Puppy mill challenge
By Gina Spadafori
August 30, 2006
The HSUS is asking people to ask pet stores where their puppies come from, in an effort to educate people about puppy mills and large-scale commercial breeding operations. Here’s a piece on one reporter who took the challenge, and found the pet-store manager less than fully cooperative. Big surprise, no?
Listen, they can say "reputable breeder" all they want, but the fact is no reputable breeder would sell a puppy to a pet store. That’s because they want to make sure themselves that the puppy is placed in a proper home. And because they want to be in touch with the puppy buyers for life.
People who breed for pet stores — even the "good" ones who run clean, humane operations — are breeding "livestock" for sale, no strings attached. That’s not the best way to breed a family pet. As for puppy-millers … hell isn’t hot enough. (Many of them now sell direct to the public through Craig’s List and other online outlets.)
Educate yourself, and go to a shelter, rescue group or reputable breeder for a dog.
And check out my "No Christmas Puppies" blog series from a couple years ago.
I’d love it if you would do some blogging about the cost of purebreds, and how the puppy mills and pet stores are contributing to pet theft in this country.
I recently asked the cost of a puppy I saw in a store. $2500 was the answer. They offer financing.
Financing indeed. That’s a lot of money for a pup.
A true reputable breeder is most likely a show person. Someone showing dogs is breeding to breed standards. They are attempting, in fact, to breed supremely to standard. Any arguments about dog shows aside (I’m sure there are some who don’t approve), a show breeder has a reason to charge $2500 for a pup. This would be a pup who is “show quality”, and would be sold ONLY to someone who plans to show, and eventually breed, this perfect little dog. This pup is at the very pinnacle of its breed standard, and is sold, at that price, with a guarantee. As cold as it sounds, the dog’s guarantee not only is for his health, but is a guarantee against “faults” that would disqualify him in show. This dog would also come with a pedigree. That’s not dog food, that’s a family tree, showing where the champions and the grand champions of his breed lie in his heritage. Now THAT is a $2500 dog (price varying by breed and other things, of course)
That breeder is only going to have a small percentage of “show quality” among the litters. The rest are pet quality. They come with the same pedigree, and the same health guarantee - they just aren’t as “uniquely perfect” as their show quality sibling. These dogs are typically sold “to a good home” as “pet quality” - usually with an agreement to spay or neuter - and go for a price more like $200 - $300.
That price, really, is not paying for anything. They probably already spent that on shots at the vet, food, and time spent interviewing people like you as prospective owners. There’s no profit, and that’s the point.
So what are you getting at a pet store? First, we know it’s a puppy mill pup. This dog has no pedigree and you’ll never get to meet even one of the parents. If they offered a pedigree, it would have no champions, no grand champions, no show dogs at all. The parents weren’t even likely good pet candidates, as these breeders don’t care about temprament, inherited health issues, etc. They don’t even likely know how closely these two parents are related to each other - which is the original point of a pedigree. In fact, unless they bred the parents themselves, they probably have no clue what their lineage is even one generation back.
So this pup in the pet store window is clearly not a $2500 puppy. In fact, he doesn’t even meet the $250 standard for a “pet quality” pup from a reputable breeder. They should really sell him to you for $25 and offer financing for the thousands in vet bills you can expect in his future. Nevertheless, these pet stores play a big part in creating a standard “going rate” for these so-called purebreds. That going rate bleeds over into all aspects of a purebred’s world.
How many purebreds are stolen because of their perceived “value”? If dog theives didn’t think they could get big bucks for a stolen Husky, would anyone bother to steal her? After all, with no pedigree, she has only her looks to say she’s a real Siberian Husky. For all anyone knows, she’s a puppy mill dog with potential health problems and is certainly no candidate for breeding, given that they don’t know her lineage (plus the fact that she’s spayed, eh?), well, heck, I’ll give you $25 for that dog. I’ll keep the rest for her feeding and care and her vet bills.
Even some disreputable “dog rescue groups” have bought into this. In my area, there have been SPCA busts of “dog rescue” organizations that kept dogs in deplorable conditions. Why? They are all some kind of “pure bred” dog, or so the “collector” thinks, so they are worth money. When you try to adopt a dog from these types (I’ve been in touch with one just shortly before she was busted), the cost to adopt is in the thousands. Not because there are vet and care bills, which is fair enough, but because “a Shiba Inu is worth $3000, so $1700 is a deal”. No, a rescued Shiba Inu, forfeited for unknown reasons, with unknown age, is certainly not “worth” $2000, and I’m not even so sure that dog IS a Shiba Inu, maybe part. This practice is continuing to promote the “market” for even second hand purebreds of unknown origin. More value assigned to a purebred pup… ANY purebred pup. Even if it might not really be that breed!
So, with the “monetary value” accepted by so many potential buyers, and with so many profiting from it, why is it a surprise that the puppy mills keep grinding, the smugglers keep stuffing their trunks, and the theives keep stealing our beloved pets? It’s time to put a stop to the price gouging and start forcing breeders to actually BE reputable if they want a real profit!
Comment by Maeve — April 10, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
Speaking of pedigree, here is an interresting history of dog pedigree. Have a good perusal:
http://www.braquedubourbonnais.....digree.htm
Comment by Michael Comte — November 13, 2007 @ 9:16 am