"I'm not terribly informed about puppy mills, but if you are a person who wants to 'save' the poor little things, wouldn't you be all right buying and then taking them to the vet for a full health checkup? It absolutely breaks my heart that these puppies live like this, and then if no one buys them are likely put down."
I'm pretty sure that this is a common misconception. The dogs purchased in pet stores are generally the offspring of puppy mill dogs. Their parents, that are kept in nightmarish conditions in puppy mills for the purpose of breeding, are often killed or left to die when they can no longer reproduce. Most of them are in such terrible shape after being severely abused their entire lives that they can barely function. These are not the dogs that you see in your local puppy shop. They are often never even given the opportunity for a home. Never given a chance to roll around a bed, to fight over a sock monkey, or to even have a family. Can you imagine never having a bath, sleeping with a blanket, or receiving a hug in your entire life?
It's horrific.
The main reason that it's so important not to purchase a puppy from a newspaper advertisement, website, or pet store is because many of those organizations are supplied with puppies bred in puppy mills. Without demand, we put those folks out of business.
I've included a video that will help better explain the atrocities that happen in puppy mills. I would really appreciate if everyone would take a moment to watch it. I know it's sort of lengthy, but please watch the entire video if you can.
This website also provides startling and important information about what happens to the dogs that come from puppy mills.
If any of you have any experience with puppy mills, dog rescue, or animal abuse I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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15 comments:
I live in Missouri, one of the worst if not THE worst states for puppy mills. I have cried more tears than you know hearing/reading stories about local puppy mills that have been shut down and the dogs all had to be put down due to poor health. It literally SICKENS me to think about it.
Many times I feel so helpless like there is nothing I can do to help the poor little things that suffer their ENTIRE miserable lives. But THERE IS something you and I can do. Never ever purchase a dog from a backyard breeder or pet store. Adoption from a local shelter is the best way to make sure that we put puppy mills out of business!
Also, spread the word to your friends and family AND spay and neuter the pets that you already own!
Thank you for posting about this. I have dogs and am a firm believer in rescue myself, and I'm always surprised about how much misinformation there is about puppy mills and adoption in general. It's so important to support adoption and rescue efforts to help put an end to puppy mills. It's all about supply and demand - if the demand for puppy mill dogs is eliminated the mills won't have a business anymore.
I just wanted to add one more thing to be aware of: Backyard Breeders. There are so many people who "breed" dogs irresponsibly that it can be difficult to distinguish a reputable breeder from someone who is just in it for the extra money. Dogs aren't a product to be profited upon and shouldn't be treated as such. These "breeders" greatly contribute to the pet overpopulation problem that results in so many animals dying in shelters each year.
Kudos to you for getting the word out.
I totally agree with what these ladies are saying. And I have personally spent many many hours volunteering with my local SPCA and have adopted several shelter animals. But I do want to make one point.
While the best scenario if you are looking for a life long companion is always a shelter and I always suggest finding out if there is a "kill" shelter in your area and going there first. But I have also bought several pets from breeders. I do my research to verify their kennels are professional and well-kept and always visit the facilities before purchasing. My point is that another way to tear down the puppy mill business is to seek out reputable breeders that are papering their dogs and actually being humane to the animals. I have bought several English Bulldogs and my current Great Pyrenees from breeders who were just great. And when I say great, I mean their bitch only has at the most 3 liters and then she is a pet. The animals aren't kept in unsanity conditions and are treated like pets. If we give reputible breeders business that is another great way to take the profitablity out of the puppy mills. Great post!
If you ever read the Monks of New Skete's book of the Art of Raising a Puppy, you'll immediately realize the importance of a puppy's early life. THe environment of a puppy will impact its personality for the rest of its life.
I think there are two main acceptable venues for getting a dog: the humane society and responsible breeders. Some people have gotten mad at me for the second one, but here are my thoughts:
A responsible breeder generally will LOSE money on a litter. This is because they are breeding to find a dog for their own benefit, whether that be to show or to stud. Because of that, the parents will both be tested pre-conception, bloodlines will be known (no inter-breeding), the dogs are breed rarely (no exhausting the female irresponsibly), the puppies will have great care given to them immediately, as well as careful socialization, and the homes the "unwanted" puppies go to will be carefully chosen.
When we got our dog, we decided to go the responsible breeder route, and we were aghast at what ELSE was out there. Throwing two dogs together, having them mate, and then keeping the female in a shed does not constitute a responsible breeder. A breeder who does not let you see most of their facilities is not a responsible breeder (I say most because it's not good for people to poke around new puppies, so that obviously, is off-limits for a time).
