PETA to Petco: Stop selling animals

[Krizoitz]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/04/news/midcaps/petco_peta.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Animal rights protestors staked out Petco Animal Supplies Inc.'s annual meeting in San Diego on Thursday to pressure the No. 2 U.S. pet supply chain to stop selling animals in its stores.

The shareholder proposal, brought by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had asked Petco to study ending animal sales in its 670 stores.

The proposal won approval from less than 2 percent of shareholders, but PETA spokeswoman Christy Griffin said the organization planned "to keep bringing up this issue over and over until they get animals out of their stores."

Petco spokesman Shawn Underwood said "shareholders spoke clearly" with their sound defeat of the proposal.

"From our perspective, 62 percent of households have pets, so 62 percent think it's OK to have pets in the house," Underwood said. "We have a philosophical difference of opinion with them that I don't think we'll ever be able to bridge just because of the fact that they think pet ownership is slavery."

Lets see, next on their agenda, asking Ford to stop selling cars, Pepsi to stop selling soda-pop, and Xerox to stop selling copiers.

Atleast this time their protests seemed to be not completely insane, as is their normal modus operandi.

 

[jywv8]

Lets see, next on their agenda, ask...e encouraging the business of breeders/mills.

 

[evoluzione]

i will not go into a pet shop that sell kittens and puppies. it's wrong. that line about people keeping pets making it ok for pets to be sold in their stores??? what a prick! one is nothing like the other.

there's way too many stupid people in this world that should not be allowed to keep pets, and have kids for that matter...selling cats and dogs in stores is an easy option for people to own a pet, and i'm amazed at how incompetent people are when it comes to caring for them.

 

[mactastic]

I've never seen puppies or kitties in Petco. At least not for sale, only on leashes. They do sell mice, gerbils, hampsters, fish, lizards, turtles, and birds though. Personally I like to support my local farm supply store with my pet-related business, but that has nothing to do with Petco's sale of critters.

 

[wdlove]

PETA is very dangers with there very radical agenda. Personally I do think it is very sad that a pet store sells especially puppies. Professional breeders are against this practice. The stores tend to buy from puppy mills, only setup to produces puppies fast for sale. They have no regard for the welfare of the breed or the health of the puppy.

All of our pets have come from reputable breeders.

 

[JeffTL]

I agree that Petco shouldn't be selling mill-produced animals. The conditions at animal mills are abominable, and in many cases cruel and unclean to the point of being illegal. The only way to stop these businesses is to abstain from doing business with them.

I buy dog food from Petco, but I did not get my dog there, nor would I ever.

 

[Abstract]

Yes, any animal mill is bad. While I would never buy a dog or cat from a pet store, period, I can see the hypocrisy in the choices that I make. I eat eggs (rarely, but I wouldn't object to an egg if it was given to me), and those eggs probably come from chicken farms where a hundred chicken are placed in a small confined space and made to produce eggs all the time. Its not natural. The eggs are laid, not as food for people, but they're made for the chicken to breed. Its cruel to think that we can just force them to lay eggs, then take them away because they can't do anything about it.

Plus, the conditions are atrocious. The chickens lay so many eggs that they don't have enough calcium in their diet to produce eggs with proper shells. They're thin and weak, and crack easily. Only a few percent of eggs laid by chickens ever make it to the grocery store because of this. I can't figure out why they even force chickens to lay so many eggs when the large majority don't even come out right.

 

[strider42]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/04/news/midcaps/petco_peta.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes



Lets see, next on their agenda, asking Ford to stop selling cars, Pepsi to stop selling soda-pop, and Xerox to stop selling copiers.

Atleast this time their protests seemed to be not completely insane, as is their normal modus operandi.

I don't like PETA generally. I think they are short sighted and one sided. But in this case, they're right. I only shop at stores that don't sell animals, even gerbils or hansters. You'd do well not to ever buy from a petshop either. First, they are often supplied by unscrupulous breeders who keep them in appaling conditions, and also, because of that, the animals you buy are often sick. Get your pets from a rescue or pound, or if you buy fish, buy from a specialty shop that has a pledge not to buy from vendors who use poisons to collect the fish (its a widespread practice that damages very sensitive ecosystems) or buy from captive bred fish (fish are the only case in which a breeder is better because they aren't kept in pounds or rescues, and the alternative is wild collection)

 

[wPod]

mmm hamburgers. . . come on you hippie tree huggers they are animals. should we stop eating at mcdonalds b/c they buy meat from 'cow mills'?!!? i do know there are places that abuse and starve animals and that is bad. but there are organizations put in place to stop the worst from happening. but stop selling pets in a bet store?! thats a bit over the edge. why doesnt the local car dealership stop selling engines . . . engines are bad and produce polution. why doesnt PETA do something productive like educate consumers on how to treat their animals better. i bet on a daily basis there are more individuals that misstreat their own animals than there are animals miss treated in a pet store. i bet someone is cutting down a tree in the rainforest. . .you better go stop them!!!

