Comments on: The State of Connecticut Shuts Down “True Breeders” Pet Store

By: Sandy

Sandy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:35:51 +0000

I went to True Breeders recently and fell in LOVE with a small chiweenie – had never heard of one, but found it to be a truly wonderful puppy. My whole family fell in love with this dog. The owner told us the puppy cost $1299. That was a lot of money to us so we went home to think about it. Upon calling back the owner we were told that if we bought the puppy today we could have it for $899. That was still alot of money to us. Upon researching the breed, I found there is no breed called a chiweenie. There is a chihuahau and there is a dachshund, but there is no breed recognized by the AKC as a chiweenie. We have decided to either adopt a dog from a CT pound or contact a local breeder. We will not give our hard earned money to this disreputable woman. I feel sorry for the puppies – but I cannot and will not do it.

By: Tess

Tess — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:43:19 +0000

Very good commentary above, based on personal inspection as the owner had requested of people prior to judging her business and practices. In any case, in response to her (the owner of True Breeders) comment regarding the facilities she works with being “registered” with the USDA, here is a link from the USDA website regarding animal breeders:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_welfare/content/printable_version/faq_animal_dealers.pdf

Again, make your own decisions, but my personal experience in knowing several breeders, is that they would never sell their dogs to a pet shop. They make sure that all dogs go to homes where they are wanted and will be well cared for. When a puppy is born who may have problems throughout life, those breeders keep those pups for themselves and treat them with care and love (or if they give them up, again it is only to someone who has the time to care for a pup with special needs).

I must agree with “concerned citizen” though, NO reputable shelter or breeder would leave dogs outside during 90 degree plus weather and let them be handled by numerous people. That is a complete lack of regard for the puppies involved.

By: Concerned Citizen

Concerned Citizen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:01:42 +0000

I am just a regular person and I do not claim to know everything about animals, breeders and pet stores. However, what I do know is that I took the time to visit True Breeders myself and was disgraced at the conditions in there. The puppies were covered in wood chips and it was also in their food which at the time was being served out of the paper containers that you might get french fries in at a carnival. They were chewed up and any food that was left was covered in wood chips.
I visited shortly after they opened on a Monday morning and the pens were being cleaned so there were liters of puppes mixed in with other liters and a mess everywhere.
I spoke to Christine herself who told me that she buys only from local breeders. When I noticed the sign on one of the pens that said the dogs came from the Midwest, I asked her about it. She proceeded to tell me that a very good friend of hers personally flew her out of Danbury airport on his private plane so that she could look at these dogs. A short time later, the Hunte truck was photographed unloading dogs in front of her store.
This past Saturday, Christine set up at a sidewalk sale event in town. She kept the 8 or so puppies outside for 5 + hours in 90 degree temperatures and let them be handled by many people. Yes, she did have water there but seriously, is that a place
for the animals? Any person who has “dedicated their life to animals” would not subjecty ANY animal to those conditions.
Aside from observations, the only other thing I know for sure is that I rescued a puppy mill breeding bitch. Our little love probably had 5+ liters of puppies in her short life and she is only 11 lbs and 5 or so years old!!! She is terrified of everything and has such sadness in her eyes. We work very hard every day to ensure her confidence and security but as long as establishments such as True Breeders is still in business, we will never be able to save all these dogs.
The bottom line Christine is that you made the wrong decisions. You opened your business as a liar and the only thing you are concerned with is the almighty dollar! Had you done as you said you were going to do, perhaps you would’ve stood a chance but Christine, you are dealing with very educated, animal savvy people who saw right through you and your practices.
I hope your doors close very soon so there will be a few less puppies that suffer because of what you do!

By: Margot

Margot — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:31:16 +0000

Christine does not have a “degree” in dog training from Cornell. She took, as you will read in her bio on her website, “a course” there.

