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Monty Kaufman and his wife opened their store in Westport more than five years ago because they wanted to offer a quality store that didn't sell animals from puppy mills. As a bonus, they got to be around puppies.
And when they moved the store from Westport to Norwalk last fall, they kept the name, even if it is now a little misleading. Friends suggested changing Puppies of Westport to Puppies of Westport Avenue. But that was awkward, and Kaufman was firm: He wanted to send a message – the Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills did not drive him out.
But they have been under siege from a committed group of animal activists, who protest the business relentlessly and followed the store to Norwalk. They protest across the street on most Saturday afternoons, and at one point even put up a sign to be seen throughout the week. (The sign was removed last month.)
Kaufman is frustrated, saying he is careful about where he gets his puppies. He has been to visit many of them, he said. He employs 11 people, one of whom is licensed to be a veterinarian in South America, he said, adding that other pet store owners think he is crazy to have such a large staff. Special cages allow more than one puppy per space, so they can be socialized. In addition to the Plexiglas in front, there is a cage door in the back, so the puppies have openness on two sides.
"We take such care of them," he said. "We spend thousands of dollars a month on medicine. If a dog gets sick, it goes right to the vet. Many pet stores, a dog gets sick, they don't treat it. They let it die."
He said the store has sold more than 3,600 puppies. The coalition has three complaints on its website about Puppies of Westport; one is from 2006, another from 2007. The most recent complaint is a year-and-a-half old, alleging that a dog had Giardia and that it is not a purebred.
Kaufman said he has papers for the dog and admits it's possible that puppies have parasites. He could prevent that, but it would mean keeping one puppy to a cage. He says insects can be treated, but psychological problems are another story.
All of his breeders are in Missouri and are approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He monitors their inspection reports. "I can show you the inspections of every single one of the breeders we ever had, and the totality of the violations that occur in there is under 10," he said. "Our breeders don't have repeat violations."
Violations include problems such as an expired bottle of medicine on a shelf, weeds growing outside or a feedbag left open. If he sees a violation, he calls the breeder, as he did this month. The man had perfect inspections in 2009 and 2010, but this time the inspector found two poodles with matted hair and one with a leg injury, according to Kaufman. The breeder said he likes to let the dogs have long hair in the winter. The injured dog had been in a fight and had been treated at the vet, he said.
Kaufman said he couldn't take more puppies from the man until he had two more perfect inspection reports. "I have actually done more to help puppies than all of those demonstrators combined," he said, "because when I find a problem I call these guys up, and I ream them."
Protestors say that even with USDA approval, breeders that supply to pet stores are not taking good care of the dogs having the puppies. They say that a dog could spend its entire life in a cage the size of a dishwasher, and the USDA would approve of the conditions.
"We talk to every one of our breeders and establish that their dogs have runs," Kaufman said. "Their dogs are taken out in runs. Many of them are air conditioned; many of them have heating all the time."
Kaufman said 9 percent of puppies are purchased from pet stores, while more than 20 percent are purchased online. There are no regulations for people selling online, as they are considered retailers. He doesn't understand why the activists are targeting Puppies of Westport, "probably the best pet store in the United States."
"They should be going after the online sellers of puppies," he said. "They should be going after changing the laws. They should be doing all kinds of stuff. Standing outside on the street for hours — they could have built multiple houses for Habitat for Humanity. They could have saved dogs. The money they spend."
He is outraged by tales of irresponsible breeders, too. "The bottom line is I agree with them, and I want to shut down the puppy mills," he said. "But to say that nobody can buy a dog at a pet store and to say that nobody can breed dogs, which is ultimately where they want to go, is just ridiculous. The worst puppy mills are in Pennsylvania. We have never bought a dog from there."
Have you bought a dog from Puppies of Westport? Leave a comment below.
Comments (35)
These people are diseased. They can't help it.
AGAIN, NO ONE CARES except a few about your vision. AND I'LL REPEAT IT AGAIN - WE CAN CARE LESS WHERE POW GETS THEIR PUPPIES.
But we all know they don't get them from Puppy Mills. That's for certain and is proven.
I feel bad for the owners. It's like having a little old lady coming into their store - pointing to a Golden Lab and she's insistent that she's looking at a Poodle.
The owners can explain over and over again, until they are blue in the face, but at some point, they just throw their hands in the air.
To the Owners: NEVER GIVE UP on these moronic individuals. They have an illness and its spreading. You have to feel back for them.
Simply, keep your noses clean, like you have, and the "GOOD" will prevail.
They are the work of Satan, spreading their ill words. You must pray for them and hope they will be healed. And I think it's horrible that one of them is having an affair on their husband. (It's amazing what you can find out!!)
With much love and support,
Dominick.
A Coalition member challenged us to produce proof of a statement from the Humane Sociey of the United States about the life of an ant being equal to the life of a child so here it is:
Michael W. Fox, was a senior officer of the HSUS for 26 years from 1976-2002 after which he assumed the position of Senior Scholar, Bioethics; Here are four direct quotes of his and their source:
"The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration."
(In Inhumane Society, 1990)
"We are not superior. There are no clear distinctions between us and animals."
(Washingtonian Magazine, February 1990)
"The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect."
(Associated Press, Jan. 15, 1989)
"Human care (of animals) is simply sentimental, sympathetic patronage."
(Newsweek interview, 1988)
"Man is the most dangerous, destructive, selfish and unethical animal on earth."
(Quoted in The Intellectual Activist, Sept. 14, 1983)
Any more questions?
