Pets Paradise

I’m a sucker for gambolling puppies with their big feet and wet eyes. When I walked by this shop on my way home from work, I would gaze at the puppies playing in the window. Having two dogs at home made it impossible to contemplate a third, but still it couldn’t hurt to look, right?
Wrong! In recent years, the RSPCA has highlighted the problem with pet shops sourcing their puppies through puppy factories. Now many pet shops will claim that their puppies have come from accredited breeders and not puppy mills but still, there are a lot of media reports and ex-​employee testimonials contradicting these claims. The problem is there are highly inflated stories on both side of the fence and without proper government regulation, it’s hard to get to the truth.
So if you are looking to buy a puppy, follow the latest RSPCA guidelines which can be found here:
In the meantime, don’t buy a puppy from any pet shop without first being able to visit the breeding facility to see the conditions for yourself. If they claim to be using accredited breeders, they should be able to provide contact address to substantiate their claims.
My rule of thumb is, if they are not transparent with where they are sourcing their breeds, I will not support their shop even when it comes to buying pet accessories.

It doesn’t help that I once worked so many years ago for 1 week in a Pets Paradise similar to this one. It’s the only one in the massive Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, and with the location right down the escalators and next to the new Harvey Norman, it isn’t shy of people.
The store is small, it’s tiny, it gets crowded and there are puppies here usually that look so sad. The puppies also get rotated between the Pets Paradise if they aren’t sold after a certain amount of time, and sadly Indooroopilly Pets Paradise have always had a lot of puppies that were bigger ones.
Also, they tend to cram a fair few into the glass prisons they call pet windows and although i’m sure they tend to sell some puppies, I’m not a huge fan of the cramped environments they are selling dogs and cats in.
There is quite a limited range of guinea pigs, birds and fish at the back of the store, if you can squeeze in, but just don’t go there.

I’m not someone who goes insane with cooing over a baby but I can’t resist animals. Especially puppies, and Pets Paradise’s main showcase is packed with puppies.
The puppies at this particular Pets Paradise seem to be more of the «designer dog» type than those of the other Pets Paradises I have visited. The main four front cages usually only designate one to kittens (which are always gorgeous) and the rest to fashionable dogs, such as Pomchis (Pomeranian-​Chihuahua crosses) and Maltipoos (Maltese-​Poodle crosses). Such dogs go for anywhere between $ 400-​$ 900 a pop. Or pup. (Sorry.)
The store is packed with stuff for your pets, with some especially impressive jungle-​gym arrangements for cats. There’s also a wide range of dog treats if you own one of those rare dogs who don’t like Smackos (mine is one).
I’ve heard stories in the news about puppy farms (where dogs are illegally bread in inadequate conditions) and the large percentage of pet stores in Australia that buy from these farms. I sincerely hope Pets Paradise is not one of these stores.