Banning pet stores - good idea or not?

I have no data to back this up but, anecdotally, there seem to be many more dogs available from BYBs than from pet stores.

I don't even see that many pet stores anymore than sell cats/dogs. There is one pet store in my area that is actually "supplied" by a local shelter.

I think craigslist (and other internet advertising/selling sites) are more than adequate to fill any impulse-buy vacuum created by banning pet stores. People want cheap puppies, the market will find a way to supply them.

bad idea. the pet stores in my town are actually supplied with cats, dogs, and guinia pigs from local animal shelters. at least once a week they bring in a new group of animals from shelters and they have someone on hand from the shelter explaining each of the animals back stories, and handing out fliers explaining why it is better to adopt larger animals such as cats and dogs. one of my friends even works at a pet store/grooming place and she herself has adopted two of the cats and one of the dogs that was brought into the store by a shelter. she also regularly encourages people to check shelters first. not ALL pet stores are supplied by puppy mills. hell, even walmart has a poster up of all sorts of cats and dogs available to adopt, and it warms my heart every time that a walmart employee puts an "adopted" sticker next to a picture of a puppy or a kitty. there are LOTS of places that encourage adoption.

also, it isnt a good idea to close pet stores because they often provide a better selection of foods and toys than a department or grocery store might. my boss's cat (who was adopted mind you) requires a special type of food that can only be purchased at a pet store or through a vet.

now, i agree that maybe more should be done at pet stores to encourage adoption. but banning pet stores makes it sound like every single pet store out there is just filled to the rafters with puppies that came from a mill, and that not a single pet store is encouraging adoption. i can tell you for a fact that a lot of pet stores are. i live in a tiny town and there are four pet stores, all of which encourage adoption. i have been to other pet stores in different towns that encourage adoption as well. even walmart encourages it. yes, more could be done. but shutting down all pet stores just because some of the puppies come from puppy mills? wrong. that puts a bad name on every pet store, including the ones that try to do good.

No. The government doesn't have a right to ban all stores from selling cats and dogs just because some aren't careful of where the animals come from. People are too quick to look to the government for help when instead they should look to themselves and their neighbors. If there's a store in your neighborhood that sells cats and dogs, first find out where they are getting the animals. If they are coming from mills, try starting a grassroots campaign to get the store to stop giving money to the mills; involve your friends and neighbors. Start a website and get help from outside sources.

I don't know what a BYB is, but I think banning mall pet stores is a good idea. The pet stores can become pet SUPPLY stores - they already have that stock - and like children in the check-out line of stores that have removed the candy shelves from the tempting location - if folk really want a pet, they can seek one from a shelter or breeder.

I think it's a good idea for puppies / dogs in pet stores live in conditions unsuitable for puppies / dogs and people buy more or less dogs in such shops impulsively, and then who knows what happens to these dogs because ultimately no one keeps track of them and what happens to them later on .

Pet store is not the place for the sale or purchase of a dog. Breeders are and shelters are.

Great idea ----- lets just do away with pets and get it over with! GEEZE

I can't believe people actually come up with ideas like this, are you a PETA troll perhaps?

When people don't buy dogs, guess where they end up!

Is it your plan for every dog to end up in a shelter so that they become the only place to BUY a dog?!?

Many pet stores including some big ones only offer cats and dogs up for 'adoption from a shelter'.

So go to those places and avoid the ones that outright sell cats and dogs.

I agree with you, but, PetSmart's adoption drive has given us the opportunity to adopt an abandoned cat when our local shelter proved to be unhelpful.

PetSmart's adoption drive seemed genuinely interested in finding their available pets good homes to those seeking to adopt a pet, whereas the people at our local shelter seemed too busy caring for the pets already under their roof to bother reviewing our application.

Good point, though.

Pet stores are everywhere, they can just go the next town over and get one there. If people aren't willing to jump through the hoops to adopt or find a reputable breeder they're going to find other means to obtain what they want, when they want it.

it is a good idea to have the stores stop selling animals