To Lacey Fisher
We want to apologize for the emotional posting that followed your last comment. We are actually in the process of preparing a response to your posting that will begin with an appreciation of your attempt to ratchet down all the noise and name calling. We admire your commitment to your cause and agree with you on almost every issue which is why it makes so little sense that you have picked us as your primary target. Our response will follow shortly, but we felt compelled to write after the last comment since you appear to be the most rational and level headed of all the other activists, most of whom are not interested in hearing anything or anyone other than what they have to say.
OH MY GOD. LACY (IF THATS YOUR REAL NAME), JUST SHUT THE HELL UP. DAMN IT.... YOU'RE NAGGING IS JUST OBSURD.
If you spent as much time putting make up on, going to the gym or having a complete makeover, you'd be with someone to occupy your time.
So many of these morons out there who picket have nothing else to do in their lives.
I'm waiting for those to say "I have a family" or something.... GOOD, if that's the case, you should be ashamed of yourselves by not spending time with your husbands and children on a weekend.
Goes to show you what kind of relationships you have with your families.
"Where's mom today?" "Oh, she's out picketing, trying to ruin someone's lively hood, Mary..."
Nice.
WHO CARES WHERE THESE DOGS ARE COMING FROM.
THE PUPPY STORES ARE A VEHICLE TO ALLOW LOVE IN SOMEONE'S HOME. LEAVE THEM ALONE, YOU MONSTERS.
I am going to ignore all the finger pointing and name calling as we all say things due to frustration. I agree that this is a highly emotional topic for all of us. That said, I would like to thank Mr. Kaufman for acknowledging that purchasing from Rhonda Gear was a mistake. However, I do not see this as a slight oversight as she is clearly one of the worst "breeders" in Missouri. Mr. Kaufman, you have had many similar mistakes as she is not the only breeder who had gross violations on her inspection reports at the time of your purchases. Documentation (state health certificates and USDA inspection reports) has shown repeat purchases year after year from bad breeders, but I am hopeful that you will now hold yourself accountable to the statements you have made. New research on your current breeders will tell the truth either way.
I do not believe that a clean USDA inspection report is sufficient proof to show that a commercial breeding facility is not indeed a puppy mill, which is evidenced by a clean inspection follow by a heart-wrenching inspection. Also, to me a "clean inspection" is meaningless as the law requires such minimal care; that said, it is possible for a breeder to provide more than is required by law. I want to believe that you will agree, Mr. Kaufman, that The Animal Welfare Act needs to be strengthened so all breeders are held to a higher standard. I am confident that you will even support The PUPS Act because it does bring breeders who rely on online sales under licensing requirements and regulation and provides stricter requirements on existing breeders as well. I'd ask that since you are "committed to shutting down puppy mills," you will ask your customers to contact our Congressmen to request that they vote in favor of this law.
The activists have born the burden of proving that the breeders from whom your store purchases puppies are indeed running puppy mills. I am requesting that you prove to us that you are not buying puppies from puppy mills because all the documents we have collected show otherwise. You are in the position to talk to these breeders, so I am asking that you show us photographic evidence that these dogs are being treated humanely. Of course, the law does not require you to take such measures nor am I one to tell you how to run your business. On the other hand, I feel that you have aimed to do something that is nearly impossible - to buy puppies that are not from puppy mills and sell them in a store, so I remain skeptical.
Puppy mills are concerned only with profit so they cut costs in every possible manner, which is why it is hard for me to believe that breeders who sell puppies at such low costs to unknown purchasers would spend the extra time and money on larger cages with runs, weather-controlled facilities, individualized attention and affection to each dog, providing toys and beds, rest between heat cycles, nutritious food, proper grooming, individual exams by a veterinarian, etc, etc. Please show us more than some clean inspection reports on your breeders.
You still haven't answered my questions- there are only two of them.
Will you be wearing a mustache or a wig and dress?
You're classless.
Your husband cheats on you... and now I understand why.
LAMB52,
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
DON'T YOU DARE DISRESPECT ME BY SAYING THAT I DON'T EXIST.
I WILL BE AT PUPPIES OF WESTPORT THIS SATURDAY AT 10:30AM. I WILL BE ACROSS THE STREET TO MEET YOU AND LET YOU KNOW HOW STUPID YOU LOOK RIGHT NOW.
I'M NOT ONE OF THE GODDAMN OWNERS. I'M AN EXTREMELY SATISFIED CUSTOMER THAT PURCHASED A DOG FROM THEM, UNDERSTAND?
YOU ARE TRULY A MORON AND PROVES TO ME HOW RECKLESS YOU AND YOUR GROUP REALLY ARE.
HOW ABOUT THIS - I'LL BE AT PUPPIES OF WESTPORT TOMORROW - WHAT TIME DO YOU WANT TO MEET ME THERE?
I WANT TO INTRODUCE MYSELF, SERIOUSLY.
YOU ARE TRULY IGNORANT.
Still haven't offered to answer my two questions, by the way nice letters you are writing to yourself Monty- We dropped our signs as soon as we saw the funeral, my son even took his hat off in respect!
1. Where specifically do you get your puppies from, names of your breeders?
2. Why won't you give the Puppies beds?
I want you to sway me from thinking you are an awful store that sells puppy mill puppies, please prove me wrong-you are getting off the track-
By admitting we change our identities and names we also have evidence that you do too-nice job!
The Facebook Page has quite a few people supporting us-so we don't have to change our names - yes its me again asking the same question for the 3rd time, which you still haven't answered, and just seem to get off on writing false letters about yourself, no one would go on and on like that-
I am also earning a living, but not off the broken bodies of these mother dogs.
