SinDee

November 6, 2006

Cynthia,

Look, I visited this Petland on my way back to WV on Nov. 1. I was

kind of curious since I drive by it a couple of times a week

sometimes. I went in and that was the conversation I had with the

young man who was apparently their " head salesman " .

You simply do not understand that rescue entails many aspects, may

levels of work. I not only do things online BUT I also do plenty of

hands on. I work with the locals, I have friends whom I am working

on getting them into rescue as well. WHY? Because people dump dogs

off on them all the time since they live in a rural area. I also run

a rescue here and work some with the local Humane Agency too. I have

my " hands on " quite a bit more than you could ever imagine, not so

much online as I am with the actual work here lately.

Yes, you may do some good deeds but that is NOT all there is to

rescue. You might want to consider actually getting your hands on

and doing puppy mill dogs. THAT will certainly try your patience and

you will NEVER be the same afterward. I hate Millers!! I have a

little senior Poodle who is much older than they said and I may be

forced to put him down this week. He is going downhill fast although

he gets three cans of Mighty Dog each day and he has run of the

house for the most part. (He does not go up the stairs as he is

afraid of them)

Cynthia, with your 'history', none of us trust you to ever be polite

or be cordial on any list. Remember, we have seen your " other side

too " ..... Believe me, until you walk a mile in my shoes, or Mary's,

don't assume that we are just online for amusement, that certainly

is not the case. I may not be a vegan or whatever BUT I do believe

in humane treatment of ALL animals. If all farmers treated their

animals with kindness and compassion, then there wouldn't be so much

animosity between farmers and AR. I also detest these " feed lot

produced animals " . That is inhumane and downright CRUEL. I have seen

far too many of them at livestock auctions and they are always in

horrible condition.

I hope this will get you to thinking about reality and the many

aspects and levels of rescue, as well as the " humane carnivore " who

believes that all animals should be treated well, regardless of what

they become--pets or dinner.

Joanie

, nonhumanavenger wrote:

>

> It was just a question. I apologize to the group if it didn't

sound the way that I meant it. Actually, I do try to educate pet

store employees. I use to be one years ago. No, I'm NOT a

rescuer...not by the standards of you guys who do on line rescue,

but I try to " rescue " in one way or another...saving homeless

animals from death and life on the streets. I don't do " on line "

rescue other than cross posting an alert here and there, but I do

what I can. But that's irrelevant. If you need to think of me as not

being a rescuer then fine. I was just asking a question and

apologize if I worded it in a bad way that might offend the members.

I've experienced the same thing (people getting the wrong impression

based upon my posts), so I would never just assume one thing or the

other, which is why I ask.. Thanks.

>

> the_hardluck_hounds

>

> Sun, 5 Nov 2006 7:59 PM

> Re: OT>>I stopped at a Petland just to

kill some time......

>

> Well, let me see, Honey, I sent this to a bunch of different

people

> and to a select few groups. I got responses from many who do

rescue

> (and we know you do not) and some work hard to save Mill Dogs

> (again, we know you do not) and THEY asked me to send this all

over.

>

> IF you were concerned with rescue and stopping the pet store

cruelty

> chain, you would be doing the same thing as the rest of us--

taking

> the time to actually ask questions and then tell these poor dumb

> kids who work in these pet stores the REAL truth about their

> employer and be able to back it up. I have been asked by several

> people if they could use this on their websites and include my

name

> and the name of my rescue (since I do rescue, and you do not).

>

> Now, I have better things to do than this petty exchange with you

so

> run along and do something constructive.

>

> Joanie

>

> , nonhumanavenger@ wrote:

> >

> > But you are Joan, so how could you have been asked to send this

> all over the internet when you are the one who composed the

message?

> I'm not being a smart a**... I'm just asking a logical question.

> >

> > the_hardluck_hounds@

> > Cc: juliatat@; susiecar@; ohiospca@; remember@;

> animalcrisisteam@; carol.johnson@; katie.walter@;

> anteaterken@; dotyvb@; ebcjm@; baspi@;

> linda.furness1@; fuzzyfacerescue ; jbishop_1@;

> 1byrdhouse@

> > Thu, 2 Nov 2006 6:46 PM

> > OT>>I stopped at a Petland just to

> kill some time......

