Wednesday, July 16, 2008

They Love Money, Not Dogs

I love animals and dogs are my favorite and I have to say it's their unconditional love that puts dogs on the top of my list. No other animal gives so much and asks for so little in return. Dogs are amazing and so often they make humans look like "animals".

When I say I love animals, especially dogs, I mean it! I like to think I live my life in a way that demonstrates my love for animals. I would never do anything to hurt or exploit an animal. I would never abuse or neglect an animal. I couldn't be cruel to an animal and I would never make a living off the pain and suffering of an animal. I would never bring more dogs into this world when so many are already living in shelters and so many more are killed every year because no one wants them.

Mark Arabia, the owner of Pets Plus,
claims "caring for animals was always my passion but now it's a business". Pets Plus, with stores in PA and NJ, sells puppy mill puppies and has been the focus of a weekly protest by the NPPMWatch group. Mark is very honest in his statement, he cares about profit, he doesn't care about dogs. I doubt he really cares about his customers either.

If you Google Mark Arabia and add puppy mill to his name you'll find a lot of interesting information about Mark, puppy mills, pet stores and some of the puppies Pets Plus has sold. Mark's passion is money; I truly doubt his passion was ever anything but money. As an animal lover I can't shop in a store that sells puppies and only cares about money. As an animal lover it makes me sick that to think that I use to shop in Pets Plus and I believed the employee's when they told me their puppies came from 'breeders". UGH. Most of their breeders have names like Pharis Martin or Zimmerman (Allen, Amos, David and John) and they all "breed" in Lancaster, PA.

Susan Hoagland is the spokeswoman for Monster Pets, a South Philly pet store that sells puppy mill puppies.
ROAR, Reach Out for Animal Rights, has been protesting outside Monster Pets for the past 18 months and when asked about the weekly protest this is what Susan had to say, "It's upsetting to us because we haven't done anything wrong, we don’t' abuse our animals in fact it's the exact opposite.” WOW, do these people think before they speak? Anyway, I'm so glad she mentioned "abuse".

Monster Pets isn't any different from any other pet store that sells puppies, if you can pay for the puppy it's yours! They don't check out your living situation or your backgroud. They don't care if you've been convicted of animal abuse in the past. They don't ask if you have a Vet and they don't care if you need one right away (and you probably will). They don't care if "their" puppy goes to an abusive home and they don't ask you to bring "their" puppy back if you find your not ready to add a puppy into your life. They don't want "their" puppies back, in sickness or in health.

Monster Pets doesn't care about the thousands of dogs living and dying in shelters every day and they don't care about the burden those dogs put on the community. Monster Pets doesn't want to know if one of "their" dogs end up in a shelter, the shelter dogs aren't their concern.

Susan might not realize it but as an animal lover what Monster Pets sells is ABUSE. We all pay the price when a pet store is selling puppies in our community. Google the term "puppy mill" and you'll understand the price so many dogs are paying to supply those adorable pet shop puppies. Then, take a trip to your local shelter and ask yourself WHY?

I love my dogs, I love all dogs and I do what I can to live a life that expresses that love. Please do the same. Love your dog, love all dogs. Help end the shelter crisis, and shut down puppy mills every where, today!