 

[coopdog]

mmm hamburgers. . . come on you hippie tree huggers they are animals. should we stop eating at mcdonalds b/c they buy meat from 'cow mills'?!!? i do know there are places that abuse and starve animals and that is bad. but there are organizations put in place to stop the worst from happening. but stop selling pets in a bet store?! thats a bit over the edge. why doesnt the local car dealership stop selling engines . . . engines are bad and produce polution. why doesnt PETA do something productive like educate consumers on how to treat their animals better. i bet on a daily basis there are more individuals that misstreat their own animals than there are animals miss treated in a pet store. i bet someone is cutting down a tree in the rainforest. . .you better go stop them!!!

Good point. The PETA and people only get fired up about this because they are "cute" kittens and puppies for sale. **** the lizards, birds, and the other animals they sell. Many people don't care about the horrible conditions of cow slaughter farms and the killing of cows for meat, but they think of Chinese and Japanese as cruel for eating cat and dog.


I think PETA should cap the amount of bred animals on the market. If some ass hole can pick up two dogs for $600 then breed them and get $200-$600 a puppy thats a lot of $$$ for just about no work. Scumbags everywhere do this and don't give a crap about the animal's well being.

I also like Petsmart's adoption program. It's great. Salt Lake City's pounds and adoption programs are so good that there is a waiting list for dog's from the pound! Petsmart helps out with this a great deal selling 100's of pets on their big adoption days.

PETA should force Petco not to stop selling pets but to use a Petsmart style of adoption and go after the mills. Doing this and tring to cap the breeding # of pets would be a better route.

 

[strider42]

i bet on a daily basis there are more individuals that misstreat their own animals than there are animals miss treated in a pet store. i bet someone is cutting down a tree in the rainforest. . .you better go stop them!!!

And if they are caught its a criminal offense. The pet stores don't really have any liability and its very rare for the breeders to get fined or arrested.

And I don't think wanting animals to be treated fairly (I said fairly, not like humans) is at odds with eating meat or anything liek that. There are laws governing conditions at food breeders, and a lot of people think they should be better as well.

Another unfortunate side of petshops is that the people caring for the animals are often teenagers working for minimum wage who don't know enough aboutt he different animals to properly take care of them or give the consumer proper info. Its very common with rodents to be improperly sexed, so when you get home with your furry new pet, a few weeks later you have a litter of babies to deal with. Water and food is commonly not filled quickly enough, and bedding is often totally wrong for the type of animal. An informed consumer would not WANT to buy animals from places like this, they just don't know better or never thought about it.

And remember this, these breeders only end up costing you money when they propogate the huge amount of strays the costs involved in catching them, taking care of them, euthanizing them, etc. its not a crime just against the animals, its more far reaching than that.

And like I said earlier, as a consumer, you get a better deal by not buying pets of any sort at a pet shop. Its often cheaper (or free) to adopt, the animals are kept better so you don't have to spend as much in medical costs, you help take a potential stray off the streets and save another animal by making room at the shelter. Not wanting to people to buy at pet shops doesn't making a tree hugging hippy, its makes you a smarter consumer in my opinion.

And really, whats the harm in asking that pet shops take a responsibility in making sure they promote the proper treatment of those animals. I don't like PETA, but I don't like animal selling stores either. I buy all my stuff at petfood express or local shops when available for these reasons.

 

[Makosuke]

PETA usually goes pretty far overboard, but the basic ideals they're espousing, particularly in this case, are perfectly reasonable: Treat animals decently. The way of nature is that things eat other things, and humans are omnivores that have been eating meat for tens of thousands of years. Going against that, though perhaps admirable from a religious standpoint, goes against nature itself.

On the other hand, is that reason to raise cows in reeking feedlots and feed them other ground up cows to the point they develop bizzare illnesses, just so we can buy hamburger for $2 a pound instead of $4? Is it ok to have a puppy factory just so Petco can stock cute things to bring people who don't know better in while thousands of strays are euthanized?

It's a matter of being reasonable versus extremist. I eat a bit of meat, and have had a dog, cats, and hamsters in the past. The dog was from a local, reputable breeder, and the cats are adopted strays from the neighborhood. The cows are raised on local fields, the milk I drink comes from the same, and the chickens are from a farm that treats their animals properly.

