Ratz, PetsMart, say it ain't so!

I tend to feel OK about shopping at the Mothership because I appreciate their adoption program and I like the attentive salespeople who often bring their dogs to work and give me decent advice. Also, I'm grateful to have a socialization-practice venue so close to home. (It's maybe 1 mile from our house.)

Furthermore, while I generally try to support small, local businesses (such as the dog bakery) most mom-and-pop pet supply stores aren't pet supply stores but "pet stores" that derive most of their income from puppymills.

So this report from PETA leaves me feeling sad and conflicted and hopeful that PetsMart will clean up its behind-the-scenes act. I really, really don't want to switch to mail-order.

Can't socialize my dogs at an online boutique (the mail-carrier already does all she can).