1967 headquarters chillicothe ohio key people ed kunzelman founder and chairman subsidiaries aquarium adventure website www.petland.com petland is a privately owned operator and franchisor of pet stores based in chillicothe ohio . 1 ed kunzelman founded the company in 1967 . petland currently operates 131 stores in the united states and at least 63 in foreign markets including south africa canada japan china mexico brazil and el salvador . 2 3 contents 1 history 1.1 aquarium adventure 2 charitable programs 2.1 pets in the classroom 2.2 adopt a pet 3 animal welfare 4 references 5 external links history edit petland was started in 1967 when ed kunzelman opened up his first store in chillicothe ohio . the company originally owned and operated pet stores in ohio west virginia and kentucky . in the early 1980s petland began expanding its presence in canada and entered foreign markets . 3 by 2008 petland had become a 50 million company with about 230 stores . petland sells products and services worth about 300 000 000 in the united states south africa canada japan and mexico . the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent public relations issues have drastically affected petland . petland currently operates 84 domestic locations down from over 140 stores just a few years ago . 4 the company currently sells birds fish small animals puppies and kittens . aquarium adventure edit aquarium adventure is a wholly owned subsidiary of petland . ed kunzelman was founded it in 1995 after working with bill wymard a petland franchisee and marine biologist on developing a concept for an aquatics only store . they both saw that there was demand for a non petland branded aquatics only pet store in major metro markets 5 charitable programs edit pets in the classroom edit petland participates in the pets in the classroom program of the pet care trust . this program was established to give teachers additional resources to acquire and care for classroom animals . teachers can get grants for new animals pet environments food and other supplies . this program started in 2010 . as of july 2014 40 111 grants had been issued . 6 adopt a pet edit under the adopt a pet program started in 1998 petland staff work with animal shelters animal rescue groups and individual activists to place homeless animals including puppies dogs kittens cats and various small animals in homes . many petland locations use their storefronts to display these animals . this program also raises money for animal welfare organizations . this program has homed hundreds of thousands of pets . these pets receive basic veterinary care and vaccinations before being placed . in some cases adoptive families are charged a small fee for de sexing . generally intact pets are sent home with a certificate good for a free spay or neuter at a local veterinary clinic . some petland stores micro chip all participating animals . 7 animal welfare edit petland claims they do not source from puppy mills . and obtain puppies from usda licensed and inspected breeders with clean records hobby breeders with three or fewer breeding females and animal rescue organizations . 8 many petland locations only offer dogs from animal welfare organizations . 9 despite these claims many have critizised petland for their treatment of pets sparking outrage and upset . references edit petland information petland corporate history a b kent matthew 30 november 2013 . city panel assists with efforts . chillicothe gazette . ohio . supporting the human animal bond . retail digital . retrieved 10 december 2010 . about aquarium adventure pets in the classroom grant program to accept applications . the times leader . mcleansboro illinois . 22 july 2014 . ison jona 3 february 2013 . sunday s top story rescues concerned by humane society s ban on cats . chillicothe gazette . ohio . sotonoff jamie 10 march 2015 . puppy one for profit chain says regulations dictate its sales . chicago daily herald . illinois . fuoco linda 26 october 2010 . adopt that doggie in the window ; it s a good thing to do ; animals in east liberty petland store to come from shelters . pittsburgh post gazette . united states . external links edit petland inc. official partners aquarium adventure retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title petland & oldid 728560770 categories retail companies established in 1967companies based in ohiopet stores1967 establishments in ohiopets in the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 6 july 2016 at 04 33 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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