UPDATE!!! The Dutchess County SPCA Seizes a Puppy and Arrests Store Owner

The Dutchess County SPCA seizes a puppy and arrests store owner and an employee following complaints of selling an unhealthy puppy.
HYDE PARK, NY (March 25, 2011) –Yesterday, the Dutchess

County SPCA seized an unhealthy puppy being offered for sale by

Puppies and Kittens, a pet store in Wappingers Falls, and charged

the store owner and an employee after a local veterinarian

examined the dog and found him to be unfit to be sold.


DCSPCA Humane Law Officers were contacted by a customer of

the store who had purchased the puppy. Her veterinarian found the

puppy to be unhealthy and advised her that the dog should not

have been sold. She returned the puppy to the store, which offered

him for sale in the store’s window the next day. DCSPCA Officers

Jami Landry and Daniel Flaherty investigated and charged the

owner, Richard F. Doyle with two counts of Section 357 (Selling

Diseased Animals, Unclassified Misdemeanor) for knowingly

offering an unhealthy puppy for sale twice. The owner was also

charged with one count of Section 353 (Animal Cruelty, Class A

Misdemeanor). An employee was changed with one count of

Section 353 (Animal Cruelty, Class A Misdemeanor).

The defendants are due to appear in the Village of Wappingers

Court on April 7th. The 11-week old Teacup Yorkshire Terrier is

being nursed back to health by the DCSPCA’s Animal Services

team. He is not available for adoption. He is the eighth puppy

officers have seized from local pet stores in the past month.

Last month, the DCSPCA investigated similar complaints about Pet

Fashion Pet Store in the Galleria Mall. Six employees and the

owner now face a total of 66 charges stemming from allegations

that they offered puppies that were too sick to sell.

The investigation is on-going. Anyone who has purchased a puppy

from Puppies and Kittens pet store in Wappingers Falls that has or

had an infectious or contagious illness should contact the

DCSPCA’s Humane Law Department immediately by dialing

845.452.7722 ext. 4

Great work Jami and Daniel!  And thank you Cher for bringing this to my attention and for all you do for our friends at the shelter! 
Remember,  ADOPT! Don't Buy.

My original story can be found here

Blogs to Help You Go Vegan, Stay Vegan and Eat Great!

Explore vegan living with these blogs that will make the transition a little easier on your taste buds.

Vegan cooking is accessible thanks to the array of vegan blogs that walk you through recipes small and large. If you’re looking for a quick lunch fix, what to do with leftovers or a dinner party menu that will impress friends, these vegan cooking blogs will help you go vegan. It’s easy to stay vegan when the food you’re eating is fresh and flavorful, so get reading and then get cooking!

http://www.mastersinpublichealth.net/more-than-meats-the-eye-top-25-blogs-to-help-you-go-vegan/

Also,  please check out my friend Molly's Vegan Blog List.  Another great list!

Night of Comedy in NYC to Benefit Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary!

THE 4th ANNUAL COMEDY FOR KARMA



A star-studded comedy benefit for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary

When: Tuesday, April 5th, 8:00pm / doors 7:30pm

Where: Gotham Comedy Club


208 West 23rd Street between 7th & 8th Avenues


New York City


What: For the 4th year in row, the funny farm is back with their fabulously hip comedy benefit at the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC.


Featuring celebrity comedians….


• John Oliver (The Daily Show correspondent - tentative)


• Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show correspondent - tentative)


• Gary Gulman (2004 Last Comic Standing finalist, late night show appearances)


• Myq Kaplan (2010 Last Comic Stand¬ing final¬ist, late night show appearances)


• Jamie Kilstein (Showtime’s The Green Room, late night show appearances)


Olivia Munn (The Daily Show, NBC’s Perfect Couples) will emcee!





The funds raised will go directly to the care of over 200 rescued farm animals at the sanctuary and the advocacy work of WFAS. General admission tickets are $40 advance / $50 door, and reserved-seating VIP tickets are $75 (includes WFAS t-shirt!). Visit http://www.comedyforkarma.com/ or call 845-679-5955 to purchase tickets.



ABOUT THE WOODSTOCK FARM ANIMAL SANCTUARY

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit organization and shelter that works to end the systematic abuse of animals used for food. At the heart of our mission is the hands-on work of rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for farm animal refugees -- as well as educating the public about the horrific treatment of animals who are raised in factory farm systems. Please visit WFAS in Woodstock, NY during our hours of operation: Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., April thru October. Visit http://www.WoodstockSanctuary.org for more information or call 845-679-5955.

New Podcast Episode! - Episode 4 - Animal Shelters, Pet Stores & Puppy Mills

Episode 4 - In this episode I talk about how animals get to shelters, and the link between puppy mills and pet stores. I also read a beautiful essay entitled I Rescued A Human Today.


You can find the podcast on Itunes, Please subscribe! If you don't use iTunes, you can get the direct link here:


http://www.archive.org/download/AVoice4Animals-Episode4-AnimalSheltersPetStoresPuppyMills/Episode4-AnimalSheltersPetSto.mp3

Adopt a Friend, Don't Buy One! - PET STORES = PUPPY MILLS

The picture above is of a pet store that recently opened up in Wappingers Falls, New York. They sell animals that come from puppy mills.


A puppy mill, is a commercial dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions regarding the well-being of dogs in their care. Similar types of operations exist for other animals commonly kept as pets or used as feed for other animals. The term can be applied to operations involving other animals commercially bred for profit, e.g. "kitty mills." There are an estimated 4,000 puppy mills in the U.S. that produce more than half a million puppies a year. Commercial kennels may be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture which may inspect the kennels routinely. For-profit breeding on a smaller scale is sometimes referred to as backyard breeding.

If you visit the following link, the website there has well documented cases where the USDA has done inspections at these puppy mills that supply the stores that are owned by Rick Doyle.

http://www.againstpuppymills.org/HoS_RickDoyle.html

The list of violations is not isolated to just this particular store or these breeders/puppy mills. This is a common occurrence all over the country, probably the world, for animals sold in pet stores. When profits are put ahead of concern for the animals health and well being, there is little regard for them, and shortcuts are taken that end up in suffering, diseases and premature death of the animals.

On a personal note to this blog entry, I have a neighbor who bought 2 dogs from the pet store in the Galleria Mall in Poughkeepsie, New York several years back. Within 2 years, one of her dog's went blind, and within the next 3 years, both of the dogs had died from medical problems associated with inbreeding at the puppy mill that supplied the pet store.

As a volunteer for the Dutchess County SPCA, I see dogs and cats that are currently waiting to be ADOPTED by loving families. These animals need a home. By adopting rather than BUYING, you are not only saving the life of an animal that desperately needs a "forever home", you are also saving the lives of future animals that would have been born in a puppy mill to supply the unnecessary demand, and you are not funding these horrible practices, and greedy people. If we take away the DEMAND for puppies in pet stores, the puppy mills will cease to exist and will have to find another way to make money, sparing future generations of suffering. It's common sense ecomonics. Supply and demand.

Save a life, ADOPT your next best friend.

The following video shows exactly where pet store animals come from. Please watch it. And think......Do you want to contribute to this cruelty?




To adopt an shelter animal, please visit your local SPCA or go to:

Petfinder.com

Adopt A Pet

In Dutchess County go to http://www.dcspca.org/

For more information on puppy mills, visit Againstpuppymills.org

Thank you!

Michael