By: Against Puppy Mills

Against Puppy Mills — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 02:28:25 +0000

Dear Ms. DiCarlo:

>>”I don’t no where you guys are getting your information from but if you came to my store and met me, and found out the truth you would see NONE of my dogs are from puppy mills.”<>”Some are from local breeders such as Danbury, Bethel, Bridgeport, Darien. The ones I buy out of state are from USDA licensed Breeders.”<>”I visted Hunte and met the breeders.”<>”Times have changed and I can asure you hunte does not buy from puppy mills.”<>”If you want more information come in and talk to me”<>”… or go to the hunte web site or the united state department of agriculture web site there you can find out about the breeders.”<>”Please find out the right information before you hang me. If you new anything about me you would know I have dedicated my life to animals.”<<

We have found out the right information.

You buy sick dogs from puppy mills and sell them to unsuspecting families.

You manipulate the emotional appeal of a cute puppy, combined with the impulse purchase opportunity, to sell unfit merchandise.

You do not stand behind your products (aka, puppies), and do not adhere to the Connecticut state "lemon law", which protects consumers from purchasing unfit merchandise (such as sick puppies).

What is your definition of a "dedicated life to animals"? Owning a pet store that is open 7 or 8 hours a day is not dedication to animals. Maintaining a current real estate license is not a typical trait in people who are "dedicated to animals." If you are dedicated to animals, find loving homes for the animals in your store and cease all live animal sales. Show your love for animals by selling quality foods, enriching dog toys, or unique animal accessories – NOT animals.

We welcome your reply,
info@AgainstPuppyMills.org

By: Against Puppy Mills

Against Puppy Mills — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:59:36 +0000

“Any dog anyone buys can have parvo, it just happens to have happened to a store that people are lookig for reasons to shut down”.

I’m sorry but you are incorrect. Parvovirus is a PREVENTABLE disease that is commonly, easily prevented by maintaining proper breeding practices, including veterinary care and vaccines.

“Its not about us, its about the dogs. And the point is to get them to homes to be loved.”

You are correct, it IS about the dogs. It is about the breeding bitches (aka mother dogs) and studs (aka father dogs) who live out their entire lives in a puppy mill. While the puppies in Ms. DiCarlo’s store have a chance to find a loving home, their mothers and fathers SOLE PURPOSE in this world is to reproduce and make more puppies. They will never have a nice home, loving family, warm bed or even a chew toy.

By: djm431

djm431 — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 01:01:46 +0000

To quote above “I applied to many organizations before I got a puppy. Each organization, I am sure, is good intended however, the reality is they prejudge what breed the mutt is and then determine what home is suitable. Is it fenced, how many hours per week do you work? Children? Other pets? Age? Activity level? It is my experience they are often incorrect on the mix of the breed. (They told me my 47 lb mutt was a St Bernard) And therefore incorrect on their placement of the animal.”

If you have a problem with the fact that rescue organizations care where the dogs they rescue are going because they want the best long-term, loving home that animal can have especially when they have come from horrendous situations like abandonement, abuse, being kept in a puppy mill in aplorable conditions, giving birth to the same cute puppies that grace stores like True Breeders ,then you should not consider yourself a dog lover or own a dog of your own. And the fact you can make these statements and in the same breathe endorse Ms. DiCarlo and her establishment True Breeders further discredits her business and the disservice she is providing to the community and most of all the unknown dogs who are giving birth to the puppies she is selling.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:55:07 +0000

