PROTEST AT PETLAND - September, 2005

The Protest at Petland—Who Is Right?

Located in the Picket Shopping Center in Fairfax, Petland is a modern, well-run business. Brightly lighted and clean, it markets an array of topnotch supplies for pets, and it features cage after cage of beautiful animals. As I entered the store, I was greeted by Vinnie, a handsome English Bulldog introduced as the “store manager.” Near the entrance, a stunning rose-breasted cockatoo and a flashy scarlet macaw caught my eye. I was mesmerized by the exotic birds the snoozing ferrets, the cuddly hamsters, the showy fish, the outlandish reptiles, and the amusing hermit crabs. Next I spotted the adorable puppies, and like all the other visitors, I was enchanted.

Why, then, do protesters stand on Pickett Road each Saturday, challenging Petland’s policies towards animals? Through these weekly demonstrations, animal welfare activist Holly Sternberg hopes to focus attention on the many homeless animals in shelters throughout Northern Virginia and to dissuade prospective owners from purchasing dogs and cats at pet stores.

What’s wrong with getting one of those irresistible pups at pet stores? By buying one, according to Sternberg, you support midwestern puppy mills. Petland’s animals, she claims, are born in puppy mills. There, dogs are bred “solely for profit. In a typical puppy mill, adult dogs are confined to cramped cages for their entire lives. They are given the cheapest food available; they live in filth; their injuries and diseases go untreated; and after being bred over and over until their bodies wear out, they are killed.”

Kareem Koshok, who opened Petland in 2003, is puzzled by Holly Sternberg’s opposition. Along with his brother and dad, who are his partners, he is proud of the store and the animals. His description of puppy mills agrees with Sternberg’s, and he emphasizes that he purchases his puppies from reputable breeders. He has visited their facilities, which are sanitary and comfortable. Breeding operations are professional, “by the book.” Like Sternberg, he is concerned about the quality of the dogs. He looks for good teeth and eyes, shining coats, energy, and friendly dispositions. “I try to make the breeders better by buying only the best pups available. I have high standards”

Holly Sternberg criticizes the trucks that transport the puppies. The young dogs, she notes on the recently published Web site, www.petstorecruelty.org, are stuffed into small cages, loaded onto trucks, and shipped to pet stores. The cages are jammed together, the air is foul, and the stench of ammonia is overpowering. “Not my dogs!” disagrees Koshok emphatically. He invites customers to inspect the vans which deliver the pups to Petland. Health issues are a concern for both Sternberg and Koshok. She adds that many of the puppies have contracted respiratory ailments when they reach their destinations. Koshok, however, maintains resolutely, “I don’t sell sick animals.” His dogs have five vet checks before they reach the store. A veterinarian visits the store weekly, he and the head kennel technician talk daily to the vet, and each new owner receives an additional free checkup by the store’s vet within the first four days of ownership. Vaccinations and worming are up-to-date.

How do you identify a store which sells dogs from breeding mills? What conditions in a store are considered inhumane? Many violations are easy to spot: mesh flooring that catches tiny legs and feet; cages with inadequate resting platforms; cramped or dirty cages; sick, malnourished, or dehydrated animals. If the pet store has cages filled with different breeds of puppies, you can assume that these babies were produced at a puppy mill, Sternberg asserts. Not so with Petland, rebuts Koshok. He knows his breeders, and he picks the puppies he wants. He features a wide variety of purebred dogs because his customers request them. In addition, the cleanliness of Petland, the exuberance of the dogs and their condition attest to their care. “Every animal gets the same care as if he were privately owned. Every time I turn around, a puppy gives me a kiss,” he affirms with a smile.

“I know what I’m doing is right,” Kareem Koshok continues. “If you know a better way, show me. Teach me.” The protesters organized by Holly Sternberg, carrying tombstone-shaped placards and dressed in black, are also right to mourn the 133,000 dogs and cats killed in Virginia shelters in 2003. Holly and Kareem have similar goals. Both want to discourage people from buying pets indiscriminately, then discarding them like old shoes. The families cooing over the lovable babies at Petland, however, would not see themselves, or the store, as contributors to this horrendous problem.

Holly Sternberg’s Web site is extremely informative—and heartbreaking. The opinions she expresses about the Petland chain of stores are hers, however; I could not verify them. I had a difficult time reconciling the grim picture she painted with my visits to the attractive Petland on Main Street. I could barely be restrained from buying the spunky Irish Terrier as a buddy for my adopted, rescued Airedale, and after hearing about the store, my son-in-law marched right in and bought a perky Boston Terrier.