Britney Spears Angers Humane Society

Organization Scolds Pop Star For Buying Dog At Pet Store

(CBS)  Poor Britney Spears - she can't even get a new pet without causing controversy.

On Friday, the pop star purchased a new pooch at Pets Of Bel Air in Bel Air's Glen Center. According to reports, Spears picked up the Yorkshire Terrier puppy in a transaction that took a brief 30 minutes.

The Humane Society of the United States isn't happy about Spears' apparent power-shopping.

"The Humane Society of the United States is extremely concerned not only that the pop star purchased a dog from a pet store, but also that she apparently took very little time to make such a major decision," read a release by The Humane Society sent to The ShowBuzz.

"Ms. Spears is setting a damaging example to the public. Most dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills - factory-like facilities, churning out purebred and "designer" puppies in large numbers," said Stephanie Shain, the HSUS director of outreach for companion animals.

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Photos: Britney Spears

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According to the store's Web site, "All of our babies come from private breeders, locally and out of state (we do not use puppy mills). Our puppies are registered, micro-chipped, and WARRANTIED."

The Humane Society acknowledged that most stores claim that they do not get their dogs from puppy mills, and Shain offered to help determine the pup's true origins. "If you send us a copy of your dog’s papers, we'd be happy to look into the situation for you," she said.

[ralan40]

I figured they already complained when she 'flashed her beaver'

[kimberlyco1]

Trust me they are trying to shut them down... but only we can help spread the word because if you buy from a pet store you give them money to stay open and room for another puppy mill dog to be bought.

Unfortunately there are no laws against puppy mills. Please read the information on the web site before you post about pet stores and puppy mills, you then will be more educated and know that these things can only be stopped by law enforcement making them illeagal (which they aren't now) and us NOT buying but Adopting.

No one is trying to be mean to Britney, only using her to help the cause and make people aware!

[previn2]

If these pet stores are really, what sounds like, a canine version of a "sweat shop", why aren't they shut down? She's just trying to get a pet, yet she's also the one catching all the heat...The "puppy mills" are the one's you ought to be barking at. Geez, leave this girl alone. You've become far worse in your own actions, then she EVER was.

[mwgoss]

I couldn%u2019t disagree more with the statements that as long as the puppy now has a good home, it doesn%u2019t matter where or how Britney got it. Most of the dogs sold at pet stores come from puppy mills, where profit is put above welfare and the dogs and treated like machines. The %u201Cbreeding stock%u201D dogs are crammed into cages, bred again and again, and have little hope of ever finding a home with a family.

Check out today's blog by Wayne Pacelle (President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States) for more info about why you shouldn't buy a dog from a pet store (and why celebrities shouldn't, either): http://www.waynepacelle.org

[abigail531]

PLEASE!LET BRITNEY SPEARS ALONE TO LIVE HER LIFE WITH HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

[rasabaka]

No only is there a problem about where this puppy came from, but what she did with the puppy after she got it. Didn't they say she went bar hopping with it to all those noisy clubs...certainly not a place to take a small, young Yorkie. That is if she really cared about the animal and not just what kind of attention she was going to attract.

[rasabaka]

No only is there a problem about where this puppy came from, but what she did with the puppy after she got it. Didn't they say she went bar hopping with it to all those noisy clubs...certainly not a place to take a small, young Yorkie. That is if she really cared about the animal and not just what kind of attention she was going to attract.

[kimberlyco1]

This has nothing to do with Britney, just has to do with spreading the AWARENESS that most puppy stores support puppy mills...ADOPT DON'T Shop... read up on it at www.stoppuppymills.org.

All the HSUS is trying to do is spread the word. We are the only ones that can stop this treatment of animals. And if you go to that site and the pictures don't make you ashamed of yourselve for buying a puppy at a pet store then you aren't fit to own a puppy. I know I was. Our next dog is from the HS. Let's all try to speak for the animals and ADOPT!

[gaelgwen]

The HSUS is not concerned about the quality of life this puppy is going to have. Rather, they are concerned about the quality of life of the parents of this puppy. Puppies bought from pet stores come from puppy mills, that is a fact. The parents of this dog live in horrid conditions, with little food and no human contact. They never leave their cages and often never step on grass in their lifetimes. The females are bred every single heat cycle and starved to death when they are no longer useful. Britney has set a terrible example once again to her fans and the world.
To the cattle farmer, if you inbred all of your cows and didn't feed them, then you'd be out of business. Too bad puppy mills don't work the same way.
This is NOT about what kind of owner Britney will be, it is about the example she is setting to the young impressionable fans she has. If you want a purebred puppy, buy from a responsible breeder that cares about the animals they breed, not from a pet store that is only in it for the profit. Not everyone buys from pet stores, only the uneducated people who truly only care about themselves.

