Petland
Reviews and Complaints

Do not buy pets from pet land. They buy from puppy mills even if they say they don't. Do your research first. I wish I did. I asked for the address and breeder information which they never would provide me. My family pet was very very ill and only 12 weeks old. Oh yeah, I can ask for my money back but that's not what this is about. It's about this poor sick and suffering puppy. Buy from the humane society. They make sure all animals are taken care of physically and mentally. How can the owners, employees and ececutives sleep at night? Oh yeah, they make good money while these dogs cats are suffering living on top of each other with urine and crap all over thier bodies. The wimpers of pain hunger and fear! All for a buck! I have a heart of gold but I honestly hope all people responsible for the suffering of these animals live a long painful sick life.

Simon's story, another heartbreaking story about my puppy that was purchased at the Westland MI Petland in September 2009. Simon is a 5 lb Torkie, Toy Fox Terrier and Yorkie mix.

After losing my collie Rascal to cancer in July of 2009, I desperately wanted another canine companion. I made at least a dozen attempts to locate the right companion at my local Humane Society but, had no luck finding the right match. On my way home from the Humane Society, I passed by the Westland Petland and saw a puppy for sale sign out front and my temptations got the best of me. I stopped in and the minute I saw little Simon, it was love at first sight and my thoughts went into rescue mode. I had to get him out of that small cage, away from the kids pounding on the glass and the other chaos going on in the store.

I inquired with the young sales girl about Simon and that's where the story really begins. I thought I asked all the right questions about his breeding and his health. I was not aware that Petland had so many pending issues with selling sick puppies. I was told that Simon was a healthy 2.5 lb Torkie puppy that had been regularly checked by the stores preferred vet. I was informed that Simon had an issue called Luxating Patella or in common terms a trick knee, I was not familiar with the issue so I inquired and was told Simon would grow out of this issue. I was also told that it was common in small dogs, that it was not serious and would not require medical attention.

Well months later his so called knee issue was not getting better. Simon has now been diagnosed by both my vet and the stores vet that he has a very serious issue called Legg Perthes. The issue was not with his knee, it is a congenital hip issue that causes a dog to go lame and can only be corrected with costly surgery. Simon's back right leg is completely lame and it's causing strain on his back left leg. Simon is being robbed of his wonderful puppy hood, he can't run and play like a young puppy should because of the pain and discomfort in his hip.

Petland is well aware of the issue and I have asked their assistance in helping me with the expected $2100.00 surgery fee. I have asked to speak with the store owners in person but, so far I have only had personal contact with the store manager. The owners did send me a few letters expressing their concerns but, so far have only put me in contact with their vet to do the surgery at a reduced fee. This is the same vet that miss-diagnosed Simon in the first place.

On 4/28/10, I inquired about the breeder and was told by the manager that they knew who the breeder was and would follow up with me with the info. When I want back to the store on 5/10 to pick up my copies of Simons X-rays and asked again for the breeder info the store manager told me they did not have the info like I was first told. I went home and called the store back, I felt I was being lied to and the manager admitted the owners put her up to it. They intentionally had her lie because they did not want to release the breeder info.

At this point I am beyond upset, I feel the store is hiding the fact that the are dealing with bad breeders and puppy mills. I just want justice for Simon, I need to come up with the money for his surgery and I feel Petland and their vendors should be responsible for covering the costs. I also want to make sure the breeder is held accountable for selling sick puppies. I don't want another one of Petland's customers or puppies to go through this heartache and pain

I paid a large amount of money for my furbaby because they promised happy and healthy. One week after bringing home our new Lilly, she had a siezure. I took her to my vet for a check up and for a vaccine. She couldnt give her the vaccine because she was way over medicated. The vet said shes not sure if the medications she was given will even work because they gave them too close together for her body to develop the antibodies. I asked where she was from before we bought her. Mindy said she was from a reputable local breeder. I researched the paperwork and found that my Lilly is from a puppy mill. The paperwork lists 4 different names in 4 different states. Also listed is a Broker: Mid America Pet. I do NOT want to return her, nor do I want any money. I simply want an apology from Mindy, Kristen, Clay and Jessica Slivko. They have forever changed me. Because of them I will have to live with the fact that I've contributed to the abuse, neglect, suffering, and inhumane treatment of these dogs. They should NOT be able to lie to customers about where these puppys are coming from. They should not be able to falsify documents. I have all my paperwork upon request. I've made several calls and attempts to find out the true origins of my puppy. However, the attempts have been unsuccessful.

