CAPS Marches Against LA Puppy Mill Store On Valentine's Day
Monday, February 15, 2010 – By WeHo News Staff, West Hollywood
West Hollywood, California (February 15, 2010) – Invigorated by their pioneering effort to ban the sale of puppy mill and kitty factory animals by retailers in West Hollywood, Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) took on a Los Angeles retailer on Valentines Day, challenging them to show some heart and stop selling mill-bred animals.
Barworks, a pet store in the Westside Pavilion Photo by CAPS. WeHo News.
Protesting outside the store’s entrance with a large group of uniformly t-shirted, shopping bag protest sign-swinging fellows, Wehoan Carole Raphaelle Davis, west coast director CAPS said, "Valentine's Day is just another loveless day at Barkworks. The facts are demonstrable.”
She charged Barworks, a pet store in the Westside Pavilion, with malfeasance and animal cruelty in a statement listing the most recent case.
“We've got a puppy mill dog here who was fatally ill; Barkworks sold the dog knowing she was sick and then, after suffering for days in the hospital, the puppy died,” she said.
Barkworks, a chain of pet stores, has been defrauding consumers and selling sick dogs, according to CAPS.
CAPS investigations have uncovered that Barkworks is allegedly supplied by puppy mills in the Midwest where dogs are often sick, are confined 24/7 in rabbit hutches, exposed to extreme temperatures and live in their own waste.
The USDA inspection reports for Barkworks' suppliers show violations of the Animal Welfare Act, says the CAPS team.
CAPS Protesters outside the store’s entrance. Photo by CAPS. WeHo News.
CAPS also has evidence (see video) that Barkworks withheld emergency veterinary care to a dying puppy in the store.
“This is not an isolated case,” said Ms. Davis. “We advise people who think they might be 'rescuing' a sick puppy by buying it in a store to adopt from a shelter instead.
“Buying an animal in a pet store or on the Internet contributes to inhumane breeding operations and enriches unscrupulous retailers,” she said. “This is not only an animal cruelty issue; this is also a consumer fraud issue.
She finished by saying, “What the companion animal loving public wants it to obtain a happy, healthy pet, not a sick animal born in an inhumane and filthy breeding factory."
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