Guest Author
In 2002, I left my home in Venezuela to pursue my dream of owning a business and providing a better life for my family. This country offered opportunity to an extent I had never seen before, and my business partner and I pulled out all the stops to achieve our goal.
We never expected the heavy hand of government to shatter our dreams – not here in America.
We became franchise owners of a Petland store in Pembroke Pines, my proudest accomplishment – but it would soon be ripped away.
One horrible day in 2015, I received an email saying the city was considering a new local ordinance that would prevent the sale of dogs in stores – presumably because some pet stores and their suppliers didn’t meet proper standards of care for their animals. I knew my store met the highest standards, but city officials didn’t want to listen.
I had to endure hurtful falsehoods by city leaders that damaged me personally and emotionally. At one point, we were told that dog store owners were making too much money, and that contributed to this incomprehensible forced shutdown.
When the ordinance passed, the city’s crusade against pet stores had succeeded.
I would expect this kind of treatment from the corrupt socialist government of my native country, but not in the land of the free, where the American Dream lives in so many hearts. In this country, people work hard for their success, and government is supposed to help them – or at least stand out of the way.
To suffer such obstruction from our local government was truly shocking. And today, I am still dealing with the financial and legal struggles caused by this ordinance.
When I lost my Petland franchise, the 30 dedicated workers I employed also lost their livelihood. It was always my priority to take the success of my business and give back to my community. None of this seemed to matter to local city officials, who seemed determined to shut down my store and others like it – no matter what.
The most frustrating part of all this is that the ordinance was so completely unnecessary. Petland prohibits franchise owners from purchasing puppies from breeders who have had violations within the past two years and encourages owners to visit breeders to make sure their operations meet our expectations.
At the same time, Florida law requires that pet store owners purchase pets from USDA-licensed breeders who are inspected and certified by the state, and stores must have a veterinarian conduct weekly exams for health standards.
By forcing stores like mine to close their doors, these municipal ordinances only encourage the growth of puppy mills and other unregulated vendors, hurting local business owners and workers, as well as the pet lovers they serve.
I followed each and every rule and regulation to the letter, yet I was still forced to close a successful, locally owned business that was committed to the well-being of our animals.
In the America I chose as my home, the government should not be allowed to shut down a legitimate business that was operating entirely within requirements of the law.
There is a bill in the Florida Legislature, HB 7087, that would stop local governments from acting so destructively by pre-empting their ability to outlaw certain things – including pets.
I encourage all freedom-loving citizens to urge their legislators to support this bill, to prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else in the future.
___
Mayid Yamin is a former pet shop franchisee in Pembroke Pines.
27 comments
M. Reiss
March 2, 2018 at 9:26 am
Respectfully, I disagree. HB 7087 is a taxation bill. Your commentary is misleading. Although I’m not familiar with the Pembroke Pines ordinance to which you refer, to the extent you link it to HB 7087, I suspect that you were not forced to shut down your business, but rather were opposed to paying any additional local tax that the ordinance may have imposed. That’s the only impact that HB 7087 could possibly have had on your business. I’ve read it. Local governments should not be prohibited from governing their localities in accordance with the wishes of their electorate. What’s “legal” isn’t always moral, and the fact that you may have been in compliance with State laws regulating pet stores doesn’t mean that a large portion of the population agrees with the exploitation of animals. You may have been the best pet store owner ever, and the care of your “inventory” may have been impeccable, but there are more bad actors in that industry than good actors. Countless animals sold in pet stores die horrible deaths from disease and neglect every day and there is virtually no legal recourse for buyers of such animals other than reimbursement of the cost of the “personal property” they you sold them. Any local government that seeks to limit or discourage proliferation of this kind of business is well within its legal and, more importantly, moral rights. To be clear, the bill you reference has nothing to do with “outlawing pets,” and I doubt that the Pembroke Pines ordinance did any such thing. I urge Florida citizens to oppose HB 7087. Local taxation is at the heart of our democracy because governance by the people is what separates us from third world countries.
Fran Badlotto
March 3, 2018 at 7:36 pm
Land of the free? Well not for the animals who are bred over and over for your needs. Animals that are sold by stores like yours from puppy mills, misleading customers thinking they are getting a healthy puppy. The true stories of people who purchased sick puppies from mills are endless and heartbreaking. We need to protect consumers too from stores like yours!