Ms. Lamb,
Although I disagree with much of what Lacey Fisher has said and the fact that she has made a decision to go after Puppies of Westport based primarily on its proximity to where she lives, I respect her as someone who is obviously a dog lover and certainly committed to a cause even though she could accomplish so much more if she pursued those who should be punished and shut down for their transgressions. You, on the other hand may be committed, but it is also clear that you should be 'committed' for so many of the irrational rantings by which you obviously continue to amuse yourself.
You are doing such an injustice to the cause of those you sem to agree with.
The Coalition has access to every breeder we use. Unfortunately, they do not accurately identify when we stop buying from substandard kennels. We agree that we have made a few mistakes and we have corrected them. However, I did answer your question yesterday when I told you that we have purcased from over 80 breeders in the last three years that have not had a single violation of any kind listed on their inspections.
We are regulated by State and Federal authorities and we have no obligation to respond to requests from individuals who have demonstrated an inability to accept facts. You hve had nothing to say about the dozens of valid points raised in both the article and the various postings below it.
So you finally admit that your group frequently uses aliases to post things anonymously. Just because you and your buddies do it certainly doesn't mean that we do as well. We'd hate to shock you with the fact that some people actually have integrity but we will tell you again that we do not know who Westportmom, making a living, or Norwalk Native is. We have not seen any postings by a Dominick. If you do not understand that the postings under our name demonstrate that we are comfortable standing behind every word that we have written without fabricating aliases for them, then there is nothing that any one could say that would convince you otherwise.
By the way, more than half of our puppies have beds and most of the others have soft rubber mats. We love and care about our puppies and they certainly don't need you to be their advocate.
FINALLY!!!!!
We have been anxiously waiting for one of our detractors to cite the Inspector General's Report on the USDA. So thank you Stella Drake for bringing it up as your group frequently does on the picket line each week. You see the “SCATHING” report is truly horrible but it provides no support for the demonstrators' claim that the USDA fails to properly inspect the breeders that we deal with!!!!!!!
And Lacey Fisher was wise enough to repeatedly point this fact out each time a photo of one of these breeders were posted on the Boycott Puppies of Westport site!
The breeders described and the pictures included are heartbreaking and difficult to believe. However the report did not even remotely focus on the kinds of breeders that we deal with. The report found that all USDA inspectors had identified every instance of a violation that existed at every one of the breeders they inspected. The problem was not one of failing to include the violation on each breeder’s inspection report, it was that the inspectors had not imposed a strong enough penalty or had failed to collect sufficient documentation to guarantee prosecution of those violators who were operating the most deplorable facilities. There was absolutely no finding that inspectors had “missed’ citing any violations of any kind in their inspections but simply that they didn’t properly pursue it! So that when we say that we have 80 breeders that have not been cited for a single violation over the past three years, that means that they were, in fact, not guilty of any violations since the inspectors would have included them in the reports that are publicly available. And just four of the over forty plus remaining breeders we have used over the last three years were ever cited for a “serious violation” and only two of these were cited for such a serious violation prior to the date that we stopped dealing with them. And we have already admitted that we made some mistakes but these were quickly corrected.
The focus of the study was LIMITED to reviewing the enforcement process of dealers with a history of serious and repeated violations. It focused on whether or not the financial and judicial penalties imposed by the USDA were strong enough when the most serious and repeat violations were found. They also focused on whether the USDA did enough to support prosecution and penalties for the most serious violations that were found.
The report inspected 81 breeders with histories of the most serious violations and only 9 of these breeders were in Missouri with 12 in Ohio, 11 in Pennsylvania and 10 in Minnesota. Puppies of Westport never purchased a single puppy from any of the 81 breeders covered in the report.
The single most important finding in the report had absolutely nothing to do with breeders who sell to pet stores!!! It found that “Large Breeders Circumvented the Animal Welfare Act (completely) by Selling Animals Over the Internet.”
The Internet problem is something that Puppies of Westport has been citing for years as more than twice as many puppies are now purchased via the internet than all puppy stores combined! Yet another finding in the report was that there were numerous other breeders avoiding regulations by illegally operating without a license. Every single breeder we use is licensed by the USDA.
We completely agree with the findings of the Inspector General’s Report and are sickened by the descriptions and photos of the breeders- virtually all of which had been cited for dozens of serious violations and repeat violations and many of which were fined, suspended or prosecuted by the USDA. THESE ARE NOT THE BREEDERS THAT WE GET OUR PUPPIES FROM!
And before Ms. Drake or some other activist points out that some of the breeders we work with also sell some of their puppies over the internet we need to explain that the internet breeders referred to in the Inspector General’s report were those that sell exclusively to the public because that is the only way they could be exempt from licensing and inspection requirements of the Animal Welfare Act!!!
The single most important thing to come out of the Inspector General’s report was that the USDA had a sufficient number of inspectors and that the inspectors had consistently identified all violations that existed at the times of their inspections!
Citing the inspector General’s report as proof that the USDA does a poor job of inspecting all licensed breeders is a classic example of McCarthyism at its worst.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to explain how far off-base the Coalition is when they use the Inspector General's Report to support their unjustified condemnation of Puppies of Westport.
FROM FACEBOOK:
"Boycott Puppies of Westport
My immediate attention is given to the goings-on in my own community, but there are many pet stores, like Puppies of Westport, that sell puppy mill puppies. If you are not in the Norwalk area, but near a store you'd like to protest, I can offer some suggestions on how to get the ball rolling.
