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Oh no... a pet store...
I really wish there was a way we could make people understand
never to buy from a pet store under any circumstances. There
have been those puppy mill reports on the 20/20 type programs
for years, but they don't really seem to accomplish much other
than perhaps get some ratings for the network.
We have a new pet
store in our mall... just too cute... all the puppies in
cribs... How appealing to
the maternal instincts of their buyers! What a fantastic
marketing tactic! As a breeder and judge
I was appalled by the lack of quality and what I considered
mediocre health of the puppies. Certainly a number weren't
even purebred, but what could I do? Stand outside the door
like a mad person preaching about the pitfalls of puppy mill
puppies and the horrors of puppy mills? Of course not, so I
turned and left, but not without making a few loud comments
about the puppies, mills etc to my husband!
The biggest problem
with pet stores is where they get their puppies. No reputable
breeder will ever sell to a pet store under any
circumstances. If a reputable breeder had an emergency and
needed to get rid of their puppies they would ask for help
from other breeders and receive it. If there is a puppy in a
pet store you can bet it is from a mill. The mills sell their
puppies for approximately $50 to a broker and the broker then
resells the puppy to the pet shop. At $50 per puppy it
doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the "quality" of
care given to the puppies and their parents! Once in awhile
you might find a backyard breeder selling to a pet store, but
this is rare - usually they advertise in the paper. The
biggest reason for this is that if a pet store wants a dog
they want it NOW and only large commercial breeders have a
puppy available at virtually all times.
The sad part for the
consumer is that they're paying a premium price for an
inferior dog whom they fall in love with and often end up
spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars in vet bills in
an attempt to heal their pet. Or perhaps they end up selling
their pet or placing it in rescue, because they just can't
live with the temperament. Either way it usually ends up
being a heartbreaking situation for the owner and the only one
who benefits is the pet store and mill.
However, the saddest
part to me is the dogs. Not the puppies - the adult dogs.
They are kept in abominable conditions never knowing love,
cleanliness or any quality of life. It's a life sentence in
the worst jail imaginable and it breaks my heart. Just imagine
being kept isolated, in filth, barely fed and constantly
pregnant. Every time a puppy is purchased from a pet store
it's another life sentence to a dog, because the buyer has
just created a market demand for the puppies that
dog will produce. There is only ONE way to stop puppy mills
and that's to stop pet stores from selling puppies! I
don't know if we'll ever get that to happen... It seems the
government, PETA and other lobbyists are more interested going
after the little breeder rather than shutting down the puppy
mills. Politicians are quick to come up with bills limiting
breeding rights and "taxing" litters. The problem is the fees
are prorated and the bills are written in such a way that they
harm the small breeder and have little if any effect on the
mills. The more dogs you have the cheaper the fees... They
don't want to go after the big guys. So it's going to come
down to consumer awareness and consumer voice.
So many times I've
heard "I had to save him." I think what I'm going to say in
response from now on is "Yes, you saved him, but what about
his parents and his future siblings? By saving him you've
sealed many more to his fate." The key to saving these
dogs is to stop buying puppies from pet stores. We can also
take a further step, one many breeders already take... We can
stop buying anything from pet stores who sell puppies and
kittens. That means no supplies, no small animals -
NOTHING!! There are other stores and internet sellers who
sell supplies, but not puppies.
So, lets take a
stance for the dogs' sake... Lets say NO MORE MILLS!
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