Ever seen puppies and kittens at flea markets? In pet stores? Ads in the paper and on popular internet trading sites (ebay, craigslist, kijiji...)? Chances are, if you have, the faces behind those ads were puppymillmasters and backyard breeders. These are people or associations with NO business producing more animals when so many are wasting away in shelters and being euthanized - in essence, being punished for being alive.
There are many FANTASTIC articles about puppy mills, but they take forever to read and most don't have the time or desire to go through the entire things. That being said, here are some quick facts about homeless pets, and buying from pet stores/mills/internet/newspaper ads:
+Only the public can stop the cruel cycle of puppy mills by refusing to buy the puppies that keep these kinds of breeders in business.
from stoppuppymills.org -
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Puppy mills are nothing new. These mass dog-breeding operations have been around for decades. They continue to thrive because they prey on unwitting consumers who are smitten by too-cute-for-words puppies in pet store windows and on fancy websites."
+ puppy mill "breeding stock," -
dogs who live their entire lives in cages and are continually bred for years without human companionship and with little hope of ever becoming part of a family - receive little or no veterinary care and never see a bed, a treat or a toy. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are commonly killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. The annual result of all this breeding is hundreds of thousands of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems.
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Several hundred thousand puppies are shipped cross-country to be sold in pet shops, but many are sold via newspaper classifieds or Internet sites and are often accompanied by false claims such as, "We'd never sell puppies from a puppy mill" or promises that the puppies are "home raised," farm raised," or "raised with kids/grandkids." The ploys of the puppy mill are designed to dupe a well-intentioned family into buying a puppy and keeping the engine of cruelty working overtime.
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Pet stores say: "Our puppies come from breeders, not puppy mills."
Understand that the word "breeder" is not an exclusive term. Anyone who puts two dogs together and produces puppies is, technically, a breeder. So don't assume that a puppy from a "breeder" did not come from a puppy mill. A responsible breeder would not sell her puppies to a pet store; she would want to meet you in person.
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Pet stores say: "We know our breeders are not puppy mills because we only deal with breeders we know." If a pet store manager tells you this, ask to see documentation that shows exactly where their breeders are located. In most cases, you will find out that the breeders they "know" are in distant places. The store manager's definition of "knowing" a breeder often just means that he or she has been receiving shipments of puppies from the same place repeatedly. In most cases, the owner or manager has never visited the breeder's facility or inspected their records.
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They say: "Our store's puppies are healthy—they come with a health certificate from a licensed veterinarian." A health certificate only means that the puppy has had a very brief "wellness" examination by a veterinarian. This examination does not include testing the puppy or his or her parents for genetic disorders, or testing for diseases such as Giardia and Brucellosis, both of which are contagious to humans and are frequently seen in puppy mill puppies.
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They say: "Our puppies come with a health guarantee."
Read "health guarantees" very carefully. They are often designed to protect the store's interests more than yours. They can be full of exclusions and loopholes, and often require you to return a sick puppy to the store in order to get a refund. Furthermore, the store management will often use the puppy's "health certificate" as "proof" that the animal was healthy when he or she left the store, leaving the buyer helpless if the puppy becomes sick just a few days after purchase.
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They say: "Consumers know our puppies are from good breeders because they are registered and come with papers." "Purebred" registration papers (from one of many "kennel clubs" or other dog registries) are only a record of a puppy's parents (and sometimes earlier generations). Puppy mills routinely sell puppies with papers from prestigious sounding "kennel clubs." Registration papers do nothing to ensure that an individual puppy (or his or her parents) is healthy or free of genetic defects, or that they were raised in a humane and sanitary environment.
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They say: "We know this is a good breeder. We've never had a problem with any of their puppies." Keep in mind that even facilities with mostly healthy puppies and problem-free inspection reports are keeping dozens or even hundreds of breeding dogs in cages for their entire lives. These parent dogs live behind bars from birth until death, without ever feeling grass under their feet, enjoying a treat or toy, or having loving human contact or proper veterinary care. They are bred repeatedly until they can no longer reproduce, and then they are discarded.
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Avoid the temptation to "rescue" a puppy mill puppy by buying him. Even though your intentions may be good, don't buy a puppy with the idea that you are "rescuing" him or her. Your "rescue" opens up space for another poor puppy mill puppy and puts money into the pockets of the puppy mill. Pet stores won't leave their cages empty and websites won't leave their pages blank. The money you spend on your puppy goes right back to the puppy mill operator and ensures they can continue breeding and treating dogs inhumanely. If you see someone keeping puppies in poor conditions, alert your local animal control authorities instead of buying.
+Just because a website says the animals are "home raised" or "family raised" doesn't make it true. Many puppy mill operators pose as small family breeders online and in newspaper and magazine ads.
Have you read enough yet? No?
Mkay, go here now. http://www.stoppuppymills.org/survivor_stories.html
PHOTOS: http://canine-world.com/mills.html
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