Pet Land of Orlando in Semoran is one of the worst pet shops. I decided to get a pug for my me and my niece since I have one in Puerto Rico and I love PUGS. I saw him at 9:00 pm at night and fell in love with him. I even named him Nicolas. Unfortunately my niece did not feel the same way. As soon as I got him home she started sneezing and coughing and it wasnt long until she had a full blown asthma attack. She is 6 so we did not know she was allergic to animals. We even had to take her to the nearest ambulatory care clinic since it got so bad. I returned it the next day at 11:00am . Much less than 24 hours and explained the events. The owner was not only unreasonable but condescending as well. Apparently it will cost me $400 dollars of "administration fees" to return the dog. $400 dollars that is excessive and unreasonable. I would understand $200 dollars which was what I had read that other Pet land stores required for vet fees. This too is excessive but I would understand. But $400. The dog itself cost me $750. I had to return it given the circumstances and I did not know anybody in Orlando who could offer it a good home. The owner showed my signiture in which this was supposedly explained in small print. As if you are reading all the documents you are signing when you have the cutest dog in front of you!The owner and therefore the company are greedy and opportunistic people who do not, at all have the best intentions for the consumer or the pet.
Trust me! do not buy a pet here!

I think this is a good place but with somehow a bad employees. They are nice and would be accomodating — too accommodating that they have to ask their customers to hold a bag for them when it breaks. And yeah, too accomodating that they push you to buy something... And they act too knowledgable about fishes that they put plastic bioballs in a sack with water — treating it like it's living! And when I said, this is the type of catfish we have — she said "no that is a shark" but it was really a catfish breed though it is called iridescent shark which is a catfish shark! She also said "I love fish, I have gallons and gallons of fish tank at home for 12 years!" who cares? Esp if she says "I like platties, I recommend you have that too to make your aquarium colorful" then I said, "we don't like it" then she said with an ugly face "whuuutt? You don't like it? They are pretty! How could you not like them?" oh well I said, to tell you honestly, they look like they have mouth problems! And they are considered fish food at home! They multiply so easy that they become so annoying! Then she said "duh! This gold fish are the fish feeder" (And she sounded pissed that we don't want to buy what she is recommending"she thinks she knows so much that she wants us to buy those only that doesn't have colors and that are weakling fishes! She recommends a chinese algae eater than a wonderful pleco! We don't understand why she would insult some customers by thinking she knows it all and by saying"there is nothing that I dont know about fish"but hey, she really doesn't know about bioballs! And plus, they just scoop the poor fishes carelessly and pour them on the bags carelessly! We were doubtful if the fish survive long enough even when they are cheap they look so unhealthy! We will never buy fish there anymore — but I will go back and tell her it is really a type of catfish, and that bioballs need not to be in a bag of water when you buy it! When I asked her what it was for, she said it helps with oxygen, then I said, how does it do that? Does it have something inside it or what? She said"yeah"... I think she is really dumb because bioballs are just piece of intricate plastic that roll on the water close to the aerator to bring in some bubbles that carry oxygen!. If she didn't intervene and started catching the fishes we really don't like (We got them for the sake that she wanted to catch them herself and she had a hard time getting it — she was taking all the decors out the tanks!) we would have got chichilid and other nicer fish! Hence, they would have sell much more money! She got blond hair, built big and have a bit big eyes and dirty blonde hair! Beware she thinks she knows too much and keeps talking you out of what you want and keep insisting that what she wants is better and before you say yes or no she would start putting them on your bag! — why can't she just leave people alone and buy what we really want? And anyway, bettas don't aged 12 years! She said she have one for 12 years! They only last 2-3 years so that she will know..

I want a papillon. I checked out this store and although they said it was a papillon I think it was mixed with something else. It's paws at 3 mo. of age were huge! and it's fur just didn't seem quite right.[coarse like a terriers]. I left the store not purchasing the pup and went home and pulled out all the papillon books I bought. Nothing in those books described the pup I looked at. I really believe it was mixed.
I've also heard that they buy from puppy mills. This I can believe since this pup didn't act like a healthy pup and probably was sick.
If you want a puppy do your research. I'm on the hunt for a good breeder now and staying away from petshops.

