Today I was dismayed, but not really surprised to hear that the Drs Foster & Smith pet supply company is sharing (selling?) the personal data of their customers with the radical animal rights group the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

In this day and age it’s pretty much standard practice for companies to sell their customer database to 3rd parties though I personally find it a distasteful and unethical practice.  To have the information sold to a group well known for trying to cause the distinction of the family pet, the incarceration of all dog and cat breeders as criminals and destroying USA farmers this is unconscionable.

We are calling on all dedicated pet owners, breeders, exhibitors and animal lovers to boycott Drs. Foster & Smith and let them know that we will not tolerate this gross violation of our privacy.  I am sure they never asked a single customer if it was ok to share their home address, phone number and the survey information they gather on how many pets you own and if you are a breeder with the HSUS.  This information is vital to the HSUS’s efforts to stage animal raids where they break into property and steal animals from law-abiding citizens.  They also use this information, I am sure, to tabulate the statistics they use with legislators when they try to get anti-pet legislation passed.

I am not sure i will ever trust Drs. Foster & Smith again even if they were to change their policy today.  This also makes me highly suspicious and worried about the other companies I do business with including Pet Smart (their Pet Perks card asks for your address), and some other online suppliers.  It makes me love my local livestock supply store that never invades my privacy but always has a friendly store with products I love.

If you have information on any other pet supply companies that are selling or sharing our information without permission please post it in a comment below.  We need to help one another to be safe.  I will be posting updates as I call each company asking about their policy regarding our privacy.

We will also post a list for our puppy buyers, and our readers, of companies that indicate they will keep your information private and protect their customers.  Hopefully it will be a long list but we’ll only find out by investigation.  Wish us luck!

More information:

Article on the HSUS and the rest of the Animal Rights Industry.