February 15 at 1:01pm
Patrick Moore likes this."
THESE PEOPLE ARE MONSTERS. HOW RECKLESS ARE THESE PEOPLE?
"If you are not in the Norwalk area, but near a store you'd like to protest....." SERIOUSLY? Without even 'researching' them, you are suggesting to people to PICKET for the hell of it?
ANOTHER example how disillusioned these people are. So shameful. The more I RESEARCH this coalition, the more upset I get - RECKLESS & UNSUBSTANTIATED.
Dear readers,
I want to take the time to thank this reporter for allowing the owners of POW to provide their side of the story.
As a silent follower of this long drawn out debate, I have to finally provide my view on this. I am an owner of a dog that I purchased from POW last year. The reason I purchased this dog was through all the commotion from the “Coalition”.
It was they, who shed light on the fact that there was a puppy store in Westport. After weeks of research, I found that there were baseless claims brought against these owners and I didn’t feel that it was fair. Therefore, my children wanted a dog and I felt comfortable enough to purchase him from POW.
I honestly believe the coalition is fighting a losing battle. They went as far as to pry into the owner’s lives and drudge up personal situations that should remain PERSONAL.
Additionally, they deliberately placed these ads across the street from the store to cause POW to lose income. Also, they have yet to ever provide video proof of dogs leaving a puppy mill and end up at the door of POW.
There is no doubt in my mind that the owners, knowingly or unknowingly were purchasing puppies from mills in the past, but they have rectified this. They have taken so many precautions to keep bad publicity away by ‘doing the right thing’ and I feel that the coalition is simply dwelling on the past.
As Christians and children of God, don’t we all make mistakes? Don’t we forgive? If one of the picketer’s sons were arrested for drugs or DUI, should we forever bring that up in their faces? No – of course not. You learn from your mistakes and you move on, as POW owners have.
With all the antics this group orchestrates on a weekly basis, I feel discredits them completely.
What was the icing on the cake for me was the fact that I was on a funeral a couple weeks back for my dear friend, Mrs. Bonnadio. The morning of the funeral, the funeral director drove by her residence, which led us to the intersection of Puppies of Westport.
As the procession took a turn and passed the picketers, I found out that the director screamed out the hearse window to have them drop their signage, out of respect. I can’t believe they had to be told to do that. And after a bunch of cars drove by, they picked their signs back up and that’s when I drove by.
REALLY people?
To this day, many mourners of my dear friend’s funeral still talk about this.
I really don’t understand how this group can take so much time out of their weekend for such a ridiculous and baseless claim of purchasing from Puppy Mills.
My opinion is, their husbands are having a grand old time without them and are glad they are out there picketing, keeping their nagging mentality away from the homestead.
In closing,
My final thoughts are this: If the Coalition had concrete evidence of their claims, this store would have been shut down YEARS AGO. It’s evident from POW’s prospering business that their noses are clean and providing the families of Norwalk and its surrounding towns with a beautiful healthy dog, just like mine.
To the owners of POW, THANK YOU for bringing so much happiness to my house and standing by your devotion of loving and placing these puppies!
- Dominick
And for those members of the Coalition who aren't sure if this is a real posting, I'll be at POW on Saturday, 10AM if you want to meet me.
The owners have plenty of SANE and competent supporters who can write their own reviews.
Supporter, please forgive me for not posting this most important reply first, as I did not realize it was you that was part of the funeral procession after the loss of a friend. I am truly sorry.
I personally was among the protesters that day and put down my sign and stopped talking as soon as I realized there was a funeral procession in progress. May I politely remind you that it is a very busy intersection and busy part of Route 1 that we are on and perhaps the procession was not as obvious as it might have been had the street been emptier. I can assure you that no one would ever purposely offend anyone in a funeral procession.
'My final thoughts are this: If the Coalition had concrete evidence of their claims, this store would have been shut down YEARS AGO. It’s evident from POW’s prospering business that their noses are clean and providing the families of Norwalk and its surrounding towns with a beautiful healthy dog, just like mine'
-Unfortunately, although we do have 'concrete evidence' in the form of binders full of bad USDA inspection reports, puppy mills themselves are not illegal, neither is selling them in pet shops in most states. We, the Coalition, would be happy to meet with you, as we have with many people and show you our binders full of material.
'After weeks of research, I found that there were baseless claims brought against these owners and I didn’t feel that it was fair. Therefore, my children wanted a dog and I felt comfortable enough to purchase him from POW.'
Supporter, what kind of research did you do? Did you look up any breeder information or look up puppy mills and pet shops online? There is alot of information online, from many different independect sources that might make you feel differently about patronizing any shop that sells puppies.
How to Find USDA Breeder Inspection Reports…
1-www.aphis.usda.gov/
2-FOIA Reading Room -under related topics right side of page
3-Inspection Reports -under 'frequently requested documents'
4-Inspection Reports and License and Registration List
5-have to 'agree' to use site
6-put in as much info as you have on breeder, then hit 'Search'!
www.savepuppymilldogs.com
I asked for two things- you are totally avoiding giving answers to-
by your continuous diatribe;
1. where and what breeders do you get your puppies from specifically, which places and how recently?.
