To the editor,
Re: Pet store sales of dogs and cats should continue, Letters, July 20.
As one who has been involved with dog rescue in the U.S. and Canada since 1980, I’m truly amazed at the views of those who continue to support the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores. This practice has been banned in many municipalities across Canada and the U.S.
These stores rely on impulse buying with no thought or responsibility for the pet’s future. Unlike rescue groups, they do not require an application, home visit, reference checks or follow-up. Their responsibility ends when money and pets change hands.
And where do they source their ‘merchandise?’ Not from puppy mills, they say, and perhaps even manage to say it with a straight face. Where from, then? Backyard breeders are only a smaller form of puppy mill. No reputable, responsible breeder invests time and money to raise dogs from known stock in good health with specific characteristics, only to turn them over to a third party who’ll sell them to the first person who walks in the door with a cheque or credit card.
I suggest those who support these stores volunteer even for a short time with the SPCA or any number of rescue groups whose primary interest is the well-being of the animals in their care, not the money they gain from selling them the same way you’d sell a toaster or piece of furniture.
Pat Weir, Nanaimo