I am an ex-employee of Petland, Novi. I want to make clear that I am not a disgruntled ex worker. I did not have any sort of disagreements with any of the other employees or managers. For all intents and purposes, Petland of Novi treated me, as a person and worker fairly and well.
It is the treatment of the customers and the animals that I take issue with. I am aware of several incidents which have taken place in this store:
Firstly, for a time, there was an outbreak of distemper. A vet advised the owner to close the shop for a short time in order for the puppies who were already in the store to be checked and treated, the kennels to be cleaned, and to prevent any new puppies from catching this terrible disease.instead, the owner accepted a new shipment of puppies, and caused an outbreak in which a few puppies had to be euthanized.
Secondly, there was a case in which a man who bought a small Chihuahua dropped her on her head at least twice. This caused her to go into seizures and he returned her for another dog. The associates were told by management not to inform any guests interested in this adorable little girl that she had been in a home before, that she'd had a name or that she'd been dropped. She was sold to another family who experienced serious health problems with her.
Thirdly, there are often cases of infectious sicknesses like kennel cough spreading wildly through the store. This is because the kennel manager rarely takes the time to thoroughly check and treat the puppies as they should be. They are over-medicated and under-loved. When puppies are sick, they are placed in separate cages called "holding" or "isolation." The only problem is that the holding cages are only two feet away from regular cages, and isolation is across from the kitten kennels, where the kittens are constantly stressed and terrified because of the constant whining and barking of the ignored puppies.
The kittens are not properly socialized because the store's focus is its puppies, where the most profit can be made. They maintain the facade that they care deeply for he animals in the store, and that the prices they charge are to convey the value of the life that a customer is taking home with him.
In reality, these puppies are bred and sent to us by "private breeders, " none of whose names are given out, and marked up by as much as twice or even three times the amount one would normally pay a breeder for a pedigree. They depend on impulse buying and pulling at people's heart strings in order to sell sell sell for profit.
The cages are not cleaned as thoroughly as they should be. I have spent a day pulling the kennels apart and scrubbing them from top to bottom.in the few months that I could stand to work there, I never saw this happen otherwise.
If these people really cared about the animals as much as they pretend to, they'd give them better, more comfortable kennels, keep less puppies in the store at once in order to ensure their health, comfort and the attention they deserve, and charge a little less.
More often than not, people are scared away by the prices Petland charges, and for puppies that are often sick! I understand why there is a law in Michigan that forbids giving animals away for free... There has to be a way to make people understand the value of the little life they are investing in, but it becomes detrimental when people who can provide loving homes can't even afford to buy these puppies who so desperately need to be taken out of that environment.
This is terribly difficult for me to do. I have no grudges personally against anyone who is involved with Petland, but I cannot stand to know that the animals are being treated this way.By sending this complaint I have done two things. One, I have informed people of Petland's dishonest business practices. And two, I have deprived several animals of good homes by keeping people who'd like to provide them away from the store.
I hope that something can be done to help the several animals cooped up there and in need of so much more love than they are receiving.
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