Local Pet Store Denies Puppy Mill Accusations, Another Changes its Ways

By Carrie Frillman

While one North Side pet store is publically putting its foot down to puppy mill breeders, another in Lake View still denies they ever purchased dogs from one in the first place.

Puppies R Us, located at 3404 N. Ashland Ave., was listed in a 2012 investigation by the Humane Society of the United States saying the store obtained its pets from Indiana puppy mills with serious violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. They were one of five North Side pet stores last year identified in the report.

When asked if owners stopped purchasing from mills after the investigation, a representative with the store—who refused to give his name—said Patch would need to call Puppies R Us’ owners for an official comment. He then would not provide their contact information, and abruptly hung up.

“We never did (purchase dogs from puppy mills),” he said. “Do you guys have any proof? Bring it to me. Show it to me.”

"Sometimes, those distributors, unbeknownst to us, are the ones purchasing from puppy mills." 

Owners at another North Side pet store, however, say they’ve put an end to buying dogs from puppy mills. 

Collar and Leash Pet Boutique in nearby Old Town at 1435 N. Wells St., transitioned its dog supply away from potential puppy mills on April 1 and had a grand reopening on April 6 and 7. 

"We'd been in touch with The Puppy Mill Project founder, Cari Meyers for a long time, and realize it's time we take this jump with them to help make a statement to put an end to puppy mills," one of the store's owner Sonja Raymond said in a statement. "This truly is going to be an adventure. We will no longer buy and sell cats and dogs from mills and are proud to align ourselves with The Puppy Mill Project."

Raymond told Patch in December that she was aware of the allegations and that she and her husband, Dan, do their very best to make sure they were not purchasing from puppy mills.

"The No. 1 thing the public has to be aware of, is that we are forced to go through distributors," she said. "Sometimes, those distributors, unbeknownst to us, are the ones purchasing from puppy mills." 

The high costs of puppies that come from private breeders would essentially put most stores out of business, Raymond noted, because the resale price following vaccinations and necessary care would be so costly that prospective pet owners wouldn't be able to afford them.

The Puppy Mill Project has been working with the store since earlier this year to make the transition to stop the sale of puppies. The move comes after several years of protests by the organization outside the store to help educate consumers about the origin of the pets sold inside.

“The pet stores that sell dogs do make a lot of money from that end of their business when they make the transition,” Meyers said in a written statement this week. “Once they make the transition, they will see a lot of new customers that will want to shop at their store because they’ve stopped selling puppies.”

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