LARGO, Fla. — SPCA Tampa Bay is defending itself as it receives nationwide backlash over a new partnership with the dog breeding industry.
“We are willing to try new ideas that may stretch us into new places with new partners,” the shelter wrote, in part, in a statement posted to its social media platforms.
SPCA Tampa Bay has partnered with Pinnacle Pet, a Missouri-based broker for pet breeders, to launch a new pilot program called For All Dogs.
Under the program, some reputable pet breeders will be allowed to send some of their older dogs — who have retired from breeding — to SPCA Tampa Bay to be adopted out.
“So these are animals that are somewhere typically between four and six years old that are ready for the next step in life, they are done breeding, they’ve raised their families, now they want to go into a home, we are putting those animals up for adoption,” said Martha Boden, CEO of SPCA Tampa Bay, in an interview last week.
Boden said the shelter is accepting just a few purebreds a week, and so far, those dogs have had a high adoption rate, often within 48 hours.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Chris Fleming, the CEO of Pinnacle Pet, said the program will not financially benefit his company or SPCA Tampa Bay. He said it will also combat puppy mills, though some have suggested it will support them.
“That’s just not true of the folks that we’re working with,” Fleming said.
“I encourage folks to call — ask,” he continued. “It’s not the ugly abuse and, you know, solicitation of animals.”
Despite his defense, an intense backlash continues.
Kimberly Gronemeyer, the vice president of Florida Voices for Animals, sees the partnership between the shelter and breeding industry as a major betrayal.
“This is sort of, you know, just a major backstab,” Gronemeyer said. “I was — I was appalled. Florida Voices for Animals appalled. I think every animal advocate in the area was appalled.”
Gronemeyer is not alone in her outrage. Groups like SPCA Florida and PETA have also denounced the program.
“There’s absolutely no reason for them to be doing this," said Teresa Chagrin with PETA, who labeled the program as “completely absurd" and "reprehensible."
Wednesday, PETA launched an online campaign asking its supporters to contact SPCA Tampa Bay and express their disapproval.
“Let them know that there’s no such thing as a “responsible” breeder because, for every puppy or kitten who is produced by any breeder, an animal awaiting adoption at an animal shelter loses his or her chance at finding a home—and will have to be euthanized,” the group wrote.
Gronemeyer made a similar argument that even if the dogs come from reputable breeders, the program still sets a dangerous precedent.
“It legitimizes breeding, so it makes that kind of the okay model instead of having to do a rescue,” she said. “Instead, they’re saying, ‘Oh, it’s okay to go to a breeder.’ It’s like, ‘Let’s go for the designer dogs rather than the rescues that need our support most of all.’”
She believes SPCA Tampa Bay will lose donors, pet foster parents, and its standing in the community unless it abandons the program immediately.
“That is their only option,” she said. “They are losing the support of everyone in the county.”
In its statement Wednesday, SPCA Tampa Bay acknowledged the backlash. It offered community members a survey to share their thoughts about the For All Dogs initiative, but the shelter expressed no desire to pause or abandon the program.
“We do this to continue our service to our local community with its specific needs and opportunities,” the shelter wrote. “We also do this to learn if there are ways to work better together with others for the benefit of the pets and people in our community.”
