Is this the right thing to do?

[nismosmama]

I put this in this board because its about a store that sells animals.

Last Saturday my husband and I walked by this store in my neighborhood that caters to farms and such, they sell feed and hay and stuff like that, BUT they also sell live animals. They have farm animals and bunnies and baby goats and ponies and things of that nature. Well as we were walking by in the back of the store where all these animals are in pens, in one of the open pens I saw a puppy. He saw me and my husband outside the gate and started going crazy, jumping barking and wanting attention. The store was already closed at this time and I Just felt horrible. This puppy who looked like 3 months old at the most, was in a dirt pen, with no shelter to cover him from the elements and it was about at least 50 degrees at that time of the early evening. He had a couple of bowls I assumed were food and water, and that was about it, no blanket or anything. I wanted to jump over that fence and resuce him, but my husband just told me to come back tomorrow if I was so worried. Well I did. On Sunday as soon as they opened I was there. I went into the store and to the back, and low and behold the puppy saw me and was jumping and barking. He did have food and clean water and had a couple of chew toys, but he was still in the dirt. I asked one of the workers if I could donate an old sheet I had in my trunk so that he could at least lay on. The guy happily said, YES! Of course. So I got the sheet and went into the pen with the little guy, he was so happy and starved for attention. I played with him for a while, he was so dirty from rolling around in the dirt. I put down the blanket and he started playing with it. I finally dragged myself away from there, as much as i didn't want to. I saw that they were selling this guy for $800 . I don't even remember what kind of dog this is, its short hair, he is black with white on his belly and paws. I asked the guy how long he'd been there and he said 4 days, and that his little brother had just been sold the previous day so he was lonely. so sadly I tore away, I petted the young baby goats in the pen next to him (who also have no shelter, but I don't know if they usually do?) and went home.

So yesterday I drove by there again to see if this little guy was still there. He was laying on the sheet I provided and he was so much calmer, when I looked at him through the fence he didn't jump and bark this time, just kind of sat there and looked at me. It was Awfully cold last night. This morning on my way to work it was 48 degrees. And I can't stop thinking about this puppy. Its supposed to rain tomorrow and he has no shelter. Today I want to find a large box and take it to him so he at least has somewhere to hide and keep warmer.

Am I doing the right thing? Or am I just enabling this place by donating these things? If so, what do I do? I am also calling the humane society today to see if what they are doing is legal, but if it is, what am I supposed to do? Is it ok to try and provide this little guy with at least a makeshift carboard house? I'm so sad....

 

[nismosmama]

Oh I forgot I also wanted to add. The bunnies are kept outside in little cages also, and the little goats don't have shelter either. Anyone know what temperature is too cold for these animals to be in? I know people keep bunnies outside in hutches and stuff, but these bunnies are in small cages not even big enough for a guinea pig.

 

[tillie]

Ah bless its so heart wrenching to see animals kept like that, I would just want to buy them all but its a catch 22 situation as if you buy any your encouraging the owner to carry on selling and making a profit and if you dont you worry yourself to death. Trouble is if you do they only get replaced...arrrgggg. I would ring the humane society like you said and see what they say. Here in the UK animals should have food, water and shelter. Dogs should be kept at a temp no lower than 10c. I think by you give him a blanket and maybe a box at least you are helping him so good on you cause I would have done the same.

 

[nismosmama]

Well I called the Humane Society and they just told me they would dispatch an officer out to check out the situation. I'm going to stop by there later today to see if it looks like anything is different, then call the Humane Society back to see if they could give me any info.

 

[gpigluver14]

First off I want to say thank you for showing such a kind heart and donating a blanket for the poor puppy! You are so kind. I think you are doing the right thing at least for temporary reasons if the weather is bad and it is in a dirt pen. I'm glad you didn't buy the puppy, that would have just been supporting the store. There is definitely something wrong with having it without a roof especially when it was going to rain, since it's not like they would let it inside or anything. And they should get in trouble anyway for having rabbits in too small of a pen. I'm pretty sure there is something that there has to be some kind of shelter or roof for the animals. If they were selling the dog for $800 it most likely came from a puppy mill, it sounds like it is a mixed breed too. Some pet stores will do that, sell their animals for much higher prices to make extra money or pay off expensive breeders. I wish you luck in fixing this mess. Possibly you can get the store to stop selling animals in the process of getting the Humane Society involved.

 

[Terekins]

I know for a fact that here (Nova Scotia) it is illegal to keep a dog outside without shelter. I don't know about other animals, but to me it seems like common sense. Why don't you call your local SPCA or animal welfare agency and ask them questions, let them know about the situation, and see what they have to say. They may tell you that this is not in fact legal, and go and do something about it. Maybe the owners of the store just need to be educated?
Keep us updated,

 

[seagirl96]

Thank you for trying to help those animals. That poor baby dog! I'm glad for your sake as well as the dog's that you didn't consider trying to buy it. Puppy mill puppies usually have expensive health problems and often die young. Please let us know if the Humane Society is a help.

