Petland’s mission is to enhance the human-animal bond and provide life-long companions for our customers. We’ve created strict requirements to help us follow that mission. Petland is dedicated to improving conditions for all dogs in the communities we serve. We do this by encouraging highest standards of pet care. Our stores establish relationships with pet providers and hold our independently owned store responsible with visiting the facilities from which they purchase puppies for their stores.
Watch the videos below to learn the story of where our puppies come from.
1. USDA licensed breeders and distributors
With no direct violations in the previous 24 months. Petland’s operations team stays busy traveling the country visiting breeders. Our operations team looks for breeders that are committed to improving animal welfare. Petland corporate employees and store owners visit licensed and inspected breeders to make sure they meet our standards. Petland’s Vice President of Animal Welfare Education leads additional visits to approved breeders to observe their compliance with Petland’s standards. He also works with local, state and federal regulatory agencies and legislators concerning animal welfare issues and education. Petland requires our breeders to provide:
2. Hobby breeders as defined by the Animal Welfare Act
These are the small-scale breeders who raise their dogs in a humane manner.
3. Local adoption pets that are vet-checked.
Some of our puppies and kittens come from local animal shelters or from members of the local community as part of Petland’s Adopt-A-Pet program, dedicated to finding homes for homeless pets. Through Petland’s Adopt-A-Pet program, hundreds of thousands of shelter and community animals have been placed with caring families. Each Petland has a consulting vet that sees each of our Adopt-A-Pet’s. Additionally, many Petland’s hold adoption day events.
The USDA is the agency that regulates the food we feed our families, and we trust its oversight to keep us safe. According to the USDA, there are approximately 120 field inspectors who conduct inspections at the roughly 1,700 USDA licensed kennels.
Additionally, our breeders are subject to the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Shelters or rescues are not covered under this comprehensive law. Additionally, many states and local governments also have their own laws that protect animals and the breeders that supply Petland stores have to comply with these laws.
In our many years of business, we have been leaders in encouraging the betterment of breeders. We require our breeders to comply with all federal, state, and local laws and to maintain our own standards for breeding.
Our breeders are required to obtain a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS inspectors from the Animal Care division conduct unannounced compliance inspections to ensure that the animals receive good care and treatment.
We require our breeders to go above and beyond these strictly enforced standards. Here are a few things we require our breeders to provide for the pets in their care:
At Petland, we investigate any claims about breeder facilities that don’t meet our requirements. We recognize and respect sensitivities to these issues, as no one is more sensitive than we are to our puppies’ health and care.
