Shakopee Valley News - National pet store chain linked to puppy mills - Comments

I enjoy good and healthy

Pat Minelli — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:37:23 -0600

I enjoy good and healthy debate and discussion. The editorial pages are my favorite part of newspapers. That's one of the things that make this country great. I know people don't always agree with or understand some things, but I can tell you we are committed to doing the best job possible.

This is fun. I love this

kidjon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:32:05 -0600

This is fun. I love this back and forth bantering. America is great.

This is fun. I love this

kidjon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:31:45 -0600

This is fun. I love this back and forth bantering. America is great.

Pat, You're right, it works

Philip Oliver Hole — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:27:22 -0600

Pat,

You're right, it works both ways. More often than not, against the right. With that, you and I will have to agree to disagree. I am with Robert and kidjon on this one. By the way, Robert did not say you were in a hole; I did.

Hello, Pat T.

Or it could be, for example,

Pat Minelli — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:55:38 -0600

Or it could be, for example, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his staff claiming election-count irregularities, and the media promptly reporting the accusations, and then the response from the Franken campaign.

It works both ways.

Well that was fun reading.

kidjon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:45:56 -0600

Well that was fun reading. It sounds similar to the national mainstream media. A Democrat politician or democrat friendly group hold a press conference and will say something like this; "Republican Senator So and So wants to starve women and children because of his policies". The national media then goes on the air and they say this; "Today, Democrat politician Snuffy accused republican Senator So and So of wanting to starve women and children due to his policies". And that is the news story! And it constantly happening with the Republicans being on the wrong side of that type of reporting.

I have to concur with Mr Thibodeaux

And there you have it folks!

PAT T LAND — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:23:33 -0600

And there you have it folks! Thib and Minelli tied at 5 apiece, With Philip Oliver coming in with a slight lead over yours truely

We published accusations

Pat Minelli — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:05:22 -0600

We published accusations made at a national news conference by a national organization. We published the national news release provided by a national chain of stores.

Both sides were heard regarding the initial claims. At this point, that's all we know. If more information is released, we'll publish that information as well -- and any response from the other side.

I'm not in any hole, Robert. But we'll continue to dig on local news stories as well as we can.

Meanwhile, I understand WCCO-TV is planning a story on an alleged puppy mill. (Not sure about this.) You might want to watch for it and keep your fingers limber because the Humane Society is involved in the story, I believe.

Pat, That was my original

Robert Thibodeaux — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:43:10 -0600

Pat,
That was my original point. Sloppy reporting.

You published a fund raising press release and then at the end tacked on the fact that the information was disputed.

What is missing is any background on the source of the accusations.

I was able to do a two minute search and discovered that the Humane Society has an established history of sensationalized stories like these that have very little basis in facts.

But the reason I am concerned at this for more than just journalistic reasons - this is not just some random National story.

This story could directly impact a local business and the jobs of local people.

To publish accusations like this without any corroboration is very irresponsible.

Pat, I think the saying

Philip Oliver Hole — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:29:54 -0600

Pat,

I think the saying goes, "When in a hole, stop digging".

Robert: As with many news

Pat Minelli — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:16:53 -0600

Robert: As with many news items, we published a representation of one party's charge, and a representation of the accused party's response. A national organization said this. A national chain of stores responded by saying that.

We did not "investigate" what either side said in an attempt to find out what is true. That would be impossible to do with the dozens of similar stories that are published each month. But both sides had their say. We were fair. That's what is important. If bigger news organizations choose to investigate, they will.

Pat, What you are saying is

Robert Thibodeaux — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:04:42 -0600

Pat,
What you are saying is you published a story that is one groups opinion without corroboration
(a group with an established history of sensationalism for fund raising and they point to there own sources, not independent sources)

What I responded with were not accusations, they are established facts (with primary and secondary sources).

By the way, what was your credible source and second source?

As the story said: The

Pat Minelli — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:33:25 -0600

As the story said:

The Humane Society said today ...

... and the response: In a statement, Petland says the company does not support substandard breeding facilities and provides each store with guidelines on humane care of animals.

We briefly described what the society said. We briefly ran the company's response. The headline is accurate.

Has the humane society responded to the five accusations you outlined? Will you post those too?

It was the sensational

Robert Thibodeaux — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:31:48 -0600

It was the sensational headline and 0% corroboration other than the press release.

As for credible: Do New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post and Humane Society count?

Here are a few of many sources I used:
#1) Worth Magazine.
You can look the numbers up yourself and do the math.
A number of other sites also have similar info.

#2) New York Times August 2, 2007 and again Feb 2, 2008

#3) Again, you can look at HSUS site and find Goodwin. Then find ALF own supporters papers (Animal People News for one) that profile the same person as the ALF spokesman.

#4) LA Times July 2008

#5) Washington Post March 2006

So, what were your credible second sources?

Again, the story was about 2

Pat Minelli — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:43:06 -0600

Again, the story was about 2 percent of the press release by the Humane Society. The response from the company was also abbreviated. But we did include a response.

Regarding sources: Perhaps you missed a word from your journalism pals in college: credible.

One can list 100 sources, especially from Internet sites and groups with political bents. The "source" of the sources speaks volumes to the veracity of the information.

National pet store chain linked to puppy mills

Pat Minelli — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:13:57 -0600

The Humane Society said today that Petland stores are selling puppies from so-called puppy mills, but telling customers that the dogs come from good breeders.

The animal-protection group made the charges at a news conference in Washington after an eight-month investigation of the chain. It involved 21 Petland stores, including two Minnesota stores, and dozens of breeders and brokers.