Wow! Great show of support for the pups! Thanks for spreading the word, everyone, and braving the cold to help!!

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A SUPER HUGE THANKS to those of you who braved the cold Ohio weather on December 22 to lend your support (with some KICK-BOOTY signs) in raising awareness of Petland and their relationship to puppy mill breeders (as part of Companion Animal Protection Society's North American Protest)! And a SPECIAL THANKS to Ann Wennberg of Alum Creek Dog Park for bringing the heat warmers for our gloves, and Marcia Perry Rhoades of Bark Park and Missi Hamilton of Bark Til Dark Dog Park who dedicated time and resources to contribute extra rally signs!

Here's a quick recap of our successes:

1. Columbus Hilliard Petland: We had a group of nine dedicated supporters, which included one four legged companion, who captured the attention of WSYX ABC 6! Here's the link to the story - > http://www.wsyx6.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/wsyx_vid_1252.shtml.

2. Columbus Polaris Petland: We had a group of 27, which included six four legged companions and a FORMER PETLAND MANAGER, who captured the attention of Kelley Bell, a contributing writer for The Huffington Post - > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelley-bellwenzlaff/petland-and-the-puppy-mil_b_152791.html?show_comment_id=19093589.

Because of you, this peaceful rally was filled with lots of "thumbs up" and honking horns from passing motorists in support of this special day. It is my hope that our efforts have helped persuade more consumers to "Opt to Adopt" versus buying from a pet store. Especially Petland.

For the animals,

Mary O'Connor-Shaver
ColumbusTopDogs
www.ColumbusTopDogs.com

P.S. Linda N., your cookies were AWESOME! :D

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Petland is in business with the AKC. Many of these Petland puppies are AKC registered (puppy mill registrations are AKC's biggest source of income)

AKC also sells their microchipping through Petland

AKC is right there in Ohio lobbying AGAINST regulations side-by-side with puppy mills!!

http://www.bogartsdaddy.com/Bouvier/Bouv_Pages/article-inquire-puppymills-AKC.htm

It's gotten worse since then, thanks in part to this person on the AKC board http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patti_Strand

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We had about 60 in Austin, TX on Saturday (far more than our typical weekly 4-6 people). Would love to know how other protests around the country went.

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Thank you for posting this. I will be attending a rally in MI.

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Just heard from someone who was at the Dallas area Petland rally today. They reported that 118 people put their names on the signup sheet at the rally. It was definitely a good sign for the future.

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Great to see these

Everyone can get the word out to family and friends- Don't buy a thing from any Petland, no food or toys or anything, till they stop selling puppies

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