Pet stores, activists fighting same battle

Pet stores and animal rights activists have been fighting the same battle in Naperville. Animal activists have attempted to convince the city to force pet stores to stop selling puppies from commercial breeders. Store owners maintain that they do not use substandard breeders. The truth is we are all fighting the same battle.

In the past 10 years, the puppy industry has become extremely transparent. USDA inspection reports of commercial breeders are now public information. Pet store owners now have a way to evaluate breeders and hold them to higher standards.

It's estimated that 10,000 large-scale breeders sell puppies and of these less than 2,000 are licensed by the USDA. Petland Naperville reviews USDA inspection reports to make sure that our breeders have no direct violations of the animal welfare act.

The purchase of a pet from a pet store is the most regulated source of acquiring a pet in Naperville because pet store owners have to abide by the highest regulatory standards in our industry and are required, by Illinois law, to warranty all puppy sales. If pet stores were not able to sell puppies, Naperville residents would not stop purchasing puppies, they would simply be forced to go through unregulated source

What our industry needs is stricter regulations for all large-scale breeders. Let's adopt national legislation and higher penalties to outlaw the existence of large-scale breeders that are not regulated by the USDA.

Pet store owners have been instrumental in passing disclosure laws, puppy lemon laws, and forcing the bad pet stores out of business. No one likes bad breeders. Let's stop fighting a battle of emotions and focus on the facts - not all pet stores are bad, not all commercial breeders are "puppy mills," and not all animal activists are unreasonable.

Adam Stachowiak

Naperville