Media

Few people realize everything that goes on behind the scenes of PetShopPuppies. Our work with the media keeps the topic of puppy mills in the news, and helps to educate millions of people about the cruel commercial dog industry.

PetShopPuppies is a low-key organization, and one of our primary missions is to work with other humane organizations and the media to provide statistical data to aid in their research. By offering free puppy reports to pet store customers that have bought puppies, we not only help them to understand the commercialization of dogs in America, we also collect valuable data that is not otherwise public record.

Although the federal Animal Welfare Act regulates puppy mills and dog brokers, most pet stores are exempt from licensing because they are retailing, not wholesaling, their puppies. Without government regulation, there are no "open records" and for decades the public has been clueless about what happens when puppies reach the pet stores.

Knowing which breeds are popular, how much puppies sell for, which part of the country sells the most puppies, etc. are all very important to our fight. We can't possibly combat something we don't understand -- know they enemy.

But understanding isn't enough. We have to be able to reach the public, and the media is our weapon of choice. Not only do we utilize mainstream media, like television and newspaper reporters, we also run regular ads in various Indiana-area publications to bring about even more awareness to the issues. Below are just a few of our accomplishments in 2008, and your continued support of our organization will help us to continue running ads and reaching even more people.

WTHR - Channel 13
Puppy Pipeline

WTHR traveled to Missouri and met with and interviewed PetShopPuppies founder, Kim Townsend. We also provided them with data on puppies we had researched from the Indiana Amish and helped them to understand the "pipeline" that supplies puppies to pet stores.

The Indy Channel - Channel 6
Tammy Gilcrhist

PetShopPuppies began investigating Internet ads for various breeds of puppies after a customer contacted us when she purchased a sick puppy from the Internet in Indiana. Eventually, our research linked the ads being run in August 2008 with a breeder named Tammy Gilchrist. We contacted The Indy Channel with our findings and continued to work with them and the Indiana Attorney General's office, until all of Gilchrist's dogs were finally seized in December 2008.

Clara Vowell

Our investigation of Clara Vowell began in late summer, 2008, after an alert citizen contacted us about an advertisement she read for various puppies in Indiana. Our research led us back to Clara Vowell, but before we could file any complaints or gather more information, Vowell's dog farm was raided. Prosecutors did not press charges against Vowell, but PetShopPuppies had evidence of federal violations of the Animal Welfare Act, and we filed a complaint with the USDA. That investigation is still pending, and we hope to have more information for you soon.

Other Investigations

We are often contacted by customers or concerned citizens about puppy mill situations in Indiana. Although we are not an enforcement agency, we do try to investigate and analyze a situation before reporting it to the proper authorities. Indiana has very weak laws when it comes to animal abuse, and for fear of "crying wolf" too often, we simply gather evidence to determine if a situation warrants involvement by law enforcement. We are currently working on several situations that will hopefully lead to better conditions for animals in Indiana.

Holiday Ads

As a Missouri-based organization, we rely heavily on volunteers in Indiana to help us make the best choices when trying to educate the public. Whether it be the best location for our billboard, or the best place to run educational advertisements, it is only through these volunteers that we are able to reach the most people.

The Christmas holiday season is the financial backbone of many businesses, and pet stores that sell puppies are especially reliant on Christmas puppy sales -- it is reported that 60% of their yearly profits come from these sales.

For the 2008 Holiday season, we ran multiple ads in popular Indiana publications and plan to continue this form of education throughout 2009.

Brochures

In the summer of 2008 we had 100,000 brochures printed to combat the sale of puppies in pet stores. As evidence of our success in Indiana and the willingness of citizens in Indiana to get involved, over 1/2 of the brochures we have mailed out thus far have been sent to the state of Indiana!

A reprint of our brochures will be needed soon, and when we think of nearly 50,000 of our brochures circulating around Indiana, we know our message is being spread far and wide! We consider our brochures to be one of the most important things we do in the fight against puppy mills in Indiana, and across the country!

Protests

Despite unpredictable weather, low turn out, and little media coverage, we continue our monthly protests at stores that sell puppies in Indiana. During the 2008 Holiday season, we organized weekly protests to combat holiday sales of puppies.

We encourage you to dedicate just a few hours of your time next year to this important mission.

Special Events

Volunteers in and around Indiana continue to spread our message through special events held throughout the state. Our PSP Running Team is just one example of how we can all work together to educate the public in a way that falls outside the realm of the "dog world."

In addition, we also participate in animal-related functions where volunteers have hand-outs about puppy mills available and are willing to talk to people about the dog industry and the connection between puppy mills and pet store puppies.