During the summer of 2013, Bailing Out Benji assisted a small group with weekly protests in front of Critter Nation in Webster City, Iowa after we found out that he is using the same two breeders that Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe in Ames, Iowa uses. In retaliation to the weekly protests, the store decided to post this very professional statement on their facebook wall.
Before these protests began, one of the women in charge of the events went in to Mike to talk about his breeders and the impending protests. Mike (the owner) claimed that he had never even visited one of them! Yet he “knows” they are reputable breeders. He confirmed that the breeders he uses are Century Farm Puppies in Grundy Center, Iowa and New Design Kennels in Rockwell City, Iowa.
NEWS FLASH::
They aren’t. So, Mike and the rest of the folks at Critter Nation, before you claim that we are slandering “people”, please read here about the PUPPY MILLS that you are supporting. This is the research that you should have educated yourself with, all of it comes straight off of the USDA website. Maybe now you will think twice about selling puppy mills puppies in your store.
Mike wrote this information down for us on the back of his business card.
And here is how the store reacted to the protesters in front of their store.
CENTURY FARM PUPPIES in GRUNDY CENTER, IOWA
Before anyone asks, I have been to this puppy mill and personally rescued a dog from them. While their website paints a beautiful picture of their farm and talks of how they are the best kennel in the state, their past USDA reports scream a different story.
This photo shows the number of dogs they are currently breeding. 155 adults, 48 puppies. That is a lot of dogs for one aging couple to care for.
Below are a few of the violations that they have had in the past which include: a build up of days old feces, on all of the flat surfaces of their buildings there was severe buildup of hair, dirt and other debris (which affected approximately 532 dogs at the time!!) Again, see for yourself. These are screenshots of the USDA reports.
Century Farm Puppies has been downgrading in recent years due to public pressure and the fact that more people are “waking up” about puppy mills. In recent years they had over 500 adult dogs on their property, which is an insane amount of dogs to care for. Yes, during that time period, Critter Nation was using them as a breeder.
NEW DESIGN KENNELS, ROCKWELL CITY, IOWA
Nancy and Tom Carlson of New Design Kennels are very deep in the puppy mill world. Not only do they have a huge puppy mill of their own, they run under TWO names so the public doesn’t see that they breed several breeds of dogs (New Design Kennel and Illusion Japanese Chin) but they sell their unwanted dogs at terrible dog auctions. Most recently, In May, Nancy and Tom helped out at another dog auction that I attended. These “reputable breeders” have no problem breeding dogs that aren’t healthy. If you read the article above, you will note that many of her dogs were missing teeth, eyes and had open wounds AT THE AUCTION! Below shows you an approximate number of dogs that she sells on her property and, below that, we highlight some of her violations.
Did we mention that Nancy Carlson is an active member of the Iowa Pet Breeders Association? She works on the legislative end to make sure that laws aren’t passed that will hurt breeding facilities like the one pictured above.
The world is waking up and seeing the pet store/puppy mill connection. It is important that the public understands where those cute pet store puppies are really coming from.