Today’s Arizona Republic has an article by Eugene Scott with wonderful news for animal lovers who oppose puppy mills. Macerich is a developer and the parent company of Westcor. They own many shopping malls in the Phoenix metro area. Macerich malls will not renew the leases of pet stores who sell live animals. Instead, they are going to partner with animal rescue groups to get adoptable animals into the malls. At the successful Petique store at Biltmore Fashion Park and Petopia store in Desert Sky Mall, over 1,500 pets have been adopted in the past two years!
This is a great idea for all involved – the animals, the rescue groups and it should put a real dent in puppy mills. It is important to note that not all pet stores who sell live animals get them from mills, but this is a great idea. I commend Macerich for their decision. Thanks also to the Arizona Republic for reporting this great story. I hope more developers around the nation will embrace this idea quickly as it will be terrific for animals and for their business.
If you are interested in raising funds for a humane society, through purchase of an e-book of Coated With Fur: A Vet’s Life, you can support the Animal Humane Society of Minnesota, the Humane Society For Seattle/King County and the Arizona Humane Society through December 31st, 2011. For Arizona, the employees of Avnet, Banner Health, Basha’s, Catholic Healthcare West, Freeport McMoran, Honeywell, Intel, Pinnacle West, Scottsdale Healthcare and US Air have a chance to win a donation in their honor. The links are below to both my blog and the newspaper story.
https://drnelsonsveterinaryblog.com/2011/11/06/national-animal-shelter-appreciation-week.aspx