Bette Luksha-Gammell
March 9, 2018 at 1:52 pm
I did a search and it is the vague wording all are worried about
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/A-Florida-House-bill-could-make-it-legal-to-sell-puppy-mill-dogs-statewide-even-if-local-ordinances-ban-it_165862578
Nancy Argenziano
March 2, 2018 at 9:38 am
You should have a pet free pet store as most have become in this country. Did you do your homework before investing? We have millions of animals put to death and constantly abandoned, why would anyone invest in selling pets when we have such? Sell pet foods, toys, beds, bowls, like all the large pet stores do because there is a huge market for such. But to open a store selling pets is a bad choice you made, not our government. It costs tax payers lots of money for all the stray and abandoned animals. You should have known better.
Stephen Cagnina
March 2, 2018 at 2:34 pm
No sympathy here. Stop the dog breeding. There are too many shelter dogs in need of a home. You can still sell pet supplies and stop selling animals as if they were a commodity to make money off of and take advantage of.
Melanie
March 4, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Yes! 🙂
Michelle A Rivera
March 2, 2018 at 3:46 pm
If this story was written so that people will feel sorry for you and take your side, you are delusional. You are also a monster. You cannot say you don’t get your puppies from puppy mills, everyone knows that you do. You are either lying or in denial. If you liked dogs even a little bit, you would be doing everything in your power to protect them from the horrors of puppy mills, not supporting them. Puppies are nothing but a commodity to you, a bottom line, a means to an end. The fact that they come in sick and are transported before they are legally allowed to leave their mothers doesn’t bother you, it’s what it is. You don’t give a damn about animals and you are in the wrong business. And don’t even try to contradict me, I worked undercover at a Petland and I know all about their practices, including the videotape they show employees that train employees to lie to customers and to say they “hate puppy mills and would never do business with them.” I went to Tallahassee. I pulled the health certificates on the puppiesYOU imported into the state. They came from well-known puppy mills, some with USDA violations. So don’t try to get sympathy because your American Dream is being threatened. There’s a more important American ideal, and it is compassion and not lying to consumers.
Ben Adam
March 2, 2018 at 6:17 pm
Maybe YOU need to be the one who needs investigated. #1 He can NOT purchase or transport any USDA pet under 8 wks. #2 “puppy mill” describes an UNREGULATED kennel or rescue which he can NOT buy from. So for him and his staff to say they hate puppy mills that is not a lie. #3 He could NOT buy from USDA kennels with more than 3 violations. Do you know what that means? a missing cage card, expired tube of Neosporin, a feed lid off a container (while feeding) gone to town to run errands during inspection hours. All of these can render a REGULATED facility a “violation”. #4 Animals get sick. “kennel cough” is equivalent to a cold that 95% of ALL children get when they start school. Should we ban all schools or blame the parents because children get sick with a cold? The problem is YOU don’t like what he does. Instead you are supporting the very “puppy mill” care by NOT requesting ALL UNREGULATED facilities (breeders and rescues) to become AWA compliant. You are supporting foreign IMPORTING of “rescue” animals that brings in disease and renders NO type of recourse should an adopter get a sick animal. At least with the legal tax paying business of this man who supports legal tax paying breeders his moral compass is not as askew as yours. Which leads me to believe YOU are attempting to monopolize the industry by trying to convince the public that what he does is morally wrong while you support and industry that can NOT even meet AWA standards.
tracye
March 3, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Disgusting to rely on your income by prostituting animals. Sell pet supplies, promote spay/neuter and adoption. Enough is enough with these puppy mill pushers!! #getalife
Ginny wargo
March 3, 2018 at 7:13 pm
I spend a fortune at a local pet store on American made treats and toys for my dogs that I know are safe.Running pet related business without supporting cruelty is a “Goldmine” for pet stores that run right.Getting pups from puppymill just keeps the mom dogs in cages being bred back to back with no life.Many of the dogs come down with disease. Its cruel and there are so many dogs that get put down in shelter day in and day out.Getting with 2018 stop turning your backs on animasl cruelty and shut down mills,give rescue dogs a chance and if you wantt to buy a puppy do so by going to as responsible breeder that health tests and you can see the mo.m and dad
David Torgerson
March 3, 2018 at 7:14 pm
Gee Mayid Yamin, that must have been some dream because your store was in Deerfield Beach. NOT Pembroke Pines, but do go on. You also forgot to mention all your puppies came from puppy mills. Deerfield decided they wouldn’t support your cruel business any longer, so you closed. Good riddance. I doubt Pembroke Pines misses you either, even though your store wasn’t even there
Patricia
March 3, 2018 at 8:31 pm
These comments and “facts” are so very misleading. USDA kennel means nothing. There are too few inspectors, so conditions are horrible in many kennels. Also, papet trails on puppies purchased by pet stores show that while they may not have purchased puppies directly from a puppy mill, they buy from someone who has. That way they can truthfully say the seller is not a puppy mill. Please do your research. The mother dogs suffer horribly. The puppies are frequently sick or have congenital problems. There are many rescues as well as reputable private breeders who can help you find your new best friend.