> >

> > I have been asked to send this out all over the internet. I

> posted this to a few groups and got a huge response!! Please

share

> as you see fit. This is about a visit to PetLand in South Point,

OH

> on Nov. 1, 2006....

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I

> was on my way to WV to do some computer work for my dad and

decided

> to stop and kill some time and stretch my legs. Well, instead of

> going to the WalMart close by, I figured I'd go take a look

inside

> the PetLand I spotted close by..... Well, I walked in to a very

> small but tidy store, crammed with all sorts of pet supplies and

> cages and tanks to sell the new pet owners. I made my way back to

> the animals along the back wall of the store. Oh, the puppies

they

> had there were just too numerous to even try to name all the

breeds--

> I do recall Peke, Pug, Dachsie, English Springer Spaniel, Cocker

> Spaniel, Greyhound, JRT, Poodles, Mini Schnauzer and Chihuahuas.

> There were many more too, even a French Bulldog!! As I made my

way

> down the length of the puppy display, simply disgusted by the

> diahrreah the pups had, some were even lethargic, others were

acting

> like they had been given a stimulant as they bounced all over

their

> cage, I hear a young man " May I help you with the Puppies? " I

turned

> to look at this fresh-faced kid, and shook my head, " No, not with

> THESE puppies. " He came closer and said " We have the finest

> selection of pups around this area and they are all from

excellent

> breeders from the Mid-West. " I paused a second, " Oh, is that

> so?? " " We have our pups vet checked and do not accept them unless

> they are in perfect health " , this young man boasted. I

said " Really?

> So what is this stuff I keep seeing linking PetLand and Puppy

Mills

> all over the internet? " He pauses a second to think, " Must be a

> rumor, we get our dogs from private breeders who take pride in

their

> litters. " At this point I was ready to just smack this kid for

> being stupid and gullible. I nearly died laughing at this crap

too

> but it was too sad to be laughed off. " So, are your pups AKC

> registered or what? " , I asked with honest sincerity. " Oh, our

boss

> does not think AKC is the highest standard of the breeds so he

> prefers to take only CKC, ACA and a couple other registeries. As

you

> can see, we have excellent pups here " , this young man goes on

with

> his sales pitch. At this point, I had heard enough trash talk and

> that was when I let him have the WHOLE story on these pups and

their

> origins. " Do you honestly expect me to believe that AKC is

> the 'lowgrade' registery? Let me introduce myself before I

continue.

