Puppy Mills. What do YOU think they are?

[junescrater716]

I found this website and it's quite interesting! The question popped up, What is a puppy mill? This is what they said...

So what is a PUPPY MILL anyway? A puppy mill has many definitions and could be any one of the following depending on who you talk to:

○Someplace that keeps one or more breeds and continually has puppies for sale.

○An unhealthy, disgusting place where one or more breeds are kept in deplorable conditions and again puppies are continually available.

○Somewhere a single breed is kept in healthy condition and puppies are continually available.

○A place where many dogs are raised, where the sole purpose of breeding is for financial gain instead of for betterment of the breed, and the puppies are sold to anyone, including brokers or pet stores;

○ As many dogs as possible are kept in the smallest space feasible with minimal contact.

In my opinion I find nothing wrong with buying dogs or kittens from pet stores. You will only be saving the puppy or kitten. Puppy mills will NEVER EVER go out of buisness so you might as well buy the animals from pet stores otherwise they will be PTS anyway. What do you think about pet stores? Here is more info on puppy mills. ▼

http://ndrc.tripod.com/puppy.htm

[Karen]

I will never, ever buy a pup from a pet store. You are only perpetuating the puppy mill business. You are not "saving" that pup, you are condemning it's parents to another round of being bred. Think of it that way.

Thinking that "there will always be puppy mills" is defeatist. Did folks listen when "people" said "women will never get the vote?" Did folks listen when "people" said "blacks aren't human beings?" No. They faought to change the prevailing attitude. We can do the same.

[junescrater716]

Yes but if no one buys the puppy it will eventually be put to death.

[NicoleLJ]

First off I would never ever buy a dog from a pet store. I want to see the parents and know how it was raised and so on.

Here are my definitions.

Breeder - Someone who has more then 3 breeding dogs(whether female or male). Does all the health testing, titles their dogs either by showing or trials or both. Breeds for the over all dog(temperment, health, structure, intelligence). Makes sure the dogs they have have the best of everything including time and love. Has contracts to back up her dogs, is very picky on who gets their dogs, requires spay/neuter of all pet quality dogs. All their dogs are registered. Would never breed a famlae more then 3 times. Would never breed before the age of two or after teh age of 6. The list goes on.

Hobby Breeder - The same as above but has 3 or less breeding dogs. I would be classed as this.

Back Yard Breeder (BYB) - Someone who just has one or two dogs and goes to the closest person who looks like they might have the same breed and breeding them. Rarely has registration papers for their dog or for the puppies. Does no health testing. gives no garentees and sells their pups for next to nothing or free.

Puppymill - has many dogs and many breeds. Gives them as minimal care as possible. Just enough to keep them alive and keep them breeding. breeds as soon as possible, on every heat for as long as possible. does not health testing. Many times has falsified registration papers or is registered with fake registries. Does not do any of the things a Breeder should do. The dogs are usually sick and diseased. They are in it to make as much money as quickly as possible. The list goes on.

Those are my definitions.
Nicole

[junescrater716]

Our pug Curly traveled to so many different states before he came to us. It was meant to be and a miracle that he isn't already dead from being shipped to so many different pet stores.

[junescrater716]

If you fall in love with a dog like we did don't you think it wise to buy it?

[cmayer31]

It's strange that I can copy / paste on of my old posts, but my thoughts are exactly the same as the first time.

I agree that petstore puppies need homes too. However, look at it from a retail point of view. A puppy to a petstore is an unit of inventory. This inventory is based on available supply from the breeder and gross margin return on investment. This means that these retailers are looking for what is in demand in the current market, so they're looking at designer breeds with fancy names. The lowest cost from a contracted breeder is determined on the purchase and then the markup will be whatever the market will provide. This unit of inventory is then set for sale and will esentially auto-replenish once the first unit sold. This will stop when that particular model is no longer in demand, and they will switch inventory tactics to a new model after clearancing the not selling unit out.

Buying from a petstore just confirms that there is a market for more inventory.