Judith Werr
March 3, 2018 at 8:56 pm
Mr. Yamin did not have to close his business; he could have continued if he adopted an ethical business model by sales of of pet products and pet services and, if he chose, by facilitating the adoption of pets from rescue groups and shelters. We in the community urged our city leaders to pass these ordinances to protect animals and to protect us who love them. The shelters and rescues work tirelessly saving animals from abuse, neglect, abandonment, disease, etc., and the pet store industry is a leading contributor to this dire situation. The pet breeding industry is vile. We want your money grubbing industry out of our communities. The suffering is enormous. You get no sympathy from me for your bad business decision.
There is overwhelming documented evidence that pet stores source puppies from puppy mills, mass breeding facilities, to maximize profits and, though these facilities may be USDA licensed, they have deplorable conditions and inspection violations. A profit-driven industry, puppy mills breed female dogs till they are worn out; the dogs are kept in cages, are not provided adequate medical care, are provided no socialization, and trucked in all kinds of weather to pet stores who in turn sell them at inflated prices to unsuspecting consumers. The fate of those dogs who remain at the mill and those deemed “defective” by the mill or by the pet store is, to be sure, unacceptable and a disgrace. There is no doubt that many of the puppies purchased from pet stores end up at a rescue, as a stray or as a surrender at the shelter.
I never purchase products and services from stores that sell animals (including rabbits, birds, reptiles, rodents, etc.) because of the cruelty inherent in mass breeding for profit. Cruelty is never good business.
Deven Soto
March 4, 2018 at 8:47 am
Perhaps in the country you’ve come from, the neglectful treatment of animals from puppy mills is acceptable, but here, in the US, when you treated animals like commodities, it certainly isn’t the “American Way,” as viewed by our majority.
USDA is busy making sure our drugs and food are safe, they are in over their heads and can’t possibly regulate the puppy mill market, with due diligence, as if they were, all of these sick dogs leaving the stores, wouldn’t be winding up in the hands of unsuspecting families.
That’s nice, that you used “The American Dream” to exploit, not only animals, but families and consumers… when you sold them a dream about the fanciful farms of unicorns and “reputable breeders” where your puppies supposedly came from. But here in the United States of America, our government’s job is to protect the people, even if that means infringing on your profit. How dare you compare our government doing its job correctly, the the corrupt Venesualuan government.
Oh and I’m your minimum wage employees, found other employment, not to worry!
Cathy
March 4, 2018 at 9:55 am
I went to your store Mr. Yamin, in DEERFIELD BEACH. It was heartbreaking. The dogs were in overcrowded cages because the puppy mill express had just dropped off your latest order. The puppies were lying on the wire floors of the cages because there was nothing soft for them. They were under bright display lights because they were just your commodity to sell. I could go on and on….. I was there when the USDA website was still available to check inspection reports on your breeders. I checked, they were puppy mills with violations. All of these reasons are why you store didn’t work in “the land if the free and the home of the brave”.
D Watson
March 4, 2018 at 11:18 am
For the very fact that you knew what HP 7807 in my mind undermines the credibility of your story. I am a current activist against animal abuse and I didn’t even know about it. HB by the way stands for House Bill.
I read your story and I am struck by the fact that you had 30 employees. I have a small but successful business and I find it difficult at times earning enough money to pay for two full-time salaries. I can’t imagine the income that you must have generated to have been able to afford your franchise fees, your rent and expenses, and 30 full-time employees with what comes with Worker’s Comp and health insurances at that level. It saddens me to think of the hundreds and hundreds of poor animals that you must’ve bought for one hundred or two hundred dollars sold for thousands of dollars to be able to afford those payroll expenses.
There is no innocence in that though I heard the pathos you tried to elicit with your story, no ones feels pity for you. No one sir is that naïve to think you can profit that much from a little animal and have it be ethical. It may have been legal at the time, but you certainly weren’t naïve enough not to understand what you were doing.