2. Why won't you give those poor puppies in wire cages beds? So people will feel sorry for them and buy them?
Dear Ms. Lamb
We are totally capable of defending ourselves without resorting to alternate names which is a trick that you and your friends regularly use on various sites. Your group regularly urges its supporters to post reviews about our business regardless of whether they had any actual experience with us or ever bought a dog from us! You are falsely accusing us of doing the very things that you and your group regularly do. One of the things that we respect about Lacey Fisher is that most of the time (though certainly not always) she is willing to place her name (as we are) along the comments that we post.
How can you say that people who write on this site are not that stupid when you regularly write on this site and therefore disprove your own statement?
Finally, and most importantly, you acknowledge that Paw and Claws was a despicable pet store in Norwalk that abused its puppies (though we do not believe they regularly killed them- cause if we had any knowledge of such conduct we would have personally shut down that business). But how do you explain that Paws and Claws continued in business until 2009- over three years after Puppies of Westport opened- and we regularly supplied the Westport Coalition with horrible information on Paws and Claws but they never did a thing about it!
They picketed us every weekend but not Paws and Claws. They created a web site against us but not Paws and Claws. They filed complaints with the state against us but not Paws and Claws!
And now you say that Paws and Claws euthanized puppies that they didn't sell!!!! You are a little late in getting to that party!
If this doesn't demonstrate the true colors of those continually villifying us- and now you are even threatening to attack us personally- we are not sure that anything ever will.
By the way, your friends at the Coalition have felt justified to post their personal attacks against us for years even though no charges were ever brought in connection with the incident. Just pitiful.
The fact that you get indignant at the mere mention of your daughter when you are the one who had the audacity to blame her for your own transgression in a web posting (a truly cowardly act) is an unbelievably sad commentary on how far you are willing to go to pursue your interests.
We noticed that you urged everyone on the Boycott Puppies of Westport site to post comments attacking Ms. Chapman's article. We have not done so. There is no need.
Ms. Lamb you are doing a better job of demonstrating how hypocritical, malicious and despicable you and your friends are than anything that we are capable of writing and you can make up all the stories you want about those who choose to place a comment on this site but we are looking forward to selling a puppy to Westportmom this weekend and can't wait to thank her for her sincere posting.
Thank you Puppies of Westport and fictional Westport Mom- want to tell us who you really are? I know this trick all too well...people that read letters on this sight aren't that stupid.
My only interest in this dispute is that I am planning to buy a puppy for my daughters and this site has helped me to decide where that puppy will come from. I have been extremely impressed by Puppies of Westport and the restraint they have shown in dealing with those who attack them almost constantly.
After reading Nancy Chapman’s first article, I empathized with the protestors and was looking elsewhere for a puppy, however I still wanted to hear Puppies of Westport’s response to all of the charges against them. When Nancy’s follow up appeared yesterday I realized how important it is to hear both sides.
I can’t believe that I have also read all of the comments posted by the store along with those posted by their ‘accusers’. The article was more than enough to convince me that Puppies of Westport is an asset to our community but the comments are even more revealing.
These people call the store owners liars and despicable and make all kinds of demands of them. They denigrate breeders as ‘farmers’ and they have the nerve to threaten the store with personal attacks that have nothing to do with their business. Ms. Lamb is particularly galling by pretending to be appalled tha her daughter got mentioned when she is the one who originally brought her daughter into it by blaming her for an improper posting on a web site!
My children may be reading this so I can’t use the words that I would be using if I were the owners of Puppies of Westport in response to all the dirt that these protestors continue to throw at them!
What is crystal clear to me- and it should be to anyone else who reads the articles and all the comments- is that there is a group of people who have nothing better to do than keep attacking this local business and there is virtually no limit to what they are willing to say and do. I will be going to Puppies of Westport with my children to buy a puppy this weekend and I hope the protestors will be there so I can tell them how misguided I think they are.
'The article was more than enough to convince me that Puppies of Westport is an asset to our community but the comments are even more revealing.'
Westport Mom. I think you will find USDA breeder reports more revealing of the truth than any banter you may read here. It is very easy to do, so if you see a pup you are interested, in any store, please take a few minutes to look up it's breeder. Also, try to spend 1 hour online researching pet shops and puppy mills for yourself. It costs nothing to get as much information as possible from as many sources as possible before handing over your credit card to someone who has a financial stake in having you believe them.
-How to Find USDA Breeder Inspection Reports…
1-www.aphis.usda.gov/
2-FOIA Reading Room -under related topics right side of page
3-Inspection Reports -under 'frequently requested documents'
4-Inspection Reports and License and Registration List
5-have to 'agree' to use site
6-put in as much info as you have on breeder, then hit 'Search'!
I am greatly relieved that the puppies you sell, when they are too old to sell are not like your predecessors,Paws and Claws and immediately destroyed/killed, I hope for once you are telling the truth. They destroyed their dogs that were not sold and bought more from their suffering parents. Now how about giving those poor dogs who stand on wire all day and night beds?. I do beleive all puppy mills are bad, but not all breeders are bad, and a smart consumer should see the parents of their purebred dog. I would like to refrain from talking about my daughter, I am her mother I can- you can not go around stating facts that are not true- the places you buy from are mills, true facts, not elite breeders who would NEVER sell to a store.
If you want to dispute this fact, which I would love! Please name some of your elite breeders so we can actually check them out- you might be able to sway me into thinking you do sell "quality puppies"
Now that you have stated my name and feel so smug and talked about my daughter should we start digging up the dirt about your life? Like the biting incident?
To Lamb52 otherwise known as Linda Lambert- the one who wrote that every one of our breeders had horrible violations in a letter to the Norwalk Hour- something even Lacey Fisher admits is not true!