 

[Terekins]

Sorry, I hadn't read your post where you said you called the Humane Society. I'm so glad you did. I remember growing up there was a dog next door who was left alone and tied all day long. Eventually he went from being a sweet and affectionate dog, to being extremely intimidating (no wonder). I called the SPCA and I don't know that they ever did anything, but it made me feel a little bit better. It's so hard when there is little you can do.

 

[nismosmama]

Well here is an update.
yesterday after calling the humane society in the morning, I thought about this all day. Later in the day around 3:30pm I called them back and asked them if I could get an update and if anything happened. The receptionist told me an officer went out in the morning after I called, and that he had seen 6 Sheltie puppies out there! On Sat of last week when I had seen the one black puppy, I noticed some guy had brought in a bunch of little Sheltie puppies and they had them inside in a large tub, didn't realize they would end up outside! Well looks like they did, and they were put in the same enclosure with the black puppy. So they told me the officer adviced the store that the dogs must either be indoors or must have a shelter. And that was it, she told me to give them a call back if I saw anything else. So immediately after that when I got out of work at 4pm I drove over there. I had to see what they did. I just walked in like any customer and I walked to the back to see the animals. Right away I saw that they put about a medium sized dog house in their enclosure, looks like its one they had for sale because it still has the "Dog house $99" sign on it. And I saw 4 of the Shelties running around and playing and the black dog hanging out outside the door of the doghouse. The 2 other sheltie puppies were inside the store sleeping. I was relieved to see they finally had a house out there, but sad to know they are still outside, I guess I can't do anything about that. And my blanket was still there, it was outside the little house.

Today it started raining, so during my lunch break I drove by there because I wanted to see how the dogs were doing, I was hoping all of them would fit inside that little house. Well I went by and looked in through the fence but didn't see ANY dogs in the enclosre. The little house is still there, so I'm wondering if the dogs were all cuddled up inside. I'm not sure where they went, but wherever they are at least they are not getting wet in the rain. I did feel sad for the little goats and a horse a little baby pony that were in their enclosure with nothing to shelter them from the rain. I mean, I don't know much about farm animals so I don't know if that's ok for them, but I still felt bad. The goats were eating their hay, and the little pony (who is SOOO cute) was just kinda rubbing himself against the fence, I guess he's not used to rain (its San Diego so it doesn't rain much).

Anyway, that's all for now. But I know I'll be back to that store again to make sure all is well with the animals.

 

[merrycat]

I'm glad you were able to get the store to make some changes in the case of the puppies. Hopefully it becomes enough of a hassle for them that the store stops selling them all toghether *fingers crossed*

About the horses and goats though, every resource I've checked says that they also need shelter out rainy or extreme weather. I don't know whether they law requires it where you are or not, but it seems the animals certainly do require shelter. You could try contacting the SPCA again, perhaps?

Anyway, keep up the good fight ^^

 

[nismosmama]

I talked to the Humane Society again today. I was actually there today because I was training to be a volunteer dog walker. So I told them about my concern with the goats and ponies. An officer called over there and talked to the manager, and the manager apologized and said they were sorry but that the goats ate their shelter and that they were waiting on one that they ordered. That sounds weird but whatever. They said they are still 'learning' all the rules and doing their best to make sure they are followed. I guess they also put the horse and pony into a barn type thing when it started raining. So, they been talked to twice now so at least they are aware that they are being watched and that they need to be more careful with what they do. So they are still selling animals which is the bummer, but at least some changes are happening.

 

[Terekins]

Good for you!! It's fantastic that you were able to get them to make these changes. It may seem like a little thing to you but those dogs probably still wouldn't have a house if it weren't for you. Keep an eye on them, and tell your friends!

 

[nismosmama]

I wanted to give another update about this place, I was so sad this afternoon. I went back to the feed store to just see how the animals were doing. They had a cover roof thing for the goats, which was good, then i went to check out the bunnies, because before they had a lionhead bunny there that had SUPER overgrown teeth, I mean they were curling up into his nose. I had called the Humane Society yet AGAIN a few weeks ago to tell them about him and the bunnies in general. Well I saw today that his teeth had been cut down, even though they are still kind of long, at least now he can open his mouth. But something else I noticed now is that all the bunnies not only live in tiny cages, but all they have is wire floors with nothing comforting to lay on, no litter box, no hay, just pellets and water. all of them just looked like little imprisoned fuzzballs, some of them so scared and sad they barely even moved or just flinched at every move. This makes me so extremely sad. I asked the owner if I could maybe donate some tiles or something to put in the bunny cages because wire floors hurt their little feet, even just a small square to put in each cage, because there really is like NO room in there, but they said they try to put wood blocks in there for them and that's fine. I know they aren't breaking any laws because they humane socity has been there already a few times, and they have the basic food, water and shelter, but it still makes me so sad, not sure what else I could do. All i was able to do is give some of the buns a few pieces of hay through the cage, poor things, they LOVED it but I couldn't put any in there because it just fell right through the wire floor.