Petland Corporate History (from their website)
Petland, Inc. is a privately held Ohio corporation founded in 1967. Initially, Petland owned and operated retail pet stores in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. In the early 1970's, Petland began franchising pet stores and entered the business of wholesale distribution for pet-related merchandise. In the late 1980's, Petland expanded its presence in Canada and entered international markets in Japan, France, and in the 1990's to Chile and in 2001 to South Africa through master franchise agreements. Petland currently has 140 stores in the United States and 63 in foreign markets. More than 25 new domestic stores are scheduled to open within the next twelve months.
Petland Canada is a Canadian owned full line pet store franchise and as a Master
Franchisor, Petland Canada has the rights to Canada. The development of this
franchise has been due to Robert and Barbara Brissette who have owned and
operated the Canadian Petland chain since 1979.
Comment: The expanding pet trade is competing among itself to garner a greater share of the market. Animals, birds, fish – whatever the species, it’s misery and death for all those exploited by the industry. As a consumer, you have the power to choose to BOYCOTT stores selling ‘livestock.’ Make your voice heard and be a rallying force to STOP ANIMAL SUFFERING!
Petland has received a lot of negative press as the following media report indicates.
From whotv.com
Channel 13 Investigation: Petland Accused of Selling Sick Puppies
March 12, 2008--It's only been a couple of months since the Petland in West Des Moines opened its doors, but since then, Channel 13 has received a number of complaints the store is selling sick dogs.
"This whole time she was having seizures and it ended up getting worse. She ended up foaming at the mouth going into convulsions," says Jessica Halbrook. Jessica and her husband John bought their Siberian husky, Giada on January 23rd. Three weeks later, Giada got so sick, the Halbrooks were forced to put her down.
Two more dogs purchased at Petland were also diagnosed with parvo, one of the most severe and lethal diseases a dog can get. One veterinarian told the store's owner, Tim Mohrfeld, to quit selling dogs for two weeks. But Mohrfeld decided otherwise, "We went completely through our kennels did a bleach solution, took recommendation from several vets on how to approach it and haven't had a problem since."
Petland Investigation: Part 2
March 13, 2008--Channel 13's Sonya Heitshusen has been investigating the West Des Moines Petland, after receiving several complaints of the store selling sick puppies. One Ankeny couple says they had to put down their new puppy after only three weeks of having it. Is Petland knowingly selling consumers sick dogs?
Owner of Petland, Tim Mohrfeld, claims his store doesn't sell sick puppies. "These puppies do not come from puppy mills. They're the healthiest and highest quality we can find," says Mohrfeld.
But Channel 13 has learned at least two dogs purchased at Petland in the past two months contracted parvo , one of the deadliest diseases a dog can get. When we asked Tim Mohrfeld, where they were bred, he denied they came from a breeder in southeast Iowa named Steve Kruse. Yet Kruse's name was found on several certificates of pedigree on dogs purchased at Petland, including one that had parvo.
Animal rights advocates say Kruse breeds hundreds of dogs on his farm in southern Iowa. When we asked Kruse if he supplies Petland with puppies, he hung up on us.
More stories can be found at: http://www.petstorecruelty.org/In the news.htm
The Hunte Corporation is currently the largest puppy dealer/broker in the U.S., selling 90,000 puppies every year to retail pet stores. Located in Goodman, Missouri, the corporation’s facility receives puppies from independent, USDA-licensed breeders/ puppy mills and then resells them to pet stores all across the country, including many Petlands. Hunte has been repeatedly quoted that by running the largest puppy-selling business in the country, he is following “God’s plan,” and is providing quality pets to families. Their motto is “Hunte: Doing What’s Right”
Breeders either drop the puppies off at the Hunte building or a Hunte truck goes out to pick them up. The puppies are checked over by Hunte employees. The breeders expect to receive a certain price from Hunte depending on the breed of dog, but if Hunte decides the puppies are not very healthy, they may offer the breeder less money. The breeders usually accept the lower price, as they have no use for the puppies. Hunte's "Grade A" puppies, the supposedly healthier ones, are sent to pet stores. The "Grade B" puppies, the sicklier ones, are sold in other ways. We understand that some are sold to people who sell dogs over the Internet or through newspaper ads. Others were formerly sold at Missouri flea markets and in Canada, but now are apparently often ending up at the huge Canton Flea Market in Texas, which sells dogs, cats and other animals by the hundreds.
Andrew Hunte and his wife have been breeding dogs for 30 years as well as running their own pet stores. The family has been owners, at different times, of Petlands in the Kansas City area, Joplin, and the new Springfield, Mo., Petland. Steve Rook (Hunte’s president) is married to Hunte’s daughter, Jessica, and is part of Hunte’s practice of creating companies behind other companies. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, Mr Hunte owns 18 companies, all incorporated in that state. Companies such as JessAnd (Jessica/Andrew), JesStevAnd, and Jes/Steve.