It’s unfortunate that you chose to fold your business instead of adopting a humane model of animal products, food, grooming, or any of the other items that would have kept you successful. You might not have been able to afford 30 employees but you certainly would have stayed open and enjoyed the financial gains that many of the businesses who have faced the same predicament in other cities currently enjoy.
Unfortunately sir you chose a different path. The very fact once again that you knew what the house bill would have done shows that you are now a paid advocate presumably of Petland.
If you love animals so much please open another store where you can sell products and adopt out our wonderful rescue and shelter animals which would show you truly do care about
t the lives of dogs and cats instead of just profiting from their abused souls.
Ana C.
March 4, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Mayid Yamin’s store was shut down due to countless consumer fraud complaints and dead puppies. Sounds like bitter grapes to me. He absolutely ran a sub standard puppy mill pet store with consumer fraud issues for years and that is the reason he was forced out. No one wants to be involved or a bystander to animal abuse and neglect. I personally think he should have been arrested and charged with fraud and animal abuse. Instead of me going on and onabout his abuse, here are the words from his victims. You can see all the other words in his yelp page.
1.0 star rating
9/7/2016
Extremely happy to have learned this place is closing down. I worked here my senior year of high school about 5 years ago. First of all, our boss LIED about where we got our puppies, and probably the other animals as well. Our puppies were constantly sick, the vet only came in once a week to check up on them. We were told to say anything to sell product and weren’t trained at all, especially when it came to bagging a fish. I cannot tell you how many fish I’ve accidentally killed due to lack of training.
That same boss kept me at 37hrs, right under full time employment so that we couldn’t get a break. He had no regard for our other school responsibilities. The last straw was walking out because he wouldn’t let me leave due to a fever an hour before closing (I sucked it up and worked 6 hours already).
The only reason why I stayed for half a year is because I thought I was honestly doing this place a service by giving all the animals love and attention. This place was the root of all evil and I am so satisfied that it’s shut down.
1.0 star rating10/24/2011
First to Review
I recently purchased a Maltese puppy at Petland. I fell in love with the tiny white ball of fluff and impulsively paid over $1000 for a sub-standard puppy. Although I am in love with this puppy now and will not and can’t return her she has many flaws that a puppy at this price should not have. I was charged AKC fees while this puppy does not meet AKC standards. She has a misaligned underbite and she is not pure white, her ears are darker. In addition I was told she would only be 6lbs full grown and my Vet said will be between 8 and 9lbs. She also had Kennel Cough and Parasites. I have gone back to Petland for a partial refund but they will not speak to me or call me regarding my puppy.
Melanie
March 4, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Oh Mayid please. I was there for all four readings of the ordinance. Commissioner Bill Ganz read public records in the meeting from the USDA and Florida Department of Agriculture PROVING that you bought from some of the worst puppy mills in the US. Your breeders had multiple horrible violations. No one feels sorry for you. We all felt sick for the dogs who were living in the conditions that people were reading those nights in the meetings.
DID YOU EVER READ the USDA reports about your breeders? SHAME ON YOU. Too bad it took over a decade to stop you. Not only should you not have been selling puppies, you should have gone to jail.
Of course Petland lets their franchisee’s buy from breeders with violations. They let them buy from anywhere they want. Regulated or unregulated.
People who had bought sick puppies from you spoke at the meeting.
People also said how you did not honor the Lemon law, you know the state law that all of the store owners and their expensive, fancy lobbyists claim that Florida is the most regulated state in the country. Remember the girl who bought the sick English Bulldog from this story. https://www.local10.com/news/family-thousands-of-dollars-in-debt-after-purchasing-sick-puppy
All of Petland, their store owners, their lawyers and lobbyists need to find another way to get rich. These ways will be obsolete soon. Petland is a disgusting business. All anyone has to do is Google Petland and read for themselves.
Dawn
March 4, 2018 at 3:55 pm
Maybe you can move to a country with more freedom… Maybe you can open a sweatshop and exploit children. It might be more profitable than abusing animals.
mary
March 4, 2018 at 5:12 pm
Go back to Venezuela and open a shop. There should be no pet sales until all shelters and rescues are empty. Sorry for your luck. I don’t care.
Katie McNeil
March 6, 2018 at 12:05 am
This woman should be ashamed. She should visit these torture chambers they call breeders and see the pain and suffering that goes on behind the scenes so she could make a buck.
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