somerville dog

Hi -- just wanted to comment that (I am pretty sure) Big Fish Little Fish sells animals ... I don't care to patronize stores that sell animals, even fish. N.B. -- I have never been in there, just noticed the fish, as well as the beautiful bird (parrot for sale, or just a resident?) and lizard (ditto) in the store. If I am wrong about their selling animals, sorry.

Just beyond Somerville's border there is a very nice store called Animal Spirit on Mass Ave. (up past Verna's doughnut shop) where I buy my Innova dog and cat food; they have nice gifts too.

Janice, thanks for sharing your principles with regard to patronizing retailers that sell animals. My knowledge of the pet industry is pretty limited. I'm relatively certain, however, that the pet industry is no more inhumane than, for example, the food industry, and I shop at grocery stores and a host of other stores that sell animals and/or animal products. That being said, I do not patronize stores in the United States that sell dogs, and my reason is this: The dogs that enter our homes, families and communities by way of pet stores in the United States are typically maladjusted to live with humans.

Breeding dogs responsibly is resource-intensive and does not have a high profit margin. Dogs that are sold for profit, on the other hand, are likely to have been denied, in their pre-natal and neo-natal lives, the resources they require to be healthy and well-adjusted for life with humans. For example, to be well adjusted to live with a human family in a human home, puppies should be raised among their litter-mates in a human family in a human home. In the U.S., pet store puppies spend little if any of the time during their formative weeks among humans in a human home.

Also, the breeding stock of dogs in this country has been compromised by "backyard breeders," "puppy farms," and "puppy mills." Puppies available today in pet stores--and from breeders who put profit before social responsibility--are likely to have congenital health problems. In addition to the animal's suffering, there are three reasons why it is inappropriate to sell dogs with inherited diseases as pets to the unwitting consumer: 1) the customer is often unaware of the problem(s) at the time of purchase, because, in many cases, these conditions do not manifest until the dog is at least two years old or older; 2) the cost of treating these conditions is often much more than the customer is prepared to spend; 3) a dog that is in pain is more likely to be aggressive to humans than a healthy dog.

The only way the customer can know, at the time of purchase, whether the puppy has inherited health risks, is to know (and understand) the health record of the puppy's parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. This kind of pedigree is not available from pet stores in the US today.

I just spent two days in gay Paris. There was an "Animalerie" on the Quai de L'Hotel de Ville with the words "chiens, chats"--"dogs, cats" (among others)--emblazoned on its awning. I did not enter the store, because I was afraid of what I would see, but, for all I know, "Animaleries" are places where responsible dog owners in Paris get their dogs.

While I was travelling in December, the Boston Herald ran an article on "Pet Shop Horrors" in Eastern Massachusetts.

(via Boston Dogs)