Let's see, you would have us believe that since your adoption experience went as it did, that has to mean that all of the statistics we quoted earlier must be wrong. You have got to be kidding as well as fairly embarrassed. But you are also the one who attempted to distance yourself from a libelous posting attributed to you on the web by saying you were "not going to let my daughter" post on your behalf anymore!!!
And as for every single puppy that has ever spent more than a few months in our store-- every single one has either been sold at a huge economic loss in order to give the puppy a home or simply adopted by someone who we investigated prior to permitting them to take the puppy.
There are bound log books required by the State of CT and they consists of consecutively numbered pages of which none may be removed and these books contain information on every puppy that enters our store (as required by law) and it is regularly examined by an officer of the CT Department of Animal Control. We care deeply about every puppy and strongly resent any attempt to question our absolute commitment to insure that every one of our puppies is ultimately sold or adopted. You and your ilk are the ones who ought to be ashamed of yourselves for being so reckless with the truth and making so many unsubstantiated and false claims.
'And as for every single puppy that has ever spent more than a few months in our store-- every single one has either been sold at a huge economic loss...'
You sold them for less than the ususal $100-$200 that pet shops pay for mill pups?
So, Monty, you keep saying that you have nothing to hide. How about giving us the actual, factual health statistics on the puppies you buy and sell? For example, how many have parasites, which, contrary to what you think, actually are of concern, both for pets and people. How many supposed 'colds' turn into pneumonia?
To Lacey Fisher,
Unlike you, we will not resort to calling you despicable and a liar even though it is most assuredly deserved.
Now you say that you are not focused on "educating the public on the Lemon Law" but when the City of Norwalk ordered your malicious sign removed from the bus shelter you and your group were quick to argue that its purpose was to perform a public service by informing the public about their ability to recover $500 in vet bills from a puppy store. That argument was nothing more than a subterfuge as the portion of the sign that referred to the lemon law occupied way less than 5% of the sign's total area! But it was a nice try even though it was obvious that one would have to be a fool to believe that argument.
And do you think that people are so ignorant as to believe your logic that since breeders are regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture that means that they are farmers as opposed to breeders?????
You just might want to know that the USDA is responsible for just a few "non-farm" items such as school lunch programs, radiation safety, animal imports and exports, our national parks, forestry services, radiation safety, food safety, animal exhibitions, animal cruelty, and dozens of other critical responsibilities that go beyond "Old McDonald"!!!!
As for Rhonda Gear, you are, for once, absolutely correct. We admit that we made a mistake by buying a total of 8 dogs from her over a three week period in late 2010. Once we discovered that oversight, we not only immediately severed our relationship with her as well as the broker that had brought her to our attention. We also proactively sought to damage her ability to continue breeding by contacting a total of five brokers and web sites through which she marketed some of her puppies and managed to get two of them to blacklist her and a third to require full disclosure of her inspection reports on their site. Unlike you, we are able to admit a mistake. Somehow you are so delusional as to believe that we "kept Rhonda Gear in business" by buying a total of eight puppies from her. And although we acknowledge our mistake and we stopped buying from her almost six months ago (after a total of 8 puppies) you continue to write about her inspections that were conducted AFTER we had cut her off completely. We suppose we can look forward to reading many future Rhonda Gear inspection reports in the same way that you continue to refer to inspection reports of breeders that we stopped buying from over two or three years ago and before they actually had a poor inspection.
You are also responsible for one of the most ludicrous statements we have heard in some time. After admitting that "you never said that all of our breeders were bad" (that blatantly false assertion was made by Linda Lambert in a letter to the editor of the Norwalk Hour last month) you actually argued that although a breeder might have a good inspection today it is always possible for them to become a bad breeder in the future!!!!!!!! So we guess you would like us to proactively stop dealing with all good breeders since they have the potential to go bad at some time in the future!!!!!
Using that logic, Lacey Fisher just might discover a cure for cancer???????
As for the audacity you demonstrate by expecting us to provide you with all kinds of information because you want to see it, we have to inquire about who died and made you Queen? The fact is that we have been repeatedly examined and inspected by the the CT Department of Animal Control, that big USDA farming organization and the American Kennel Club and we have passed all these inspections. In addition, when the Westport Coalition filed a complaint with the CT Department of Consumer Protection claiming that our statement that we were against puppy mills was an "Unfair Trade Practice," all charges were dismissed as having no basis in fact by the head of the Unfair Trade Practices Division.
Sorry Lacey, you just can't handle the truth.
Sounds like 80% of statistics are made up on the spot-
I am a perfect example of a pet owner, one pure bred and one shelter dog, I adopted from a reputable shelter for an adoption fee, she was healthy and even micro chipped and just needed to be loved and some food to fatten her up, just today I was asked where did you get such a beautiful dog? She is a heinz 57 or maybe a designer mutt, which you sell! She, as my last dog were adopted from a shelter, he was a throw away pure bred, and he never saw the inside of a shelter again after he came to my home, my last two shelter dogs even came house trained and my last German shepherd lived to a ripe old age and were not free, adoption fees applied, they were gotten rid of at 6 months, not cute little puppies anymore, or too old to sell, I would love to know what happens to those dogs you have in your store that get too old to sell? The author of this article obviously didn't look into your statistics and information. Lacey Fisher has chosen a good cause and has empathy, rather than the driving need for profit that you do!
