Chances are, you've at least heard of big chain pet stores, like Petco and PetSmart. But do you know where they actually get their animals? Mills. They get their animals from mills. At these mills, animals you would find at a pet store are bred and practically mass-produced on a large scale.

Already, that's messed up. But what makes it even worse is that after these animals are bred, they are abused and neglected at the mills. Left in horrible, unsanitary conditions. Hardly given the bare minimum needed to survive.

Locked up in small, crowded cages, all day, every day. Living in their own feces and urine.

And, at some locations, the abuse and neglect are continued. At almost every store, to some extent. Minorly at some stores, but also extremely at others.

I hope to get as many signatures as possible. Once I have enough, I will go to the upper management of these pet stores. And we will get them to change where they get their animals.

By doing this, we will make it so the mills have fewer places to buy from them. If they don't make enough profit to continue breeding and selling these animals, they will have to shut down.

Hopefully, if we can change where even one individual pet store gets their animals, this change will set off a chain reaction, and spread outwards. One store changing where they get their animals is that much fewer animals that won't be mass bred, abused and neglected. This is the first step in making a real change.

By signing this petition, you will be helping in this process. There is power in numbers. If we team up, we can really make a difference.

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Hi, my name is Charla, and I am a junior in high school. I am a member of my school's FCCLA chapter, and I am competing this year, in the Public Policy Advocate category. This means that I am going to work towards a change in a public policy, one I believe needs to be changed. And I need your help.