Westfield Group, the owner of Westfield Malls, owns two malls in CT that currently lease space to pet stores selling puppies. The CT Post Mall in Milford, CT is home to the newly opened Bark Avenue, while the Westfield Meriden Mall houses the Gentle Jungle. Both these stores sell puppies that are sourced from large-scale, commercial breeders commonly known as Puppy Mills.

A puppy mill is a factory-like, profit-based puppy breeding operation. Dogs in puppy mills face miserable conditions including forced repeated breeding, inbreeding, poor or absent veterinary care, limited social contact, no exercise, poor shelter, and filthy, overcrowded cages. Unlike reputable breeders, puppy mills crank out puppies without regard to their health and genetic profiles, resulting in many generations of animals with serious inherited health issues.

The puppy mill industry produces more than half a million puppies per year. Many of these puppies end up local shelters and pounds after they are purchased on impulse in a retail stores, which almost never screen the purchaser to determine if they can, in fact, provide a loving a responsible home for the animal. Retail stores sell puppies without being spayed or neutered, leaving the chance that even more unwanted dogs will be born as a result. Puppies that do not sell in retail puppy stores are often returned to the broker or mill to be destroyed or sold for breeding stock.

This cycle of misery and irresponsibility is growing increasingly unacceptable to the public. Animals rights groups are exposing this industry's dirty practices to the public and they are no longer finding these stores or their "merchandise" acceptable. Large retail stores that anchor Malls will becoming under increasing pressure from consumers to oust retail puppy stores from their locations. Westfield Malls would surely not lease space to retailers selling obscene or exploitative merchandise; however, by allowing puppy selling pet stores in their malls, they are doing just this.

It's time to tell "Gentle Jungle" in Meriden and "Bark Avenue" in CT Post- Milford to move out or stop selling puppies. It's time to tell all the retail pet stores you lease space to change their business model or get out!

The tide of opinion in turning and it's time for Westfield Group to take the right step toward being an enlightened and humane company. Macerich, developer of about 70 malls across the US announced last year that it would ban the sale of live animals in their malls. They even have an adoption center for  LA Animal Services in their Westside Pavilion Mall in Los Angeles. It's time for Westfield to move in the same direction!

Please follow our group, CT Citizens Against Puppy Mills on Facebook or visit our web site.

Please also follow Humane Malls of America on Facebook to help further the goal of making America's Malls Pet Shop Free!