Last Chance for Animals converts another pet shop - Video

The Montecito Pet Shop in Santa Barbara, CA became another convert to the Humane Pet Shop movement initiated by the animal advocacy organization – Last Chance for Animals.

The Montecito Pet Shop joined four other pet stores in Southern California by committing to re-homing rescued pets, rather than selling kittens and puppies from breeders. The shop recently welcomed their first rescues which consisted of a litter of German Shepherd-mix puppies and a seven-year-old miniature pincher/Chihuahua.

All of the animals were rescued from the property which was owned by convicted animal abuser, Cynthia Bemis. LCA was instrumental in placing the nearly 280 pets left behind on the property. The puppies that made their way to the Montecito Pet Shop were dumped after the shelter had been closed. A caretaker found them and contacted LCA.

Kim Sill, who heads the Ban Puppy Mills Campaign for LCA has made it her mission to “end the suffering and exploitation of pets and other animals.” She has also been successful in converting retail pet shops into humane ones by talking to shop owners and showing them the conditions at puppy mills and the large number of abandoned pets at animal shelters.

Elyse Kuhn, who owns the Montecito Pet Shop purchased her animals from backyard breeders. However after several meetings, Kim Sill was able to convince her to offer only shelter pets for adoption.

Kuhn said, “This is the first rescue group that approached us in years that has been opened minded.”

Since changing their policy, the pet shop has received numerous calls from residents congratulating them on their choice to support spayed and neutered shelter pets.

Store manager Mathew Etrich said, “In addition to actually adopting the rescued litters, customers who purchase our pet supplies aid us in helping the shelters and create more space.”