There really is no right place to begin here. My family has been breeding dogs for decades, in the interest of privacy in an arguement such as this, I’d rather not say where exactly, but we’re in the local area. Before I even knew there was a petstore opening up on rt 7, we were contacted by a local group asking for our support in a protest against True Breeders. To my knowledge, no effort was made to contact us about the resale of our pups, of course we would have said no because the truth is no reputable breeder SHOULD sell to a pet store. When we can’t sell a dog, we keep it. When we can’t afford to have any more dogs, we wont breed until we know they’ll all go to good homes. What I’ve discovered is that people are most impressed when you treat your puppies like you plan to keep them for yourself. Every litter was raised in the kitcken, livingroom or bedroom with our constant care and supervision. Dogs are not a commodity, they are members of the family and should be treated as such whether they are part of YOUR family or you plan to sell them to another family, no excuses.
Christine, if you want to get these people off your back, you aren’t going to get anywhere by trying to defend yourself. If you’re getting dogs from across the country, then you lied plain and simple. Nobody is going to believe you no matter how reputable you plan to make Hunte appear. Either sell local dogs as you had originally advertised, or change your sales pitch and leave out the words “local” and “reputable”. As for leaving the pups in a kennel overnight, this is where I must ask you, what is wrong with you? You can’t expect to leave pups unattended overnight on a daily basis and NOT get harassed. If you want to do the right thing, start treating these dogs like they are your own. keep an overnight staff, and if you can’t afford that, then stay there yourself or bring them all home daily. If you can’t take care of these dogs the way they deserve, then you are in the wrong business. Lasty, I hope its just a rumor that you plan to have children’s parties at your store. You would be exposing both your dogs and those living at home with those children to a wide array of contagious illnesses. Also, didn’t I mention earlier that dogs are members of the family? It isn’t right to treat them like party favors. While I do feel sorry for you that you really weren’t given a chance by the local activists in the area, I do not agree with your business practices and how you handle questioning. Either clean up your act or hit the road.

By: cssep

cssep — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:46:22 +0000

Last time I heard, there was no such thing as a “degree” in dog training….especially at a university such as Cornell; maybe a couple of online courses?? Christine’s attempts at answering her (and puppy mills) critics are pathetic. She has YET to respond to questions of why she downright lied to Ridgefielders about obtaining puppies from local breeders….even that was suspect since reputable breeders do NOT broker out their pups to pet stores; or sell them to a corporation that ships the pups in a windowless semi-truck thousands of miles. And now, whe wants to have birthday parties at the store; oh yeah, that’s for the benefit of these puppies? I like to give everyone an opportunity to succeed in life….but at what expense? Yes, I’ll admit it….I hope/pray True Breeders and ALL pet stores and puppy mills FAIL.

By: Ann Carideo

Ann Carideo — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:54:31 +0000

I am so sick of this attack on Christine and ‘True Breeders’. It is unfair and crazily unjustified.

Everyone agrees puppy mills are a real problem. If you feel so strongly about it, why don’t you put all this negative energy into solving the problem. Contact your legistators and change the laws which govern the USDA. The USDA allows them and only cites them for bad conditions. That’s the real problem. Once the puppys are born, should they be drowned? Perhaps by purchasing a ‘puppy mill’ puppy we are rescuing. Attacking Christine is like thinking you are going to wipe out drug abuse by catching those selling a small amount of marijauna.

I purchased a puppy from True Breeders. The opinion of two different vets was that the puppy was in excellent health and definitely not a ‘puppy mill’ puppy. I did alot of research before I purchased a puppy as I have always rescued my pets. I currently have another dog I rescued from Arkansas. All of the information I received was extraordinarily positive. Christine has worked as a vet tech at South Salem Vet, which is by many reports an excellent animal hospital. She has a degree from Cornell Universitiy in dog training. And has been an wildlife rescuer, dog breeder, dog rescuer in the past.

The sad reality is this…. It is not easy to rescue a ‘healthy’ puppy these days, unless you are looking for a pitbull or staffordshire terrier. I know. I lost my last ‘rescue’ dog last April. I rescued a puppy from a rescue org in Arkansas. I applied to many organizations before I got a puppy. Each organization, I am sure, is good intended however, the reality is they prejudge what breed the mutt is and then determine what home is suitable. Is it fenced, how many hours per week do you work? Children? Other pets? Age? Activity level? It is my experience they are often incorrect on the mix of the breed. (They told me my 47 lb mutt was a St Bernard) And therefore incorrect on their placement of the animal.
Give Christine a break . She has been nothing but up front, above board, and incredibly Knowledgable in her dealings with my family.