Hello Animal Advocates,

I was recently in the (name removed) pet store in Richmond this past weekend. I was very upset to see that they had at least 16 puppies for sale. Four of which were in the same cage. The puppies did not have blankets and they were living in small metal cages. Some of the puppies were so small that their feet were falling through the grates. There was one puppy in particular that caught my eye. She was a tiny Shih Tzu. I asked the store owner to let me hold her. She was the size of a hamster. I asked how old the puppy was and he said she was 8 weeks. I do not think the puppy was any older than 5 weeks old. Her belly was covered in urine. I thought about bringing her home with me to find her a good home but, when I asked how much they were selling her for she was much more than I could afford at the time. They are asking $1,200.00 for this little puppy. I am sure that most of these puppies come from puppy mills. I think that pet stores should be banned from selling puppies at all. If all pet stores can’t be stopped I am hoping that at least this one will be. They are clearly out to make money and don’t care at all about the puppies well being. I hope that there is something that can be done to stop this cruelty.