Fwd: ACTION ALERT: Please Support the CAPS North American Pet Shop Protest on Saturday, December 20!

October 23, 2008

Dear Companion Pet Lovers ~

Please join Columbus Top Dogs in supporting the dedicated team from Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) as they help raise awareness of puppy mills, dog auctions, pet stores and the entities that support and keep them in business. For those interested in participating in a peaceful protest against Petland stores located in Columbus, OH (locations and times to be confirmed), please reply to this message by Saturday, November 15.

Thanks so much everyone for continuing to serve as a strong voice for the dogs!

Mary O'Connor-Shaver

Cell: 614-271-8248

Columbus Top Dogs (Shure Pets)

http://www.columbustopdogs.com/

http://www.banohiodogauctions.com/

http://thoughtsfurpaws.com/

LEGISLATIVE ALERTS: Please visit our Home page for pending legislation impacting the welfare of OH animals - http://www.columbustopdogs.com/

I donate ALL profits from the sale of our premium products and accessories to local animal protection groups!

P.S. You or someone you know has requested you be added to the Columbus Top Dogs email list. If you do not want to receive emails from columbustopdogs.com, please reply and put "remove from list" in subject. Thank you!

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CAPS North American Pet Shop Protest

"caps" <caps

Wed, October 22, 2008 9:21 am

The Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) is organizing a North American protest on Saturday, December 20 against pet shops that sell puppy mill dogs. We are asking your group to join us in our efforts to raise awareness about this critical issue. Please let us know by November 20 at the latest if you will be participating.

As the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals, CAPS' foremost concern is the abuse and suffering of pet shop and puppy mill dogs. Founded in 1992, CAPS actively addresses this issue through investigations, legislative involvement, puppy mill dog rescues, consumer assistance and pet industry employee relations.

In 1989, when I noticed the cramped, unsanitary conditions at a Docktor Pet Center, I became enraged. The company had more than 300 franchises at that time. I then joined forces with Robert Baker, the foremost puppy mill investigator in the country, and generated two "20/20" exposes and articles in People and Life. These exposes took on the pet shop industry - "20/20" and People named Docktor directly - and showed the horrors of puppy mills. As a result of our efforts, Docktor Pet Centers, who refused to do business without the sale of puppies, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 1993.

From 1990 through 1993, I organized pet shop protests all over the United States and Canada. The first year, the protest focused just on Docktor Pet Centers in the United States. The following three years, we also included activist groups from Canada. Many groups chose to protest a Petland store. Petland is the largest chain in the country and has more than 200 locations worldwide, including stores in Canada, Chile, Japan and South Africa. Many Petlands buy from Goodman, Missouri-based The Hunte Corporation, the largest broker in the country. CAPS did six months of undercover employment at Hunte in 2004 and has investigated some of the mills that sell to this large-scale brokerage facility. We have done little to publicize our Hunte investigation because HBO tied up the information for use in a documentary that now isn't going to happen.

Due to a CAPS undercover employment opportunity of six weeks at one of the largest USDA dog brokering and breeding facilities in Minnesota, prosecutors recently brought nine counts of cruelty, including four felony counts, against Kathy Bauck, the owner of Pick of the Litter. CAPS has been investigating Ms. Bauck since 1997, but she has always been suspicious, so it has been challenging to gain access to her facility.. CBS2 Chicago aired a two-part story about our investigation and charges against Bauck - http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/cathy.bauck.puppy.2.837035.html. They are doing a third part about her

internet sales in November. There will be TV news stories about our investigation.

Ms. Bauck already had a cease and desist order from the state vet board for the practice of veterinary medicine, including doing C sections and spay/neuter. This didn't stop her. She continued to practice vet medicine and do yet more C sections, which were documented by employees. Sadly, the state allowed her to plea bargain to just one charge for the practice of vet medicine and dropped the cruelty charge for killing a puppy. While on parole and serving work release, she continued to commit cruelty, which was being documented by our investigator using a hidden camera, daily field notes and reports, all of which we presented to the detective and prosecutor's office.

Please join us on December 20 and let us know which pet shop you will be protesting. Petlands are always good targets as are chain stores, such as Happiness is Pets, Family of Pets, FamilyPetCenter, Shake A Paw, PJ's, etc. If you have enough members to protest more than one store, that is even more powerful. We will provide a media advisory to all the participating groups. It will be up to you to contact media in your area. CAPS' PR agency will be generating national media coverage in both countries and in major media markets. The CAPS pet shop fact sheet can be downloaded from our website, www.caps-web.org. We don't have the resources to send brochures to all the groups, but we will be happy to mail you a brochure you can copy for distribution. We will also email you a flyer with protest tips.

We are pleased to announce that Carole Raphaelle Davis, actress, animal welfare advocate and and author of "The Diary of Jinky, Dog of a Hollywood Wife" is joining CAPS in our protests and coordinating protesters in Los Angeles. Carole has been investigating, campaigning and writing about the pet store/Internet puppy mill connection in the US and Europe.

Check out the CAPS teen/college/young adult website, www.caps2point0.org. CAPS is also on Facebook, MySpace and just started a Facebook Causes page. You can get more information on Carole and her dog Jinky at www.hollywoodjinky.com and www.hollywooddog.blogspot.com.

We look forward to your participation.

Kind regards,

Deborah A. Howard

President

Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS)

http://www.caps-web.org/

www.caps2point0.org (our new teen/college/young adult website, which has a page on activism)

www.currentskillcanines (another new website on the dangers of stray voltage to dogs)