Sure, I pay a bit more, and I have to look harder for pets, but I'm not part of the problem, I don't get neurotic or diseased dogs, and the food tastes much better (you'd be amazed at how good milk can taste when it's from a decent dairy if all you've ever had is generic supermarket stuff), and I also don't have to worry about mad cow disease (bird flu is a lot less likely, too--less cramped conditions).

(Incidentally, it's the Chinese and I think Vietnamese that eat cat and dog; the Japanese stick to more 'standard' animals plus horse, though they do skip that whole cooking step once in a while.)

 

[parrothead]

mmm hamburgers. . . come on you hippie tree huggers they are animals. should we stop eating at mcdonalds b/c they buy meat from 'cow mills'?!!? i do know there are places that abuse and starve animals and that is bad. but there are organizations put in place to stop the worst from happening. but stop selling pets in a bet store?! thats a bit over the edge. why doesnt the local car dealership stop selling engines . . . engines are bad and produce polution. why doesnt PETA do something productive like educate consumers on how to treat their animals better. i bet on a daily basis there are more individuals that misstreat their own animals than there are animals miss treated in a pet store. i bet someone is cutting down a tree in the rainforest. . .you better go stop them!!!

Calling people names is never a good way to start a discussion. As far as your question about MacDonalds, many people would say yes, stop eating there because the meat is from "cow mills" aka feedlots. Anyway extremeism is usually not a good way to go about seeking change. PETA can be a bit on the extreme side and it seems that trying to educate rather than demand would bring about better changes.

And you dont have to bet that someone is cutting down a tree in a rainforest, there are probably several hundred thousand people doing that very thing, this very moment.

 

[virividox]

PETA is very dangers with there very radical agenda. Personally I do think it is very sad that a pet store sells especially puppies. Professional breeders are against this practice. The stores tend to buy from puppy mills, only setup to produces puppies fast for sale. They have no regard for the welfare of the breed or the health of the puppy.

All of our pets have come from reputable breeders.

i totally agree
whenver i bought a dog i would research and find breeders who i became comfortable with and who could tell me the best way to treat my new dog

i find going to a pet store rarely is able to answer all my questions

 

[medea]

Good point. The PETA and people only get fired up about this because they are "cute" kittens and puppies for sale. **** the lizards, birds, and the other animals they sell. Many people don't care about the horrible conditions of cow slaughter farms and the killing of cows for meat, but they think of Chinese and Japanese as cruel for eating cat and dog.


I think PETA should cap the amount of bred animals on the market. If some ass hole can pick up two dogs for $600 then breed them and get $200-$600 a puppy thats a lot of $$$ for just about no work. Scumbags everywhere do this and don't give a crap about the animal's well being.
PETA should force Petco not to stop selling pets but to use a Petsmart style of adoption and go after the mills. Doing this and tring to cap the breeding # of pets would be a better route.

First off you should read a little more about what PETA does as this is not their only case and they do not only stick up for cute kittens.
Second, you say PETA should put a cap on animal breeding and should force Petco to use adoptions, maybe you don't realize this but PETA is not part of the government, they do not have any powers such as the CIA.....

As far as this case goes, I hope they succeed but it will be a hard fight. Again you have to remember that this is not PETA's only ongoing case, they do what they can with the resources available and I for one think they are doing a damn fine job so far.

 

[Calvinatir]

I hate PETA with every breathe in my body

 

[latergator116]

First off you should read a little more about what PETA does as this is not their only case and they do not only stick up for cute kittens.
Second, you say PETA should put a cap on animal breeding and should force Petco to use adoptions, maybe you don't realize this but PETA is not part of the government, they do not have any powers such as the CIA.....

As far as this case goes, I hope they succeed but it will be a hard fight. Again you have to remember that this is not PETA's only ongoing case, they do what they can with the resources available and I for one think they are doing a damn fine job so far.

Thank you.

wPod: PETA does educate their customers on how to treat/respect animals. Do a little more research before writing an ignorant post.

 

[wPod]

Calling people names is never a good way to start a discussion. As far as your question about MacDonalds, many people would say yes, stop eating there because the meat is from "cow mills" aka feedlots. Anyway extremeism is usually not a good way to go about seeking change. PETA can be a bit on the extreme side and it seems that trying to educate rather than demand would bring about better changes.
.

my point was taken correctly then. i start extreme to get your attention. but in no way mean to offend anyone. but im glad you agree that PETA should educate rather than protest such extreme measures. if PETA held a 'new pet education meeting' every saturday at petco, they would have a much more positive impact on pets lives. I know i would rather atend/help an organization that does such things, rather than support an organization known for its radical protests!

