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SPCA of Connecticut

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Missouri Audit on Commercial Breeders

We are a group of Connecticut-based dog advocates raising awareness about puppy mills and their link to pet stores. The Humane Society of the United States recently called the Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills “one of the most proactive groups of its kind in the country...”

News Watch

Write a Letter to President Obama, Adoption Stops Euthanasia

Missouri Suppliers To Ct. Stores Exposed - "Puppy Mill Capital"

Farsighted Pet Stores Have Reinvented Themselves in Face of Protests

Beware: Puppy Scam - Were You Duped?

One In Four Shelter Dogs A Purebred, More Reasons to Avoid Pet Stores

Pet Store Puppies - Fast Facts

While no pet shop will ever admit to buying from puppy mills, no reputable dog breeder will ever sell their puppies to a pet shop.

the puppy mill business is a multi-billion dollar a year industry

2-4 million puppies are mass produced at 10,000 puppy mills each year and sold to thousands of pet shops across the country. Puppies of Westport is one of those stores.

dogs are bred with no regard to health, genetics, or temperament

adult dogs spend their entire lives in substandard conditions;

- small, overcrowded, wire floored cages with no protection from the weather
- poor nutrition, dirty water
- little if any veterinary care
- little or no human contact

the females are often killed when they can no longer produce

the adult dogs suffer terribly from psychological problems resulting from years of neglect, abuse, and confinement

puppies are taken from their mothers and littermates too early, often resulting in behavior problems

Unsuspecting consumers buy these adorable puppies from pet shops with little or no knowledge of where they come from.

Not infrequently, these puppies are sick or will become ill soon after arriving at their new homes, often requiring several hundred or even thousands of dollars to treat. Some will exhibit genetic disorders as they grow and may need expensive veterinary care in the future.

Pet shop owners rarely take responsibility for selling these sick puppies, and usually do not offer any financial assistance in treating them. Current state and federal laws leave these new puppy parents little recourse against these pet shops.

Documented Proof

Dog brokers Robert and Darlene Lourance have received the distinction of being number 4 in the TOP 10 WORST DOG BROKERS in Oklahoma, racking up 14 USDA violations between 2003 and 2006. Four of the violations were under the category of “cleaning, sanitization, housekeeping and pest control," affecting SIX HUNDRED and NINETY dogs.

Puppies of Westport received at least four puppies from the Lourances in April, 2008. The Lourances also ship dogs to Claws N Paws Plus (now closed) in Norwalk, Ct.

Below are just some of the violations. Despite evidence like this for many of the places used by Puppies of Westport, store co-owner Monty Kaufman continues to insist he checks on all the breeders and brokers he buys from. If that's the case, he knew about this information...and purchased dogs from them anyway.

6/16/05 - There is an excessive amount of feces, 3-4 inches deep in places under the elevated outdoor run portion of the sheltered housing facility.

2/16/06 (Repeat violation) - There is an outdoor enclosure in the elevated pen portion of the facility that houses 5 dogs and provides only 1 shelter that is not large enought to allow all of the dogs to sit, stand, turn and lie in a normal manner.

2/26/06 - The trays under the cages and housing units throughout the facility had an excessive amount of grime, dirt, mud, debris and other build-up that had not been cleaned or sanitized. The owner indicated that the oudoor housing units were cleaned out ONCE A YEAR.

2/6/07 - The indoor primary enclosures, excluding the puppy room, have an excessive amount of feces, hair, dirt and grime build-up. The trays under some of the primary enclosures have a large build-up of feces and hair that have not been properly cleaned out and sanitized. Ground areas underneath other outdoor raised units also have a build-up of waste that has not been removed. Affects approximately 350 animals.

2/5/08 - The 7 year old French Bulldog named Anna Marie has a left eye that is either missing or severely infected. There is only tissue with no eye visible where the eye would normally be.

2/5/08 - The total number of adults accounted for during inspection is 447 adults and 116 puppies.

Now consider these comments from Puppies of Westport co-owner, Monty Kaufman on the local news Web site, Westport Now:

"Puppy mill simply means a very bad breeder who is guilty of mistreating their animals. The types of violations that the USDA inspectors find at these bad breeders includes dogs matted and covered with urine and feces, dead and seriously ill animals left alongside healthy ones, dogs with mange, broken bones, missing limbs, gangrene, open and untreated wounds and infections, dogs that are malnourished without food or water, left outside with no protection, and/or exhibiting signs of being “cage crazy” and many other horrors. The kennels/breeders who do this to their animals need to be shut down and punished severely...”

Click here for many more documented examples of where Puppies of Westport gets its dogs.

Read this independent look into the Oklahoma puppy mill scene.

If you can't join our regular protests outside Puppies of Westport, get updates from the picket line at our blog, the Puppies of Westport Insider.