BATAVIA – Former Petland employee Samantha Clark said she hopes to raise awareness of concerns that she has about the company’s practices by staging a protest near the store later this month.
Clark, who worked at the Petland store at 401 N. Randall Road in Batavia from October 2009 to February 2010, will have the protest from noon to 2 p.m. April 19 at the corner of Randall Road and Mill Street, near the store. She said the company sells dogs that come from puppy mills.
“The protest is initially just to start spreading the awareness,” said Clark, a 2008 graduate of Batavia High School. “I’m working on getting some kind of ordinance passed in Kane County similar to the one that was passed in Chicago that only allows pet stores to sell animals from rescue shelters and places like that.”
Janet Star, who has owned the Petland store in Batavia with her husband, Dan, for seven years said the store doesn’t sell dogs from puppy mills.
“We get our puppies from USDA-licensed breeders with no direct violations,” she said. “Some of the puppies come from hobby breeders. I’m very picky about the breeders I get our dogs from. I visit with the breeders and see how they care for their animals.”
Clark said she left her job at Petland because she “didn’t agree with the company’s morals or their values, and how they conducted business.”
“These puppies come in with kennel cough. They come in with diseases. They come in with all these problems because they weren’t bred in humane conditions,” Clark said. “Any reputable breeder won’t sell to a pet store because they want to know that their dogs are going to good homes.”
Janet Star said the store is “very open about where we get our dogs from.”
“Petland’s mission is to match the right pet with the right customer, and meet the needs of both,” she said. “People come to our store because they know we train our staff well.”