[hollybear5]

Hey I just adopted a dog from a pet store, why am I not on the cover of magazines? LOL
Is everyone really concerned about this dog or her kids......she has people who take care of them for her.....so what if she buys a new dog.
WHO CARES??????

[gordon.couger]

The dog will probably have a better life than most of the folks at the Humane Society.

I have raised cattle all my life. My father, both grand parents, all great grand patents and most of the family before that I can trace back to the 1700 & 1800 hundreds. I still own part of a ranch founded in 1871 that is still run much as it was then using better methods as they came along. It still make a living for one family and will as long as someone want to run it. My wife owns a small part of the South Headquarter of the XIT Ranch her grandfather bought when Texas sold the last of it off in the 1940's.

I have spent most my life taking better care of cattle than I took of myself and I wish I had done as well for myself as the cattle. If is pushed the cattle are hard as myself they just wouldn't make money. That's how all life responds to stress outside their tolerance level they quickly start having problems. Their needs aren't at all the same as ours.

There are far more over fed, poorly trained, undisciplined pets in the USA than there are abused ones. And PETA and the Humane Society are just as bad about or worse as anyone overfeeding and lack of displine and exercise. You take on the resonsibilty for another life when you own animals. Trying to treat them as human is a bad mistake.

GC

[gordon.couger]

The dog will probably have a better life than most of the folks at the Humane Society.

I have raised cattle all my life. My father, both grand parents, all great grand patents and most of the family before that I can trace back to the 1700 & 1800 hundreds. I still own part of a ranch founded in 1871 that is still run much as it was then using better methods as they came along. It still make a living for one family and will as long as someone want to run it. My wife owns a small part of the South Headquarter of the XIT Ranch her grandfather bought when Texas sold the last of it off in the 1940's.

I have spent most my life taking better care of cattle than I took of myself and I wish I had done as well for myself as the cattle. If is pushed the cattle are hard as myself they just wouldn't make money. That's how all life responds to stress outside their tolerance level they quickly start having problems. Their needs aren't at all the same as ours.

There are far more over fed, poorly trained, undisciplined pets in the USA than there are abused ones. And PETA and the Humane Society are just as bad about or worse as anyone overfeeding and lack of displine and exercise. You take on the resonsibilty for another life when you own animals. Trying to treat them as human is a bad mistake.

GC

[tumcat]

IF ANYONE COULD SEE THE DEPLORABLE DEPRAVIY AND HORRIFIC CONDITIONS SUFFERED BY INNOCENT ANIMALS IN THE PUPPY MILLS, THEY WOULD THINK TWICE BEFORE POSTING THEIR APATHY AND LACK OF CONCERN ABOUT BRITANY'S ACTION.
PURCHASING A PET AT THESE 'ANIMAL FACTORIES" ONLY SUSTAINS THEIR EXISTENCE AND GROWTH. IF OUR PETS ARE PURCHASED AT SHELTERS THESE MILLS WOULD SLOWLY GO OUT OF BUSINESS. TO SEE WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT GO TO THE HSUS WEBSITE AND WATCH THE VIDEOS; I AM SURE YOU WILL RECONSIDER YOUR POSITION.

[cheekygal-2009]

Good grief, someone having a slow news day?

Leave Britney alone to get her life back on track! Like someone else said, let's worry about the killers in our society, women and children abused and those missing. Worry about our soldiers in Iraq coming home alive and in one piece!

[imnho]

It sounds like the humane society is focused on the wrong thing. As long as the dog has a good home it soes not matter if she went to a shelter to get it. Its really silly to be critcal of her for how she went about this.

[pbs2blm4]

Does the world have to interfere with everything Britney does? The whole country buys dogs from pet stores, do you want to harass them also? Let her live her life and solve her problems without all of this uproar. There are a lot of people out there who do some really bad things, put your energy into helping abused women or abandoned children and stop making a federal case out of Britney's every move.
How many of you haven't screwed up or made a mis move now and then? Leave her alone!

[dgshiner]

This is one of those articles where I am sure it is just for someone needing something to write about cause for once who really gives a ***?????

[dgshiner]

This is one of those articles where I am sure it is just for someone needing something to write about cause for once who really gives a ***?????

[mygramma]

Stephanie Shain and the Humane Society can stick it where the sun doesn't shine. Wynterwolf, you don't know what you are talking about. Britney is a good mom and she's taking care of business at home. If you want to engage in Britney bashing, go to tmz.com where you will find plenty of fellow creeps.

[wynterwolf]

First of all she has 2 little kids and they aren't good with little dogs. She should worry about her kids and spend more time with them before she makes a commitment to raise a puppy that requires allot of care and attention since she doesn't even give that to her own kids. She has some screws loose and needs to get her head on straight. Her career is down hill and the only way she can get any attention is through bad publicity she is so pathetic!