so long that it outgrew it’s cage, and when a distressed woman offered $750 just to get it out of there, she was refused. Most of these stores are staffed with teenagers, with no training, like the store in Burnaby, where a three- week old kitten, too young to even lap milk was found by one of our supporters, with maggot infested sores around its neck. She bought it and saved it of course. That’s what animal lovers do.

We would also like to see the history of the pups for sale made readily available to the public. We can’t think of a single other instance where the origination of goods for sale is so shrouded in secrecy. It’s not legal to refuse to divulge where a car is manufactured, or even a sweater. The secrecy exists because the animal trade is essentially a trade in misery, habitat degradation, and species decimation. Because it sells helpless rodents and reptiles to often spend their lives in dirty lonely cages until death releases them. Because it sells rabbits and mice and rats to be fed to snakes. And because, that irony of ironies, it sells birds, our symbol of freedom, in cages, to die of neglect by the millions. We’d also like to know what happens to unsold animals. We’ve been told they may be sold for research. And we have documented evidence of small rodents being tortured and killed by some staff, people who are attracted to a business that provides them almost unlimited scope for their sadistic tendencies, because there are no cruelty investigations being done by the society that is supposed to prevent cruelty.

We have all heard of the horrors of mid-west American puppy-mills, (show photos) where dogs spend their whole breeding lives in filthy, foetid cages, malnourished and miserably lonely, until they die, worn out by repeated breedings. That’s where most of these pups come from, complete with shameful American Kennel Club papers. We have been told by witnesses, that when pups arrive in crates at customs, some have been found dead. They die of dehydration and heat prostration, but also from disease and injury. But all that’s factored into the huge prices.

Pet store owners may pay the American puppy-mill breeder as little as $300 for a pup that they are trying to sell for as much as $1500. The high price is why the pups are forced to endure such long periods of miserable, lonely isolation. Pet store owners, in contradiction of their insistence that they treat their merchandise humanely, are reluctant to infringe on their bottom line by spending money to treat these helpless pups with common kindness. We hope you will speak for the citizens of your municipality, and that you will also speak for these innocent creatures who cannot speak for themselves.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

Accompanying this letter are:

• photos taken by Animal Advocates Society of puppies silently suffering in the misery of a pet store, victims of the bottom line, and the lack of prevention of cruelty to animals in B.C.:
• our presentation address to councils: and
• the North Vancouver District bylaws, with our recommendations for their improvement.

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