CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A small group of protesters gathered Saturday outside Perfect Pets in Centennial, calling for the store to stop sourcing puppies from out-of-state breeders.
The group from Bailing out Benji is holding similar protests across the country.
Lauren Rombach lives in Littleton and said it’s part of a goal to end the puppy mill-to-pet store connection.
“We’re trying to educate people to make better choices, to help out the shelters and rescues, and not continue this endless cycle of breeding dogs,” said Rombach.
Protesters held signs including “honk if you rescue” and “puppy mills breed misery” as they stood on the sidewalk outside the store for a few hours.
Perfect Pets Manager Bianca Rose Larsen watched from inside, as customers came in and out.
“If somebody wants to go into a pet store, it’s their choice, but to make the false accusation that we get our dogs from mills, is just incorrect and wrong,” said Larsen.
Larsen told 9NEWS that all of their puppies do come from out-of-state breeders, with the majority coming from a company called Nebraskaland Pets.
Records show no recent USDA violations for Nebraskaland Pets.
“We’re very proud of our breeders, they do a phenomenal job and bring us healthy, happy puppies,” said Larsen. “Their USDA records are clean and have been for years, and those are the people we choose to get our dogs from.”
She said sourcing from out-of-state breeders is significantly cheaper than Colorado, and argues not every breed can easily be found in a shelter.
“I really think everybody should have a choice,” said Larsen. “There’s a very large variety of breeds that are just not available in a rescue.”
Rombach said a lack of USDA violations doesn’t always tell the full story, considering companies often serve as a middleman while sourcing puppies from multiple different breeders.
“People need to, if they want to buy a dog, go to a reputable breeder, but not a pet store,” said Rombach. “They treat the dogs like commodities.”
Both sides encourage people to do research before adding a puppy to your family.
“The more we know, the better we do. And that’s really what we’re all about, is making people more aware of what’s going on,” said Rombach.
“Absolutely, do your research,” adds Larsen. “We also dislike puppy mills.”
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