HSUS and Petland Continue ‘Puppy Mill’ Endgame
Petland Inc. (Chillicothe, Ohio) and the Humane Society of the United States (Washington) dragged their public dispute into the new year with a predictable back-and-forth over substandard puppy breeding facilities.
In January, the HSUS hosted rallies at 22 Petland stores to protest the retailer’s alleged use of “puppy mills” to supply outlets. Petland responded with a press release denying the accusations and calling protesters “well-meaning but misguided individuals.”
Stephanie Shain, an HSUS outreach director, and Elizabeth Kunzelman, director of marketing and communications for Petland, both said in December that they were trying to arrange a joint meeting to share information. Responding to an inquiry, Kunzelman said the groups have not physically met, but have had additional phone conversations and are discussing an upcoming meeting.
In a similar vein, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Norfolk, Va.) launched campaign to stop live-animal sales at PetSmart Inc. According to a press release from PETA, the animal rights organization owns 151 shares of PetSmart and has “submitted a shareholder resolution calling on the Phoenix-based company to report on the feasibility of phasing out the sale of live animals.” The campaign comes on the heels of PETA’s own set of undercover pet store investigations. [March 2009 PET AGE]
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