PET SHOP SAMPLE LETTER

Below is a sample letter that you can send to a pet shop that sells animals. Please personalise it to make it relevant to the specific shop that you’re addressing. You’re welcome to add anything else that you find relevant and important.  
You can e-mail it to them (check their website for contact details), send it to them on Instagram or via Facebook messenger, or even via the “Contact Us” form on their website. Use whichever platform works best for you. Copy the text below and use it as a starting point if you’re not sure what to say.  You can also download the letter here.
 
Dear Pet Shop owner, 
I’ve noticed that your shop sells (ADD THE TYPES OF ANIMALS HERE).
I would like to urge you to stop the sale of all animals in your shop. Pet shops should be selling pet products, NOT PETS! 
You may not be aware that the rescue shelters are overflowing with abandoned, surrendered and unwanted pets.. There is a constant “oversupply” of pets waiting to be adopted. 
This animal overpopulation crisis is caused in part by pet shop selling animals, often to people who are buying a pet on impulse with no consideration for what it takes to take care of that animal.  They are often not told upfront about how much it will cost to have that animal sterilised. If they are not prepared for this cost, they do not sterilise the animal and end up with an unwanted litter of babies.
Due to lack of proper staff training, animals of the same gender are often housed together at pet shops, which means that you can end up buying an animal that is already pregnant. This often happens with rats and rabbits.
When people buy an animal from a pet shop, there is no contract in place that compels them to have their pet sterilised to avoid unwanted babies. Rescue organisations, on the other hand, not only make sure that home checks are done to make sure that the animals go to a good home, but also that animals are sterilised before adopting them out. They also provide advice and support to new pet owners to make sure the animals get the best care, and don’t end up back at the shelter.
As a pet shop owner, I assume that you care about animals and have their best interest at heart. It would be great if, instead of selling animals, you would refer people who would like to adopt a pet to any of the animal rescue organisation who are desperate for good pet owners. These pet owners will still buy their pet food and other products from you.
Please let me know what I can expect your shop to stop selling animals. 
If I do not hear back from you soon, and if you continue to sell animals, I will be calling on all animal lovers to boycott your shop.  (You can leave this kind of thing out for the first communication if you’re trying to keep it friendly.)
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards.
YOUR NAME HERE
Click here to download a .pdf version of the letter.