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Posted: 26 Oct 2010 07:07 PM PDT

Hate Petland? A lot of folks do, and have spent hours upon hours picketing the stores across the country. Finally, one Petland seems to have heard what their picketers have been saying. The East Liberty, PA Petland has decided to stop selling puppies and kittens from commercial breeders. Instead, they will bring in homeless pets from Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania.

Puppies and kittens from commercial breeders will no longer be sold at Petland in East Liberty, a regular target of animal rights picketers.

Instead, that puppy in the window — as well as kittens and rabbits — will come from two local shelters.

“It’s a good thing to do,” said Eric Caplan, when asked about the change. He and his wife, Marci,, own the franchise for that Petland store, located at 6401 Penn Ave. in the Village of Eastside.

The store inventory currently includes five purebred puppies and three “designer” mixes, including a fluffy cockapoo, which is a cocker spaniel-poodle cross.

When those puppies are sold, the store will bring in puppies, kittens and rabbits from the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and kittens from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania. The store owners hope it will happen in the next week or so.

The Caplans are calling it ASAP: Animal Shelter Adoption Program. The animals will live in the store, and not all of their time will be spent in cages. The store has indoor exercise and play areas.

“We look at this as a step in the right direction,” said Dan Rossi, executive director of the Animal Rescue League. “We don’t get many puppies,” but the shelter is inundated with kittens. The Petland store does not have adequate living and exercise facilities for larger animals, but adult dogs may be brought from the Larimer shelter to Petland on weekends for adoption events, Mr. Rossi said.

[...]

The Caplans will add a service fee to the shelter animals that are sold, he said. “It won’t be a profit. It will be to help cover our costs.”

Kittens are usually $60 at the Animal Rescue League. The Caplans expect to add about $30 to $40 to that cost to cover the care they provide. The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society puppy adoption fee is $200, and Mr. Caplan said he’ll add about $100 to the cost.

The adoption fee includes neutering by a veterinarian, inoculations and microchips. The Humane Society fee also includes the cost of training classes.

Read the rest of Petland to sell animals from shelters.

The article also says Petland has 100 stores, 96 of which are franchises. I don’t know if any of the other franchises are doing what the East Liberty, PA store is doing. If not, I’m hoping more will follow suit. This is definitely a good PR move on their part, but above all it’s going to help cats and dogs that desperately need homes.