Pick of the Litter

I am so disgusted by this place and the owner, Tom Collins. He breeds the adults in his house and brings the puppies into the store. He claims that he rescues pregnant dogs when in fact he’s breeding them. A family friend knows him personally and tells me all these disturbing things. I went into the store just to see and it’s so sad. Please consider adopting and not shopping for animals.

All the dogs look so miserable here… laying in cat litter and sleeping in aquariums. They don’t like like typical happy puppies with lots of energy. Do they even get any exercise? This business should revamp its exercise and living arrangements for its dogs and also vow to sell only rescued animals

People, you have no idea what you’re talking about. No mill pups here. Been dealing w/​same people for years. I like the improvements to the shop this year. No one loves animals like this owner. Maybe he doesn’t have the $ bags like Pet Land or Pet Smart, (who do get dogs from mills). My friends. all have gotten pets from here for years, healthy, wonderful pets. I’ll support the local guy!

My wife, daughter and I were in this store and we watched as the guy sprayed the windows inside the aquariums that held dogs and cats with Windex, as he shoved them out of the way. I placed a call to the APL and reported it to their investigation team. This store is pathetic and should be gone. these animals don’t live in good conditions. Every time we go past that store it is depressing. Oddly enough the only reason we went in was because I thought it may have changed since the last time I went in and was disgusted.

It’s been about ten years since this store first opened but ever since than, the conditions have been deteriorating. Who doesn’t love animals? Well then it seems that Pick of The Litter is a cute little pet store with adorable animals that you can take home with no problems whatsoever? I wish it seemed that simple.
The store seems to look alright from the outside but looking inward, there are a lot of problems that I noticed upon my several visits. The dogs are kept in bins with chips at the bottom of them which look highly uncomfortable especially for the little ones. I don’t see the logic of placing the puppies into glass aquariums unless you are on a low budget but at least the top is open so they are getting air.
The cats looked to be in the best condition with them having a large open area to run around in and they all looked happy and full of energy. The same could not be said for the dogs who all looked to be in poor health and sleeping. The puppies looked ok and were at least up and moving around but the adults were all dozing off… or so I thought they were sleeping because they looked near dead after looking.
I am concerned that the management isn’t taking good care of these animals as I mentioned the health on some of these dogs was less then desirable. These people are also very «politically minded» with plenty of paraphernalia plastered about the walls of the store. I highly disagree with the way they chose to do this but if that’s what they want, more power to them but I won’t be coming back in for the next time.
Sad to say this miserable pet store is not worth visiting if you want to purchase an animal but it is ok if you just want to look at them. To get a more healthy pet, try the pet store just a few steps away.

This place should b called «pick of the puppy mill». Both the employees and animals have poor hygiene, only the employees have an opportunity to change that, the animals dont. I try not to be vulgar, but these people are the definition of filthy cunts. They were shut down once for animal cruelty, i just look forward to seeing all of the disgusting employees burn in hell for how they treat these animals. To make it better, they have a picture if jesus hanging in the store. Im surprised they dont go up in flames when they look at it.

We have gotten several pets from here and they have all been amazing! They are so friendly here.

Please lose your business license. If you refuse to keep the animals in better conditions, you don’t deserve a license to have anything to do with animals. I live in SF and I signed the petition against this store– it’s viral — you are going down!

I left here with a sick feeling. Every single puppy in the store was fast «asleep», like, they don’t even move or respond when someone pets them. It makes me wonder if they are drugging the poor babies to keep them quiet and calm enough not to run around in the FISH TANKS they are kept in! Seriously, someone should investigate. :(

Horrible conditions for the pets in this store. They should be shut down. Very little ventilation for the animals in the aquariums. I saw 4 dogs in a 55 gallon aquarium. This is just wrong. Someone needs to shut this place down.

This place should be shut down! I went into the «store» today and was absolutely appalled by what I saw. The puppies looked like they were all drugged. They were in small fish tanks with guinea pig bedding. I dont even keep fish in tanks as small as some that these puppies were in. There were three labs that looked miserable with watery eyes. My girlfriend started crying and had to leave the store. Please shut down this puppy mill!

I find it interesting that people complain that the animals here are kept in fish tanks with straw beds and the place smells. Um… Animals smell, they should smell, any messes have been cleaned up within minutes, they are fed and watered and in good condition. I find it much more disturbing that the other pet store in this mall has (smaller) antiseptic looking pods with no soft place to lay down, fluorescent lighting (which, are HOT) and litters are seperated. As far as the puppy mill feel. I don’t quite understand why a few litter of puppies penned together says «puppy mill» but one puppy of 20 different breeds does not say «puppy mills owned by a large chain company».
I visit this store every single time I go to Great Northern Mall, the animals are clean and well kept, they actually provide up to date and relevant information on their animals (When was the last time a pet store disclosed a pet was in mid-​treament for worms or which set of shots the puppies have had and will need? Answer: They will not or they will provide you a generic shot checklist). Often, they have pets that they are re-​homing. I have also only seen one animal showing signs of sickness here (A cat, kept in a seperate space, with a note that the cat would not be sold until she recovered)
If you prefer the antiseptic Pick-​A-​Pet type store, that’s fine with me, but I really haven’t see any true mistreament of these animals at Pick of the Litter. It seems like the other reviewers are letting a non-​traditional environment bother them more than anything else.

Bunch of dogs/​cats living like hamsters. And the last time I stopped in the staff was unfriendly. Please support legitimate rescues or real breeders.

The pets here are cute. I wish that the animals were not kept in fish tanks.

Disgusting. They claim not to work with puppy mills but sell dogs for $ 1,600.00 and keep them in fish tanks.
Last time we walked by they had a not-​for-​sale lemur, this time we were told it «retired»… It probably died of despair.

DISGUSTING!!!
Who puts dogs in fish aquariums?!
It’s disgusting that the mall allows this place to stay open.

There are lots of cute little animals in here but it smells like a barn and the whole thing stinks of a puppy mill or evil hybrid of walmart and the third level of animal hell. I like to think the animals all get good homes and are saved from this place.
Don’t stop in here. It will depress you even if you just want to see the kittens or the puppies.
Also weird: throughout the store there are hand-​made signs with disturbing political sayings on them. One of them suggested that we shouldn’t blame BP for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It was unclear who we should blame since it was mostly illegible but still you have to question the sanity of people running a pet store that spend time scribbling dozens of unintelligent things on crumpled pieces of paper instead of cleaning the place or taking care of the animals.