Cooper Lewis '26, News Editor
Whether you have one or not, you have to admit that dogs are one of the greatest joys in life one can experience. The feeling of having a soft buddy that you can cuddle up with at night, or take on walks around the neighborhood, is indescribable. Spending hours playing with them and enjoying their unconditional love are some of the best memories one can make. For centuries, humans have bonded with dogs—they are 'man's best friend' as they say. It should be a given that everyone wants a healthy and happy dog, yes what happens if you purchase a sick dog? The pet store did not tell you this before your purchase, and they never gave you the proper paperwork. How would you feel? Betrayed, right? Distraught?
No one likes seeing a sick or unhealthy dog, but a local pet store located in Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi is filled with them. If you are an avid shopper at the mall, you likely have walked past Petland, a small store located just off one of the various entrances. Inside, shoppers can see all sorts of dogs in their cages. These puppies are well taken care of by workers behind the scenes, or so it may seem.
The location—one of 140 Petlands total—has recently come under investigation by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). "We have consistently connected Petland to puppy mills and so we wanted to go behind the scenes with a hidden camera and see if the problems were as pervasive in the Novi store as they are in other Petland stores and the answer was yes," John Goodwin, a senior director of the Stop Puppy Mills campaign and member of HSUS, said. An investigator from HSUS worked as a kennel attendant at the Novi location for roughly two months. Footage captured by this investigator showed disturbing images: bloody feces, evidence of surgical wounds not properly closed, and various other diseases were brought to light.
This footage not only highlights the sick puppies, but how they are delivered to store. HSUS has attained paperwork that claims the puppies were delivered from mass breeding mills in Iowa and Missouri, both of which have a history of animal health violations. "Petland has a strict 'if you see something say something' policy that requires employees who witness or experience something that makes them feel uncomfortable to report it via an anonymous 800-number. Instead, the undercover employee and HSUS sources withheld the information and imagery she sourced in this plot for months," Petland Vice President of Animal Welfare, Brian Winslow, in a statement to WXYZ Detroit, said. "Not only did they not express their concerns via the tipline, they also chose not to contact store management, animal control, nor local or state officials. She and her HSUS counterparts remained silent; reinforcing the fact that none of the pets were in danger, and they were being cared for properly. Instead, these accounts were produced into a deceiving video clip and rhetoric to launch HSUS's 2023 Holiday fundraising season." On top of the video evidence, HSUS reports that at least one puppy "fell and broke its leg."
This is interesting, however, as according to the store records, in their 20+ years of operation, not a single puppy has ever broken a leg or any other bone for that matter. "The health and well-being of our pets is Petland's number one priority," Winslow added. "Petland abides by all state, local, and federal regulations when it comes to the care of its pets." Petland continues to deny the allegations brought forward about them, but can we trust anything they say? Is any of what HSUS says true? No legal action has been pursued, and no consequences have been put forward on Petland, so the case is proving difficult to see who is in the wrong and right.
No comments:
Post a Comment