Also, a lot of backyard, irresponsible breeders try to blind you with labels. Merely being AKC-registered dogs does not a good breeder make. It's relatively easy to get an AKC registered dog, but above that is more difficult.
How many dogs does the owner own? How uniform are they? Do they abide by the breed standard? Un-uniform dogs may be a good indicator of a breeder irresponsibly mating dogs.
We went to several breeders before deciding on the breeder we got our pup from, and I'm glad we did. We learned a LOT of telltale signs of irresponsible backyard dog breeding, and it was pretty appalling. Not as appalling as puppy mills, but they sure felt like low-key, lower-production puppy mills...
that is something that truly breaks my heart. i know it's bad to buy from breeders, as it takes away chances for shelter dogs, but part of me also wants to rescue those from puppy mills so they can be free of the terrible conditions. great post, and i hope you're having a lovely tuesday!
xo urban flea :)
http://www.urbanfleadesign.net
Big Boops, first, let me high five you for your volunteer work. You inspire me to do the same.
Second, I agree with you concerning reputable breeders. That's where Man-dog and Slaterbug came from. But in the future, I think we're going to steer towards adoption.
Third, THANK YOU for mentioning kill shelters. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Good point. I once met a dog at our local kill shelter that had been tattooed on his head! HOW AWFUL IS THAT?! They wouldn't let me adopt him because he was violent. (I'd be violent after that too, I think.) So he was put down. KILL SHELTERS SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE THE FIRST STOP.
Jessika, thanks for bringing up how emotionally scarred and traumatized these dogs and their offspring can be. It's terrible. Zoe came from a puppy mill, and had all sorts of socialization problems initially. For the first 6 months that I had her, all she did was lay in the closet and cry. Literally, cry and moan. It was awful. But she is THE BEST DOG EVER. Well, along with three others...
Oh my, I can't wrap my head around what goes on. Our little dog is just near insane when she hears anything that sounds like a gunshot. I've often wondered if it is from when she was a pup at the breeders, there is just something going on there that there is no denying. I am so pleased for your posts to let people know who may not.
I can't believe that puppy mills aren't criminal. The effects of trauma when they're little are just like with a child, aren't they Tina? Zoe has a thing with water. She's TERRIFIED of the sound of water. We were told she was hosed.
Oprah did a great show awhile back about puppy mills. I think it helped open many people's eyes to the reality of where those adorable puppies really come from. Even when it seems like it is a nice person selling an "accidental" litter of puppies in their back yard they often are a "front man" for a puppy mill. Sadly, I have seen this first hand. Even with backyard breeders, when those cute puppies reach about 12 weeks old they are "too old to sell" and often get dumped at the pound and euthanized. Trust me on this one! I have fostered many of these puppies!
Don't get me wrong.... mixed breeds are great and make some of the best dogs. But people have a misconception that there are only "mutts" in shelters/rescue and that they have to "buy" a puppy to get a specific breed. Even Oprah's newest puppy is a pure cocker spaniel that came out of a shelter!
Our puppy was a rescue dog, but of a kind of strange variety...we rescued her from a breeder who had a number of year and a half old dogs who had never been trained, in a house or met another human. A year and a half later we're working through a lot of social issues, but she's the most wonderful dog we could ever imagine. It's so sad to think about what these dogs went through, but I love seeing all these stories of puppies with real homes and real families now.
Kelly, thanks for posting about this. It's important and it's not talked about enough.
Barbara, I didn't know that Oprah's latest dog was a rescue. GO OPRAH! Who knew?
Cindy, it's kind crazy that we don't hear more about it, isn't it? It's a tragedy. I'm so glad to hear the progress that your dog has made. Is there anyway for you to report that breeder? I don't want her to continue harming dogs, you know?
Great topic - both of our dogs are from shelters and I wouldn't have it any other way.
P.S. you can't have too many dog posts :)
My dogs are both from shelters too. I would never go anywhere else. I also agree on you can't have too many dog posts. :)
I nominated you for a blog award. Go to my blog to check it out. Enjoy!
You all don't really want to be encouraging with the dog posts.
I'm warning you now.
We got our dog Beau as a foster from a breed rescue group and even though he was only 7 months old when he came to us there are still so many social issues we're working on with him. I can't imagine how awful it is for the poor dogs who spend years living lives like that.
Thanks for posting this; it's such a hard topic to write about but the only way we're going to get things to change is by being more vocal.
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