> My name is Joanie Stambaugh, from McDermott, OH, and I am a dog

> rescuer specializing in small seniors, PUPPY MILL Dogs and

special

> needs dogs. My rescue is Joanie's Lil Senior K9 Sanctuary and

> Placement and I currently have 4 Mill dogs in my house that came

> from some of those illustrious Mid-Western Breeders you speak so

> highly of. Let me tell you, if you have NOT seen a mill dog, I

can

> tell you all about them. I have had them come in to me with NO

> social skills at all, matted so badly you couldn't tell one end

from

> the other, so sick they could barely stand, no teeth or lower

jaws

> from the lack of proper care and the females being bred so much

that

> their little bodies re-absorb their jaw-bone in order to have

> calcium for milk. Oh, I can tell you about a friend of mine in NE

> who gets them and some have their faces broken up from being

kicked

> and brutally beaten by those wonderful breeders you speak so

highly

> of. I can go right on with a list of things that would make you

want

> to vomit but I know EXACTLY where these pups were born--Puppy

Mills

> in the Mid-West!!! If you decide you want to learn more about

those

> hell-holes, I will be more than happy to introduce you to my poor

> Mill Survivors and show you website after website with pics of

these

> places and the ACTUAL conditions these pups came out of. " This

> kid is soooo convinced of the good work these Millers do that he

> tells me that their pups are the best in the country. They are

> genetically sound and have NO health problems. He even says they

> were made to watch a video on the horrors of a real puppy mill

but

> it wasn't so bad..... I could have went through the roof!! I

stood

> there a second and then looked him in the eye.... " Have you seen

> these places yourself? Have you seen the actual dogs that come

out

> of those mills? What they send you here are the cleaned up

versions

> of the mill dogs. I recommend a site for you, NoPuppyMills.com or

> better yet, go to the HSUS or PETA sites and type in Puppy Mills

for

> a list of sites and info on these " doggy concentration camps " and

> have a look for yourself. Also, all of the puppy purchasers who

have

> paid anywhere from $600 to $1500 for a pup from PetLand and then

> spent thousands more to save the dog's life, tell them how sound

and

> healthy their pups were too. I have seen the reports, read their

> statements and in NO way do I condone selling of Puppy Mill Pups

to

> the unsuspecting public. " At this point, the kid is so blown away

by

> the info he is hearing that he asks me if I am for real. My

response-

> -You better believe it!! At that point, I decided I had said more

> than enough. This kid had a look on his face that said plenty. I

> paused before heading out the door, " If you think I am joking,

> please do check out the info on those sites I mentioned or Google

> Puppy Mills and see what you find..... Oh, and see, I was right,

you

> can't help me with THOSE pups..... " This happened Nov. 1, 2006 in

> South Point, OH at PetLand. Yours in rescue, Joanie Stambaugh

> McDermott, OH

>

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November 6, 2006

Great post!

You are wise beyond your years, besides your handicap.

, nonhumanavenger wrote:

>

> When I speak of " on line rescue " I'm not implying that a rescuer's

work is limited to the Internet. That's just the term I use to

describe what I don't do... coordinating transports, for

example...things that are arranged online via email and/or groups. I

know that there's more to it. I know I don't know everything about

it. And I know that I don't do it. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

I deal with cats, and there are so many here. I would never be able

to do anything that would involve taking my attention away from the

cats in my locality. I can spare a little time for other things but

certainly not getting involved with any rescue related work that

goes beyond the cats in my locality. There are too many, and it

costs too much as it is.

> I don't know what dog dumping is like where you're at, but I know

what cat dumping is like where I'm at... one cat after another...

and the idiots who abandon their cats, and the countless ferals

needing to be spayed and neutered.

> I hate millers too. But no, I certainly can't say that I have

seen the horrors first hand. I've never worked with mill dogs, and I

haven't claimed to have done so. Nor have I mentioned any of this. I

didn't mention veganism either for that matter. I'm not evil towards

non-vegans. I have non-vegan friends, and I live in an area in which

veganism is something you have to explain to people. (They have no

idea what it is, and when I tell them they look at me like I just

arrived from Mars.) If I were the type to lash out at everyone who

isn't a vegan, someone would have probably kicked my butt from here

to timbucktoo a long time ago.

> As far as my " other side " is concerned, well, you have one of

those and it isn't pretty. But I didn't mention that either. I just

asked a question and that's it. You should know me well enough by

now to know that if I did have the desire to be anything other than

polite then I would have made that abundantly clear. As I said, I

just asked a question. You've answered the question, and I

appreciate the answer.

November 7, 2006

Oh, cats are dumped here too and there are few rescues for them

either. I could tell you of a cousin in WV living next door to my

dad. That heifer has obout 25-30 cats and does not feed, nor alter

them and does not keep them confined. They get into the neighbor's

garbage adn all sorts of things, along with being killed on the

road. I have personally contacted the Local Pound (Cabell Co., WV)

and they will not do anything. I also see many cats here in this

area who are homeless but I simply can't catch them and merely feed

them (they are all ferals) and hope for some help in the near future

with T-A-R (trap, alter and release).

If you need help (and I have heard that you have become a black

sheep in the " ranks " , if you know what I mean), then I give you

permission to email me to ask questions. I will help you to collect

donations for trap-alter-release and to feed ferals in your area. It

is not an easy task and neither is it cheap.

And one more thing, that side of me that gets nasty, it only shows

up when I am unjustly harassed and bashed for NO obvious reason. I

merely defend myself and if it takes being nasty to do so, then so

be it. I work solely for the animals, I am not in this to make

friends or earn fans. The animals in need ARE my concern and I work

to help any and all who are in need.

The door is open, Cynthia, now are you woman enough to walk through

it.