PET STORES

It is most unfair to suggest, as Yorkin’s article clearly does, that all pet stores deal in such mistreated, inbred, malnourished and psychotic dogs. You may say that I am prejudiced, and that may well be, but my wife and I own a clean, large pet store, with two sizable play pens in which puppies spend about half the day romping and socializing with both staff and customers. All of the dogs in our store come from local breeders that we have found to supply sound dogs of good ancestry. The pups we purchase are well when we get them, receive all shots needed and are taken to the veterinarian (at our expense) should they need medical attention, and every customer who buys a pup from us gets a free visit to our veterinarian to assure the puppy’s health and soundness. Should the pup not pass the veterinarian’s test, the customer’s money is refunded without question.

We certainly do not claim to be unique, and we truly hope that we are not. We would like every potential puppy and kitten buyer to know that there are reliable pet store owners who are not trying to make a fortune selling puppy-farm dogs that are much cheaper than locally bred pups and are sold for as much as 10 times what they cost.

GEORGE AND DORA LEFEVRE, Chatsworth