My newest pure bred which I got from a good breeder had his parents there- all of my dogs from day one have been healthy! I would never buy from a store especially if the puppy had come from the "Puppy Mill state of Missouri"
To Horsegirlk-
Just 9% of all dogs acquired annually come from puppy stores. If there were no puppy stores tomorrow and everyone who would have bought from a puppy store were to adopt (which would never be the case as most of those buyers would end up buying puppies through less regulated channels) you would only impact the number of dogs in shelters by just 10%!
We would be willing to feature shelter dogs in our store, but thanks to the CT lemon law passed last year, we would be obligated to pay $500 in vet bills for any dogs "adopted" from our store for free! Shelters and pounds face no such obligations.
Urging an end to puppy breeding in order to save more shelter dogs is the same as telling people that they cannot have children as long as there are so many children out there in need of parents!
All of the animal activists regularly cite their precious right to freedom of speech but somehow think that others should not be given the freedom of choice to decide where and how thay would like to acquire a puppy.
The argument that pet store puppies end up populating pounds and shelters is absolutely false. An extensive American Veterinary Medical Association study conducted just last year in conjunction with a major university vet school found that barely two and a half percent of all dogs brought to shelters had originated from pet stores. The same study found that puppies acquired for $100 or less (including for free) and that dogs adopted from shelters and pounds were twenty times more likely to end up in a shelter than a puppy from a pet store.
And in the only study of its kind ever conducted, Cornell University Vet School (the most prestigious vet school in the United States) found that puppies acquired from pet stores were healthier than puppies acquired from any other source!!!
We agree that there is a need for education about adoption and we actualy do our part by referring customers who find our prices too high to the Connecticut Humane Society, their local animal control facility as well as PAWS. But on the subject of education, you ought to focus on where a significant amount of money that could be used for education is readily available.
The Humane Society of the United States has over $140 million dollars in assets and collects over $120 million annually but less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the money it raises goes to local shelters, pounds or humane societies. Over 20% of it's money goes to staff salaries and pensions. Another quarter goes to all sorts of lobbying efforts. More than one quarter of its monies goes to fundraising which puts it at the bottom of all charitable organizations. In the last year for which tax returns are available, the HSUS spent 93% of the money it raised in New York State on fund raising activities in that state keeping a whopping 7%!
Best of all is that the HSUS raised over 25 million in response to ads urging innocent people to help them "save the MIchael Vick dogs" even though the organization and HSUS President Wayne Pacelle urged that all of those dogs be euthanized as they could not be rehabilitated. Well, all of those dogs were rehabilitated (without any HSUS money) but it actually gets better...because after the Philadelphia Eagles hired Michael Vick and contributed $50,000 to the HSUS, Wayne Pacelle stood next to Mchael Vick and suggested he had learned his lesson and should be forgiven!!!!!!!
And as for the HSUS initiative that has pet shops agreeing to stop selling puppies, you should know that not one of the over thirty such stores that signed the pledge in CT had ever sold a single puppy prior to signing the worthless pledge!!!!
So you can continue supporting the HSUS, you can continue raising funds and spending hundreds of person hours to protest places like Puppies of Westport, you can continue to believe that you can solve the puppy population problem by eliminating pet stores, you can continue to urge that people who choose to purchase a puppy rather than adopt one should be forbidden to do so OR you can face facts and focus on closing the Internet loophole, going after the UNLICENSED breeders who get away with true animal cruelty, expose the HSUS for the embarrassment that it is, and go after the licensed breeders who have dozens of pages of serious and repeat violations rather than trying to eliminate all puppy breeding which is like throwing the baby out with the bath water!
Keep the comments coming, and we will continue providing responses!
"There is a section of society that mocks those of us who fight for the rights of animals, labeling us vegetarian freaks that go around throwing paint on people who wear fur, but the truth is that most of us are very normal. I am just one of millions of people battling to protect those that are vulnerable because we have a respect for nature and the animals that we share this planet with. It is hard to watch such brutality for human gain and I for one will not stand idly by and allow it to happen." - Victoria Stilwell
I won't even bother getting into the puppy mill discussion. 20%-30% of the dogs in shelters are purebred. How many horrible articles are written every week about puppies that have been euthanized and thrown out like trash in city shelters all over the United States? How many dogs, INCLUDING puppies, are gassed every single day in the South? Want to do a service to animals? Los Angeles shelter facilities are FULL of small and designer breed dogs. Stop encouraging the mass production of puppies. Work with animal control facilities to showcase dogs (and cats) that are highly adoptable, but out of time because there is nowhere to house them. Have events that EDUCATE the public about how many wonderful animals are available without contributing to the pet overpopulation problem. THEN you will be running your store with love, and I would be proud to support it.
Comment response number one:
Lacey Fisher (who runs the Boycott Puppies of Westport Site and who threatened to boycott the radio station for running our ad) is an example of someone who knows enough to be dangerous but not enough to be accurate.
Two items:
First, All young puppies require multiple and expensive vaccines and inoculations until they are 16 weeks old. All puppies should receive regular deworming and parasite prevention medication. Our puppies are given a variety of high quality nutritional supplements to boost their immune systems and help avoid hypoglycemia and as I regularly explain, we never hesitate to provide all of our puppies with the highest level of veterinary care. Young puppies are no different than infants, some will get sick regardless of their source or the care that is provided. The fact that Ms.Fisher would have you believe that our puppies are from puppy mills because we spend a lot of money on medicine and veterinary care is yet another example of how our opponents attempt to twist everyting into something that supports their outrageous claims.