This was the most awful experience I have ever had! I bought a puppy from the Robinson Town Center store one evening, the store was basically run by a bunch of kids. I took my puppy to the vet a few days later to find out he was under fed and had a parasite! I called and spoke to the store owner who by the way was the most rude, unprofessional person I have ever dealt with. I called to tell him my new puppy was sick, he began screaming at me and told me it wasn't his problem! I filed a complaint with the better business bureau. I would Never recommend buying an animal at all (I spent 1300.00 on him) and would prefer adopting, however I feel like I saved this puppy from being in a very small glass box all day and night and being severely underfed. My puppy is much better now after a lot of medicine and love! I refuse to return to another petland.

We purchased a puppy from Petland Columbus, Georgia almost three years ago and have sorely regretted that rash decision. We paid an exorbitant price for our puppy, almost three times what a local breeder wanted, but we felt it was worth the extra money because Petland had such a great health guarantee and they assured us we were getting a quality puppy, from premium breeding stock.

About two years later we started to realize what bad shape our little dog was in. Our vet confirmed he had horrible joint and back problems, all genetic issues. "This is the result of bad breeding, " he said. "What were his parents like?" We had to admit we had no idea. But we loved our little dog to pieces so we were willing to do whatever we could to get him the extremely expensive surgeries that our vet said he desperately needed.

We went back to Petland and explained the situation. They were very accommodating at first, saying how sorry they were and how they wanted to help us and would absolutely pay for the surgery... on one condition. We had to take the dog to their vet and have her confirm he really did need the surgeries. Imagine our astonishment when we reached the vet’s office, she took a quick look at him and said, "No. He looks like he's managing just fine. He can live a very full and happy life without surgery." He died two months later from complications of his back problems. He was playing in our front yard one day and fell, compressing his spinal cord and paralyzing him. He was in severe pain and would likely never walk again. We had no choice but to have him put down. My kids were devastated.

Here's what I learned the hard way about Petland. They buy their puppies from a farm that breeds for quantity instead of quality. Meaning, they breed females who have genetic problems and aren't fit to have puppies. Then Petland marks them up 300% and sells them to the public with a "Health Guarantee", but the fine print on that guarantee states that their vet must be consulted if any health problems arise. Their vet spent five minutes with our dog and declared him fit when our personal vet clearly told me if was in danger and required surgery right away. This is the experience of a heartbroken pet owner. I won't tell you to not buy your dog from Petland, but I do hope you read my story and make your own decision.

My sister and I went into the Petland store to look at the ferrets, as we had bought a ferret there before. What I witnessed was a very ill ferret, wasn't able to move. I told an employee of this and this male employee picked it up, blew in its mouth and tossed it back into the cage hard and said, "Oh it fine". Not only do these people at Petland not care about customers safety, but they do not care and WILL sell sick animals. Deplorable cage conditions, the ferret cage smelled terrible and they were out of water, and poop in their food bowls. Thank God the baby I bought months before is still alive and so far is healthy except for a minor heart arrythmia. These people need to be shut down!

We purchased a puppy from Petland Columbus, Georgia almost three years ago and have sorely regretted that rash decision. We paid an exorbitant price for our puppy, almost three times what a local breeder wanted, but we felt it was worth the extra money because Petland had such a great health guarantee and they assured us we were getting a quality puppy, from premium breeding stock.

About two years later we started to realize what bad shape our little dog was in. Our vet confirmed he had horrible joint and back problems, all genetic issues. "This is the result of bad breeding, " he said. "What were his parents like?" We had to admit we had no idea. But we loved our little dog to pieces so we were willing to do whatever we could to get him the extremely expensive surgeries that our vet said he desperately needed.

We went back to Petland and explained the situation. They were very accommodating at first, saying how sorry they were and how they wanted to help us and would absolutely pay for the surgery... on one condition. We had to take the dog to their vet and have her confirm he really did need the surgeries. Imagine our astonishment when we reached the vet’s office, she took a quick look at him and said, "No. He looks like he's managing just fine. He can live a very full and happy life without surgery." He died two months later from complications of his back problems. He was playing in our front yard one day and fell, compressing his spinal cord and paralyzing him. He was in severe pain and would likely never walk again. We had no choice but to have him put down. My kids were devastated.

