Around 23 people gathered outside a Silverdale pet and feed store on March 28 to protest the sale of what they said were “puppy mill” puppies.

The protesters, with the group Kitsap Animal Advocates, held signs that read “Join the fight against puppy mills,” “Puppy mills sell to pet stores,” and “Honk if you love animals.”

Some of the passing motorists honked in support of the protesters’ messages as they zoomed past.

One of the protesters, Terry Shuck, said KAA members have been working with lawmakers at the county and state level for more than three years to ban the sale of puppy mill puppies from pet and feed stores.

Shuck said that puppies sold at the Farmland Pets and Feed store come from a large-scale breeding operation called BJ’s & Guys, in Menlo, Kansas. Shuck said the protests were held to inform the general public about where the puppies came from.

“People (who buy the puppies) feel they are rescuing these puppies, when in fact they are creating demand. The females at the mills are often bred until they die,” Shuck wrote in an email to the Reporter.

“What Farmland is doing is not illegal, and we would like to make it illegal,” Shuck wrote. Shuck said county commissioners were the ones who could change the law, but that the sale of puppies was not a priority on the commissioners’ agenda.

A manager at store who did not wish to be identified said Farmland and the protesters had a difference of opinion.

The manager said that puppies were purchased from a group of commercially licensed kennels including BJ’s and Guys and said all the puppies had current vaccinations and current deworming.

“We are not against people buying puppies,” Shuck wrote. “They should buy from a reputable breeder – a good rule of thumb is one who has the mother on the premises.”