Dog in the Thousand Oaks Barkworks location. Yelp.com
Within my first week of studying here at Cal Lutheran, I’d been introduced to the place that can very well be considered the center of life in Thousand Oaks: The Oaks mall, home to 120 retailers. One of these retailers immediately stood out to me, and not in a positive way. In the back right corner of the upper floor, a store stood so packed with people that it appeared difficult for anyone to move. Maybe there was a Black Friday type sale, or perhaps this was the Apple Store on the day of the new iPhone release? No, in fact, this store was Barkworks, and the people inside were craning their heads for the best view of dozens of puppies packed inside glass tanks.
I was genuinely shocked when I first saw Barkworks. I honestly thought that pet shops of that sort were a thing of the past, and that dogs were now obtained either through shelters or from individual breeders. So what is Barkworks? Quite honestly, it’s hard to find out. A Google search on the company yields nothing except that they are a Southern California pet store chain, and a lengthy list of lawsuits and protests against them. They have no official website. Where are they getting their dogs from then? A call to the store revealed that none of their dogs are bred within California, but come from out-of-state USDA regulated or “hobby breeders.” When I looked into what exactly it means to be USDA regulated, I stumbled upon an interesting line from an ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) article titled “A Closer Look at Puppy Mills”:
“Many pet store owners will tell you they get all their puppies from ‘licensed USDA breeders’ or ‘local breeders.’ In fact, in order to sell puppies to pet stores, a breeder must be licensed by the USDA. Pet stores often use this licensing to provide a false sense of security to customers, when what it really means is that they do, in fact, get their puppies from puppy mills.”
Puppy mills are large-scale breeding operations that are infamous for inhumane conditions. Dogs in puppy mills are often kept in crowded, unsanitary cages, fed almost nothing, and female dogs are forced to have litter after litter until they die. Barkworks has had countless allegations against them claiming that their dogs come from puppy mills. One website claims that two of their largest suppliers are “Schultzs Country Pups” and “Big Red Country Kennel,” both of which are located in Nebraska. According to a USDA report filed in 2014, Schultz’s Country Pups has 85 adult breeding dogs. The USDA reports on “Big Red Country Kennel” are significantly longer. For example, in June 2014 they had 6 “non-critical” complaints filed, including noting growths and open wounds on dogs, unsafe cages, unsanitary conditions (“Dust, cobwebs, and dog hair were accumulating on the interior walls, ceiling, and enclosure pens of the sheltered facility”), and insufficient staffing. A follow up report several months later listed nearly the exact same complaints again, only with the word REPEAT listed above each problem. That, apparently, is what USDA regulated means. Conditions in puppy mills are often horrible. RadioFence.com
Even if these dogs came from the best breeders in the country, the conditions that they endure in the store are unacceptable. Multiple puppies are crowded inside of glass tanks that appear better suited for fish. Children and adults pack the store to its breaking point, with many people knocking on and hovering over the tanks. The dogs also appear off in their behavior. Just a little before mall closing time one night, I walked by and witnessed three dogs ferociously fighting one another in one of the tanks on the outside of the store. This was no puppy play fight. I legitimately thought that the dogs were going to kill one other. Other dogs simply pace in circles in their small allotted area. People have noted before that some puppies even appear sedated. Online reviews also reveal further troubles with the store. While one should be dubious in trusting Yelp to judge business practices, when hundreds of reviews give multiple Barkworks locations two stars and make claims like the following, something is likely going on:
“They claim they are backed up by their medical agreements- if there were any medical issues, they’ll help with the costs. NOT TRUE. The pup had a heart murmur… their approved vet said they didn’t hear the finding but after going to 2 vets- both confirmed he had a pretty severe one… the store said they would help us cover the added expense but when the vet bill came-not a word- they stopped returning our calls, texts, and refused to help us.” – Riry P.
“I saw a poor puppy so hungry he was trying to eat the plastic container holding his water.” – Jacqueline F.
“I walked in there today and saw a small German shepard puppy clearly panting with his eyes half open and head leaned against the glass with his tongue sticking out clearly trying to breathe through the tiny holes in the glass box. It broke my heart and I immediately notified an employee who nervously said ‘yeah um it’s really hot in here…’ I then told her there’s something called an AC and it should be on. She started to walk away from me when I asked her where I could find the manager. The manager then gave me attitude and denied everything and even argued a little bit. Frustrated I walked out and called animal control.” – Ranya O.
“… We found the husky pup that we wanted and signed up and left. The next day we take her to the vet and well she had giardia and a stomach parasite and she was beginning to get a URI….wow! Weird how all the other reviewers are saying the same thing! We call back the manager telling her about all of this and of course she doesn’t care at all and thinks we’re lying. The most she’ll do for us is comp the fecel exams and still wants us to pay $4,000 for this puppy even though from the puppy mill they bought them from they’re only $500 each. – Bre. K
“Came into a DEAD PUPPY in one of the top displays. Had another puppy in there with it that was dragging it around. My friend had to go and tell one of the works that a dog had died and was still on display. Was honestly a traumatizing experience.” – Harley A.
So what’s been done to stop Barkworks so far? ALDF, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, has a long history of lawsuits against the company. Complaints were first filed in 2011 claiming that Barkworks tricks consumers into buying sick dogs from puppy mills. According to the ALDF, the complaint was made class action in October 2015 when documents were discovered “detailing the widespread nature of Barkwork’s deception and hearing story after story of heartbroken purchasers who had to rush their new puppy to the vet just days or even hours after bringing them home.” In March 2016, the court ruled that the lawsuit, which alleges that the company represents puppy mills as “reputable” breeders, provides inaccurate breeder license numbers and addresses, fabricates breeding certificates, and lies about providing veterinary care, would proceed. No further updates have been provided on the status of the case.
In addition to lawsuits, there have also been countless protests against Barkworks. In 2012, protesters’ work contributed to the L.A. ordinance that banned the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits within the city (excluding shelter animals). Protesters claim to have been the reason for the closure of Westside Pavilion, Mission Viejo, and Lakewood locations of the store. An active Facebook page, “Boycott Barkworks Pet Stores,” organizes protests against the remaining four locations, including Thousand Oaks.
So what can you do to help stop Barkworks? First of all, don’t support the store in any way. Don’t contribute to the crowds fawning over the adorable puppies, don’t buy their pet supplies, and certainly don’t buy their dogs. Encourage others to do the same. There are plenty of dogs to go around at the Agoura Hills Animals Shelter. If you want to play a more active role in shutting them down, join the Facebook group and take part in a protest. Or, you can always contact your local legislators. L.A. banned retail pet sales. The unincorporated areas of Ventura County have as well. Why hasn’t Thousand Oaks? I asked Mayor Joel Price, and as part of his response he made the following statement: “In a city the size of Thousand Oaks, with one such store, creating an ordinance to address a single case seems uncessary in my view. While I do not condone on any level the mistreatment of animals, this appears to best dealt with on an individual basis.” While it may be a significant amount of work to put in place a new ordinance for a single pet store, aforementioned, laws are already in place in many parts of Ventura Country, so what is stopping them from being enacted over a larger area? In my opinion, it is worth the work for an animal’s life. It has been proven time and time again that Barkworks obtains their animals from inhumane puppy mills, mistreat their animals, and lie about their policies. There are no reasons for there to still be locations in Southern California, and it’s time to do something about it.