Here's what I learned the hard way about Petland. They buy their puppies from a farm that breeds for quantity instead of quality. Meaning, they breed females who have genetic problems and aren't fit to have puppies. Then Petland marks them up 300% and sells them to the public with a "Health Guarantee", but the fine print on that guarantee states that their vet must be consulted if any health problems arise. Their vet spent five minutes with our dog and declared him fit when our personal vet clearly told me if was in danger and required surgery right away. This is the experience of a heartbroken pet owner. I won't tell you to not buy your dog from Petland, but I do hope you read my story and make your own decision.

We bought a 1 month 29 day German Shepherd from the Springfield, MO Petland on 23- July-09 we brought him home. We put him in his kennel for the night after we feed and watered him and he went out and went potty. The next day we went out for a couple of walks and it was like right after our walks he had to take a nap and well we thought ok normal alot of exercise for puppy so he just needs a quick nap. He slept alot that day. That night my girlfriend and I took the puppy for a walk and we didn't get but 20 yards from our house and he started gasping and backing up for air. My girlfriend then picked him up and was holding him his eys started rolling back into his head and his tongue started turning color and becoming very limp. Blood then started coming out of his nose and mouth and it was dark red in color. So it was kinda dried. If it was current blood it would have been bright red. After that he had no pulse and was not breathing. We then called Petland and they told us we needed to bring him in for a autopsy. We brought him back on Saturday morning and the vet concluded that he had Acute Pneumonia. We were told that we could get our money back that day by the General Manager Rob and now we received a letter stating that we are not getting our money back that we can get another puppy. We do not want another puppy from them.

Two weeks ago my wife and I were looking for a companion for our Yorkie. We found a female and were told a price I felt was a little too steep. So we passed. We returned a few days later a were told she had been sold for a lot less to a nice Hispanic couple. Had we known that, we would have purchased her earlier. We were told another female would be in soon. So we waited.

The female arrived and my wife loved her. The salesman said he didn't have the authority to sell her at the price I want't to pay but come in the next day and the manager would be in and he was sure she would work with us.

I had to work the next day so my wife went in and left a deposit until I could come in and talk to the Manager about the puppy.

After work I brought my wife and asked to talk to the manager about the price of the dog.'She was very rude and said we knew the price of the puppy when my wife put down the deposit and they didn't discount new puppies. And we were told at that time our deposit was none refundable. No prior notice what-so-ever!

I've notified the BBB so it hopefuly won't happen to others.

March 1, 2009 a new fifteen week old yorkie puppy was purchased by my son. March 5, 2009 the puppy was in emergency care, near death. March 9, 2009 the puppy was dead. We have so much documentation to show that he puppy was cared for by registered Veterinarians. Petland will not allow us to speak to Clay, the Owner. A post op of the puppy was done by Petland's Vet that works at East Suburban Animal Hospital. Amazingly, she told us that she would not let a sick puppy be sold. She also could not find the cause of death. East Suburban said that they are not affiliated with Petland. Dr. Abt is their Veterinarian, and she works at the hospital. We have asked that the puppy be taken to another Veterinarian to find the cause of death. We haven't had a response. The Owner of East Suburban discussed with my family that he feels that the puppy was sold to my son sick. Now we aren't getting responses from him. All of the attending Veterinarians prior to her death have stated in writing that she was sold to my son sick. Dr. Caslow at East Suburban agreed. Petland is selling puppy mill puppies. Why is this being allowed. We are so very broken hearted, and we do not want the puppy to die in vain. Please help to get the word out. If you would like to rebute my note. I am willing to share all documentation, call logs, and any other necessary paperwork. Thanks for your concern. Say no to Petland!

PETLAND has been exposed for selling puppies who come from Puppy Mills, even though they will tell you they don't. Please do not support these stores by buying pups from them. You are contributing to the demand, which causes suffering of MANY defenceless dogs & puppies in these horrible puppy mills. Go to a REPUTABLE Breeder yourself, or adopt from your local Shelter. Thanks!