Sorry to refer to puppies as inventory, I know they are loving caring animals that need a home, however this is how petstores see them. I'll only shop at petstores that supports adoption for dogs and cats and work with human societies and rescues. I will never shop from a store that sell puppies/kittens for profit.

[Suki Wingy]

all of the above are a mill. Caring more for $ than for the animals is generally what defines a miller for me. If you buy a pup from a pet store, he won't die but It'll mean a whole nother litter will be born and also suffer. You also pay a whole lot more than from a rescue and also more than the average good breeder, but most likley spend lots of $ extra on vet bills. Of all of the dogs from pet stores I've met, they've all been sick at one point that normal other puppies don't usually have.

[LilacDragon]

In my opinion I find nothing wrong with buying dogs or kittens from pet stores. You will only be saving the puppy or kitten. Puppy mills will NEVER EVER go out of buisness so you might as well buy the animals from pet stores otherwise they will be PTS anyway. What do you think about pet stores? Here is more info on puppy mills. ▼

If a pet store has ten puppies that it can't sell for a profit, it will not order more. Yes, those 10 puppies might die (they don't - they are often returned to the Class A dealer that they were purchased from or marked down continually until they are sold at cost - making $0 for the petstore) but that cage is full and another puppy isn't ordered to fill it.

If you want to kid yourself into thinking that you saved that puppy - go for it. But remember, somewhere in the U.S. is a dog that lives in a cage, pumping out puppies at least twice a year, that never sees a vet, never sees the sun, sleeps in it's own feces and dies alone.

Do yourself, and your puppy a favor and go to www.petshoppuppies.com and request a breeder search. You will be able to find out what the USDA inspections said and what kind of hell your puppy came from. After you find out - remember that your puppies mother lives there every single day - probably for her whole life.

[junescrater716]

it's true that most pet store dogs are sick. Curly had kennel cough when we brought him home. But still in my opinion, all dogs are worthy of homes even if they are from pet stores.

[Suki Wingy]

what about the dogs used for breeding those dogs? They certainly don't have anything like a home even though they officially do.

[wolfsoul]

Yes but if no one buys the puppy it will eventually be put to death.

I'd rather have puppies put to sleep than their parents tortured again and again. Euthanization is quick and painless. Being bred year after year, heat after heat, in deplorable conditions, covered in fleas and lice, living in your own excrement -- does that sound better than a quick death? Of course not. Most pet stores dump leftover puppies at shelters.

Everybody has a different opinion on what a puppy mill is. We all picture animals living in cages, being bred every heat to anything and everything, very unhealthy, etc. What if it were a breeder that shows, works and trials, health certifies, and breeds registered show and working stock? Well it sounds good. What if this breeder bred 6 different breeds? What if this breeder had 8 litters a year? But they are still breeding registered, health certified, show and working animals with good health, good conformation, and good working ability. What is it then?

[junescrater716]

I don't understand if puppies in puppy mills are so terrible why do most organizations brand them like AKC,ACA,CAC,etc. Shouldn't they keep an eye on the puppy mill?

[wolfsoul]

I don't understand if puppies in puppy mills are so terrible why do most organizations brand them like AKC,ACA,CAC,etc.

Most registries are only in it for the money. CKC is one of the few that will not register pet shop puppies -- it is illegal.

[LilacDragon]

I certainly don't mean to be rude but it boggles my mind that someone can look at a pet shop puppy and not give a single thought to where it came from.

I know a woman who has a double dapple doxie that she rescued from a puppymill (a friend who knew she had tried to rescue this dog on two seperate occasions bought her at an auction). This dog was born stone deaf and without eyes - just empty sockets. She was sold at auction as a puppy for a very high price because she was a double dapple. At the second auction, she went for a higher price because she was an excellent mother!

My mother has a pet shop puppy that she says she "rescued". It has a skin condition that it will be treated for for it's entire life. Goodness only knows what is wrong with the mother. His skin condition is genetic.