Petland El Paso: Stop Suing Rescue Groups

Update: Petland, Inc. is not involved in this lawsuit. As an independently owned and operated franchise, Petland El Paso is solely responsible for suing the rescue groups.

El Paso, Texas, recently passed a new law in an effort to reduce the number of dogs and cats euthanized in the city by regulating the pet trade.

This ordinance is actually a watered-down version of a proposed outright ban on the sale of cats and dogs in El Paso. Still, even a far weaker law angered the owners of Petland El Paso enough to sue a handful of animal welfare volunteers.

The store is flexing its legal muscles and filing a lawsuit against a handful of animal rescue groups in El Paso, Texas. Southwest Collie Rescue, El Paso Great Dane Rescue, and Dr. Ken Okada, a board member for the El Paso Humane Society, are apparently such a threat to the store that it feels the need to sue them for over $2.5 million. The suit stems from allegations that supporters of the new law called into question where pet stores get their pets from. According to a local news report, "Petland claims the volunteers defamed the company by claiming they get their animals from puppy mills."

Of course, there is plenty of evidence that Petland stores do, in fact, get many of their animals from puppy mills. The HSUS estimates that over 95 percent of Petland stores are linked to the puppy mill industry, and of the more than 100 individual breeders who sell animals to Petland stores, almost half of them had been cited for violations of the Animal Welfare Act by the USDA at least once during the previous three years.

Stand up for animals and the freedom of speech by telling Petland El Paso not to file suit against El Paso's animal rescuers.

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