Middletown Jack’s Pets to Offer Pet Adoptions in 2012

Everyone in Middletown knows you can go to Jack’s Aquarium and Pets to see the cute little puppies in the back of the store. That will not be the case! As of last week, many local Jack’s Aquarium and Pets stores announced that they have stopped selling puppies. Instead, they will begin working with rescue organizations and pet shelters to promote adoptions from those types of agencies. Jack’s hopes this will inspire a trend for other local pet stores to stop selling puppies in stores and start working with adoption centers around the community.

Obviously pet stores make profits from selling preferred breeds of dogs, yet the Middletown Jack’s Pets chose to cut that out of their facilities entirely this past week. After an investigation by the Humane Society in 2008 discovered that the majority of all puppies sold to pet stores are bred in substandard puppy mills, many stores, like Jack’s, have since been trying to source responsibly. Puppy mills are factory-sized, commercial dog breeding facilities that mass-produce puppies to sell. They breed so many dogs that they cannot pay attention to each individual puppy’s needs. This leads to serious neglect, disease, overcrowding, and overall terrible conditions for the animals. The facilities breed the puppies solely for a profit, regardless of the animal’s well-being while they are at the facility. These mills sell to pet stores around the United States, leaving animals in adoption shelters and from local breeders at the bottom of a new pet-buyer’s list.

The treatment and conditions the puppies at these mills have to endure is heart-breaking. ASPCA is pushing for all pet stores to move toward the end of puppy sales in their stores and are urging customers to boycott all the products from stores that continue to sell dogs and cats from puppy mills. Senior director of the ASPCA campaign, Cori Menkin, said, “The risk is just too high that you’re supporting a puppy mill,” and pushes for the boycotts. The mills leave animal shelters in the dust and overpopulation of dogs is leading to the deaths of those who do not make the cut.

Though most Jack’s Aquarium pet stores claim their puppies always come from reliable, local breeders, they do not want to take a chance and risk supporting any of the 4,000 puppy mills across the country. The only way they can be sure they are not doing so is by cutting out their cat and dog sales entirely and focusing more on the sale of products rather than companion animals. Their new plan on selling cats and dogs to their customers will be to offer in-store pet adoptions from animal shelters around the area.

Animal Friends Humane Society always has plenty of dogs up for adoption. This is a non-profit organization that can always use a helping hand. Animal Friends Humane Society is located on Princeton Road in Hamilton. This facility will be positively and highly affected by the decision of many pet stores to rely on them for their adoption services. October is Adopt-a-Shelter Dog Month with discounts on any adoptions.