Starting off the new year with an apology

Unfortunately, I'm afraid I've got to apologize to our customers and fans to start off the new year. You see, we as a company, as well as a family (we are a family business) have been using a local publication's Pet Calendar as a form of advertising for two years now and my heart just sank when I opened up the calendar this year and saw that we were sharing advertising space with a business that supports puppy mills. It just made me sick.

We work very hard throughout the year to support local rescues and shelters, most notably the Northwest Arkansas Animal Rescue and the Humane Society for Animals in Benton County. We are absolutely against puppy mills, the cruel treatment they provide their animals and any business that supports puppy mills by purchasing animals from them. We refuse to do business with companies that support these types of organizations as a matter of principle. There are lots of pet stores out there and maybe it doesn't make good business sense, but we feel like if we have to support those kinds of organizations to stay in business, then we'd just soon close shop.

We own rescue dogs from the Humane Society. But you can also refrain from supporting puppy mills by purchasing an animal from a reputable breeder. How do you know if a breeder is reputable? There was an excellent article on the Pet Connection some weeks back on how to tell if a breeder is reputable. You can also rescue pure bred animals from breed specific rescues. www.petfinder.com is an excellent source for finding them.

With so many animals that need good homes right now, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to consider rescuing animals or supporting reputable breeders. The only way to stop puppy mills is to stop buying from them and to tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. And you can also help animals in need by volunteering at or donating to rescues and shelters. We domesticated these animals - they are under our stewardship now. We can't just throw them out like garbage.

So again, I apologize. Last year this publication did not have any advertising from these puppy mill supporters. If we'd known that we would not have placed any ads and we will not be advertising in this publication next year. The real unfortunate side effect is that I have to look at these ads for twelve months now.