 

[wPod]

wPod: PETA does educate their customers on how to treat/respect animals. Do a little more research before writing an ignorant post.

maybe it is just their image in the media that makes me think they only protest stuff. crazy media always taking sides. . . but i guess thats for a different discussion.

 

[Counterfit]

Thank you.

wPod: PETA does educate their customers on how to treat/respect animals. Do a little more research before writing an ignorant post.

PETA sells stuff?

One thing PETA has done in the past that really sticks in my mind, is the "Got Beer" campaign near some college campuses. Had to do with conditions in milk farm. Never mind that not milking a cow at all is probably worse than anything we could do in the process of getting said milk. I dislike PETA almost as much as GreenPeace.

 

[coopdog]

First off you should read a little more about what PETA does as this is not their only case and they do not only stick up for cute kittens.
Second, you say PETA should put a cap on animal breeding and should force Petco to use adoptions, maybe you don't realize this but PETA is not part of the government, they do not have any powers such as the CIA.....

Well it would be FBI not CIA since it's inside the USA.

Basically you are saying that since PETA is an organization it doesn't have the power to "put a cap on animal breeding and should force Petco to use adoptions?" Hmmm... Look at what our friends at the RIAA are forcing on consumers and record labels. Or look at what anti-smoking activists have done, gotten smoking banned in just about every public place in the US.

Bad publicity is much worse for companies than being punished by the government.

Look at that fat box Michel More did with media and some injured kids at K-Mart Headquarters, in Bowling for Columbine. If the government had forced them to stop selling ammo it would have taken years, not 90 days.

My point about the "cute" kittens and puppies is that it is a public pleaser. If PETA was going after Petco for selling Anoles or gold fish no one would care. But puppies and kittens, now the ever so powerful public is interested.

Oh by the way, I love the sarcastic attitude.

 

[Abstract]

I like PETA and what they stand for. I also like much of what they do. This protest of PETA's isn't bad. Its reasonable. Asking people to treat animals better is reasonable. I just read is that the UK are probably in the best situation in getting well-farmed (is that a word?), organic foods. I used to live in London, so I can tell you that this is true, but I didn't know they were the absolute best at it. When ou go to a Sainsbury, Waitrose, or Tesco, you can get almost any food you want in their organic food sections. And these aren't small sections with limited stock. No, they're huge sections, and its a big part of their business.
Same with Trade Fair. Their Trade Fair products are almost always implied as being organic as well. The source for these products aren't huge companies that churn out food by the megatonnes.

I think the way that we, as people, treat cows, pigs, cats, dogs, chickens, is appalling. If we were to see people held under these conditions, we call that cruelty, but if its against an animal, that's okay, because they're "only animals." Its not like they're human or anything. Having PETA around is a good thing. Most groups tend to be extreme, anyway, since negotiations tend to slice down the middle, making compromises reasonable. Don't ask for much, and you don't get anything.

 

[Calvinatir]

I think the way that we, as people, treat cows, pigs, cats, dogs, chickens, is appalling. If we were to see people held under these conditions, we call that cruelty, but if its against an animal, that's okay, because they're "only animals." Its not like they're human or anything. Having PETA around is a good thing. Most groups tend to be extreme, anyway, since negotiations tend to slice down the middle, making compromises reasonable. Don't ask for much, and you don't get anything.

I love how each one of them tastes! (excepts the cats and dogs..although some would like that too..)

 

[latergator116]

My point about the "cute" kittens and puppies is that it is a public pleaser. If PETA was going after Petco for selling Anoles or gold fish no one would care. But puppies and kittens, now the ever so powerful public is interested.

Does that mean kittens and puppies should be exempt from protection because they are "cute"? If you read the article again (http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/04/news/midcaps/petco_peta.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes) you will see that PETA isn't specifically singling out dogs and cats to be saved. In fact, they only mention them once in the article.

I love how each one of them tastes! (excepts the cats and dogs..although some would like that too..)

I love your convincing arguments!

 

[Mantat]

Btw, breeders dont know much more than anyone else when its related to animals. Of course, there are exceptions and there must be some very good ones.

My girlfriend is a vet and she gave a conference to bird breeder a few months ago and she was surprised by their ignorance. They often use their own way to treat an animal rather than going to the vet. And their own way often look more like alchemy than medicine... But then again, maybe it was just a small group of breeders who were there and its not representative of the general market...

Anyways, if you want a pet, you can always go to the vet clinic and ask if they have a pet to give. They generaly wont charge you anything for it and they will give you a detailled acount of his health state. So its even better than going at the pound.