Second, Ms. Fisher chose to leave out the most outrageous requirement of Proposition B in Missouri which was largely drafted by activists seeking to put all of that state's breeders out of business. It contains a provision that would prohibit all breeders from administeing any type of medicine or veterinary treatment including eye drops, antiseptic, wound dressings, etc. without the presence of a veterinarian! This obviously unduly burdensome requirement would make it economically untenable for any breeder to survive. And oh yes, in the event that a breeder administered eye drops to one of their puppies it would be worse than a misdemeanor and would incur a $100 fine per incident per puppy. Anyone who maintains that such a provision has any goal other than to harm all breeders is being less than honest. But when it comes to pursuing their cause, the animal activists are all too often comfortable with sacrificing the truth to pursue their agenda.
We want to thank Ms. Chapman for giving us the opportunity to present our side in response to the 'relentless' attacks of a small group of animal activists who began their attacks well before we ever opened our business!
We anxiously await the imminent comments of those opposed to Puppies of Westport and are prepared to respond as needed.
There are a few items in the present story that require some clarification and/or additional detail.
The Protest sign that was removed was taken down at the direction of the City of Norwalk in that it failed to meet "community standards." However, the outrage expressed by the activists following its removal as an attack on their right to free speech is nothing less than hypocritical as they engaged in an organized attack and threatened a boycott against Coast FM radio station just two weeks earlier demanding that the station remove ads that we had purchased to promote our legitimate business!
We do not get "all" of our puppies from Missouri, however, Missouri is home to the majority of all USDA licensed breeders and it is the Coalition that proudly takes credit for the 2010 CT law that REQUIRES evey CT pat store to obtain puppies exclusively from USDA licensed breeders! It must also be noted that there is not a single USDA licensed dog breeder in all of CT!
Much of the information relied upon by the activists is from the Humane Society of the United States which is primarily a lobbying group that contributes less than one-half of one percent of the more than 100 million dollars it raises annually to dog shelters and rescue groups. For more information about the HSUS, which is committed to giving animals the right to sue people and whose number two officer has stated that "the life of an ant is as important as the life of my child" please consult www.humanewatch.com where you will be most unpleasantly surprised.
The activists consistently claim that their primary purpose is in educating the public about the provisions of the recently passed CT puppy lemon law, the entire contents of which is prominently printed on the back of the contract for every puppy we sell. We have nothing to hide. Or customers also get our home and cell numbers so that we can be easily reached with any questions. This open communication policy is in stark contrast to the various 'restricted' web sites of the activists that strictly limit the ability of anyone who disagrees with them or who simply seeks to provide an answer to something they post to leave a comment.
Finally, if you have any questions about this very complex and highly emotionally charged topic, we urge you to resist believing the dozens of false accusations that have been leveled against us and invite you to visit us to learn more about our business and to see the kind of quality operation we run. We also you invite you to compare us to all other means by which you can select and acquire a puppy.
The internet gives everyone the ability to post anything on the web with no assurance that the information is accurate. Main Street Connect which publishes "Dailies" in many towns has the opportunity to raise the quality of some of what gets posted and it is most positive if Nancy Chapman's article is any indication of their commitment to accuracy even in those sitations where there is a highly vocal and committed group of activists willing to do and say almost anything in pursuit of their agenda.
If these puppies come from such great breeders, why does Mr. Kaufman spend thousands of dollars a month on medicine? Maybe it's because these dogs are not from great breeders, but come from puppy mill farmers who view dogs as nothing more than a cash crop. Puppy mills are terrible places where parasites and infection are commonplace, where dogs are not provided with the proper care they need. Some breeders used by this store, who also sell puppies online, have specifically excluded kennel cough, giardia, cocchidia and even pneumonia as ailments not covered in their health guarantee.
Furthermore, Missouri is the worst state in the country as far as puppy mills are concerned; it is the puppy mill capitol of the country. Pennsylvania has tougher laws in place than Missouri does to protect the dogs in its commercial breeding facilities. Corrupt Missouri House Member Jason Smith, son to one of Missouri's worst puppy mill farmers, has worked hard to gut voter-approved Prop B, The Puppy Mill Initiative, which would provide miniumum standards of care for the state's puppy mill dogs. "Breeders" in this state have cried and complained against this bill, claiming it would put them out of business. All it asks for is that breeders are limited to 50 breeding dogs who have access to fresh water and clean food, are given proper veterinary care, are caged in large enough enclosures to allow them to move freely, are given shelter from the elements, and are given rest between heat cycles.
Please ask your Congressmen to support The PUPS Act to strengthen The Animal Welfare Act.
The comments I made about breeding dogs-is Wolfie the dog featured in the last article, came from a breeder in Branford Ct. I got to see both parents in their well cared for home and paid less for him than what Mr. Kayfman sells his GSD's for with questinable origins, I know of one- we are not against breeding dogs, just really know where their parents are and know that they aren't suffering out of greed, and I never even worried a bit about disease or parasites, the puppies from the same litter, mom and dad were all there and bred infrequently with awesome parentage, I have his family tree!
One needs only to go to the Facebook page -Boycottpuppiesofwestport for more honesty of what Mr. Kaufman says. Or google Puppies of Westport right under his add is what the coalition had researched and found out, one should be a well informed and educated consumer especially when you are adding another member to your family, that will be with you hopefully for ten years or more! This is not something to buy on impulse becauser its cute!
I am incredibly glad you offered Mr. Kaufman his side of the story. Your previous story, written from a counter viewpoint, drew immediate sympathy on my behalf. In fact, I was ready to join the protesters standing outside the Westport Avenue store, alongside Ms. Lambert. This article served to remind me that there are always two sides to every story.