To all you people who have purchased puppies from Petland, who have become sick or died shortly after purchase...and to all you people who are considering buying a puppy from Petland...have you not heard that they have been exposed for buying their puppies from Puppy Mills! This was announced after a 9 month investigation by the SPCA. It was all over the news. Petland, of course, disputes this.
Puppy Mill breeders do not take their pups for the necessary shots (most say they can do that themselves and don't "need" a Vet), therefore putting the pups at risk for the Parvo Virus. In most cases, the breeders' facility is in deplorable conditions, unfit and unclean, and the adult dogs live a horrible life, in cages, used only for breeding. You are unknowingly supporting these awful breeders by purchasing from Petland, and you are paying a HUGE price for these puppies, who, in most cases aren't even purebred! They are crosses.
Please consider obtaining your new pet from a Shelter, but if you insist on a "designer" purebred, please make sure you GO and visit the Breeder's facility to pick your pup. Don't have it shipped to you, or "meet" the breeder somewhere other than his/her facility. That is a red flag if they offer that. Make sure the conditions are clean, the animals are not "caged" or over-populated, and insist on receiving a Certificate from a Vet that shows the proper vaccinations and health checks have been done. EACH pup should have it's own Certificate. Beware! Some bad breeders are very deceptive.
These Puppy Mills have to be shut down! Also, check out Oprah's Show on Puppy Mills, from last year...it will truly open your eyes!

Regarding the care of the rats they sell as pets..
In the store this evening, they have 30 plus rats in a glass enclosure approximatley 3 ft by 3ft...They are all sizes and ages and BOTH SEXES in the same cage!
When this was pointed out to the employee, she said "oh yes, they know that".."that's how they get more rats".
When it was pointed out that the rats would start having babies at a very early age, which isn't really in the best interest of the rat, she replied that was how it worked "in the wild".
When it was pointed out that this was an unhealthy situation, and poor animal husbandry, she said, "well you're entitled to your opinion."

I do not know who to contact about this situation, but it is totally unacceptable to treat animals in this way...totally ignorant about proper care of these animals.
Just because they are rats, does not mean they should be mistreated. One would hope that people who work there, would have some idea about how to care for these creatures..

I have owned pet rats for many years, and it is horrifying to see them treated like this...if I had room, there were a few there I would have brought home with me, just to save them from this situation...

Please, if you see unhealthy situations in these pet stores, make it known.
I have been in other pet stores and they at least have the sense to separate the males from the females...

I bought this dog from Petland just over a year ago and when I brought the dog home it came home it ended up having kennel cough and then things just got worse from there and I had to take the dog to the animal hospital on an emergency because the dog almost died. When my husband confronted the manager at the store, he was told because we didn't take the dog to their vet, that's why they cannot reimburse us any money. My question is: if the dog was on it's death bed, do you think I have time to drive an hour away to take the dog to their vet? That's great customer service!

We walked into Petland Sunday evening on January 25th, 2009 to look at a sheltie puppy that we were considering purchasing. The price was $1500.00, which I could not afford at the moment. We would have the money in two weeks and had intended on returning then to purchase the puppy if he was still available. We were playing with the puppy and when we went to give it back, a woman, also a customer there, asked us what kind of dog it was. We replied that it was a sheltie and she told us that she had two of her own. We asked her where she got her dogs and she replied that they were from a breeder in state. We asked her if we could give her our phone number so she could call us with the name of the breeder so we could do some comparisons between dogs. The woman agreed and as we were attempting to give her our phone number, a female employee rudely told us that if we were going to be exchanging breeder information (which we were not) that we needed to leave now. We did so without complaint, even though we were not exchanging breeder information. We were standing outside of the store, in the general mall area, talking to the woman when the owner of the Petland came storming out and accosted the woman verbally, yelling in front of at least twenty other customers and mall patrons, telling her that she had no right to be stealing his business and customers. The woman was shocked and very apologetic, trying to tell him that we were just exchanging personal information but he wouldn't stop yelling long enough to even hear what she was saying. We stepped in at that point and defended her, but he merely turned and yelled at us as well, telling us to get out. We were already outside of his store, so we left the mall to escape any further wrath.

We were deeply disturbed and offended by his inappropriate behavior as was everyone within hearing distance of the confrontation. We will not be returning to buy that dog, nor will we ever set foot in that store again. In the past, we have frequented the store and spent large sums of money there, but the owner's behavior was so wildly inappropriate and offensive that we cannot, in good conscience do that again.