Buyers and ‘rescuers’ of puppy-mill pets keep cruelty flowing
By Gina Spadafori
November 23, 2008
Over on Raised by Wolves blog, dog trainer and SAR dog handler Heather Houlihan lays it all out for anyone who’a thinking of patronizing the sick, immoral and inhumane puppy-mill industry with a pet store puppy purchase this holiday season. It’s an absolute must read:
‘Tis the season in which puppymills make their profits. What consumers do in the next month determines whether Amos and Ada fire up the puggle factory for spring production, or cut their losses and go back to making oak furniture and rhubarb preserves. You decide whether March sees the opening of a shiny new GNC in that mall slot, or another year of shivering Yorki-poos behind glass.
[...]
We can only repeat, over and over again: If it is for sale in a pet store, it came from a puppymill. If it came from a puppymill (and it did, it did — do you get this? — it did), its genetics are highly suspect, its early environment was impoverished, it has been stressed and exposed to communicable disease before its immune system developed, it is at ultra-high risk of becoming a dog with serious, unfixable health and behavior problems, and you will get no help or sympathy from the seller when it does. You are buying an expensive heartbreak for yourself and your family. Furthermore, you — you personally — are perpetuating animal cruelty that would make you puke if you saw it, heard it, smelled it. You and your Visa card have sentenced this puppy’s mother, father, and their now-inevitable successors in the puppy production line to continued lives of unremitting misery.
Do not believe the lies of the super-kyoot clerk. This puppy did not come from a “reputable breeder.” (Except in the sense that “reputation” used to carry when my mother was in high school.) No reputable, ethical, caring, competent, knowledgeable breeder ever sells a puppy through a pet store, broker, or any third party to persons unknown. Never. Never ever. The person or corporation who owns this puppy’s unfortunate mother does not give a rat’s ass about his mother, the puppy, or any part of you that is not backed by Citibank.
And a clean, sanitized, concrete-and-stainless, passed-USDA-inspection “commercial kennel” is still a puppymill. (If a breeding kennel is large enough to be USDA-licensed — it is a puppymill.) Regular use of bleach is not indicative of love for, knowledge of, or commitment to, the
production unitsbreeding animals caged there, nor for theirproductspuppies or the unseensuckersbuyers.
Don’t buy a a puppy from a pet store or from a direct-from-the-puppy-mill Web site. Not because they’re cute, and not because “she needs me.”
The only thing that will stop the mass-production of puppies in high-volume commercial kennels is when buyers say, “We’re not supporting this anymore.” And that’s the only thing that will ever shut it down.
Do you care about animals? Don’t support cruelty. Adopt from a shelter or rescue group or buy from a reputable, ethical, responsible breeder. Don’t buy from a pet store. No excuses.
Is anyone selling bumper stickers or decals that have an anti-puppy mill message? That’s one way to put the message out there on a continuous basis.
Imagine if most of the people in a community who are involved with rescue, shelters, non-puppy selling pet shops, dog training and the vets, plus their employees, along with dog or pet owners who Get It, had the sticker on their car or in their window. It would help frame the issue properly.
Comment by Susan Fox — November 23, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Susan, try Prisoners of Greed, NoPuppyMills, and
Pet Store Cruelty thru google for bumper stickers. Or, instead your might want to use DogPile as your search engine, as they are saying they will donate a percentage of their revenues to ASPCA.
Comment by Anne T — November 23, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
Thanks, Anne!
Comment by Susan Fox — November 23, 2008 @ 2:27 pm
Very disappointing. Nothing like what I wanted on any of the sites. Maybe I’ll dust off my graphic design skills, do something myself and offer it through my Cafepress store. Proceeds to the shelter I volunteer for.
Can I get some ideas for a general anti-puppy mill/backyard breeder bumpersticker, preferably smart, snappy and thought-provoking? You guys are bright and I know you can some up with something great.
Comment by Susan Fox — November 23, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Susan … I will be first in line to buy one if you do. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 23, 2008 @ 5:50 pm
You’re on. Let’s see what folks come up with :-)
Comment by Susan Fox — November 23, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
I’ve got a “No Puppy Mills” and a Rescue ribbon on my truck’s tailgate, both that support PA rescues, but I’d buy something snappy from Susan in a minute.
This puppy mill thing just never ends — I run a e-list for our dog park and just had someone who wanted to “surprise her husband” with a Golden puppy and couldn’t we help her find someone as the last breeder wanted references?
I thought the responses from the dog trainers and rescue folks were quite restrained, polite and helpful, but she ended up e-mailing both me and list about how she “didn’t appreciate being lectured” “had already looked on PetFinder” and how “unhelpful” we were. (This, after, me, not a retriever person, [sorry, Gina!], looks on PetFinder and finds two different Golden [probably mix] puppies not 10 miles from my house that even I would have considered.}
I hear from her again, she’s getting URLs for both Terrierman and Raised by Wolves posts on picking a dog. Grit our teeth and educate, I guess.
Comment by Dorene — November 23, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
The other problem is USDA auctions. Some breed clubs (which I won’t name) would attend these auctions to buy ‘their’ breed in order to ‘rescue’ them. Unfortunately, that practice just perpetuates the problem as well.
When I was a kid, you’d see puppies in the pet shop window from time to time. These were mixed-breed pups, usually from around the corner because an owner messed up. They usually cost $10 or $10, it was a public service in a way because in those days dogs/puppies got 3 days to be adopted and then it was curtains.
In the late 60s, purebred pups started showing up in pet shops, one of each kind. “Hmmm”, I thought, “What is going on here?” Were these pups not up to snuff so they couldn’t be kept with the family?
It’s quite astounding that after 25+ years of telling people not to buy pet store puppies because they come from mills, they are still for sale and people are still buying them - and paying more than they would for a pup from a legitimate breeder, not to mention much more than they would for a dog from the SPCA. People are still buying puppies over the internet sight unseen and having the little tykes shipped by air or delivered at a meeting point by truck, like cabbages.
Many ‘rescue’ groups are also buying milled pups and then selling them to soft-hearted people who think they are helping out abandoned dogs.
The whole thing stinks and it always has.
Comment by Caveat — November 24, 2008 @ 6:58 am
Anyone else remember that Sears once sold puppy-mill dogs in its catalog? I used to drool over that page and imagine pooling the allowance/baby-sitting/odd jobs around the neighborhood money to buy the puppy, and, oh, wasn’t THAT was a good plan?
They had a small, square, black-and-white picture of a representative example of the breed, a description of what the breed was like and then the price. I remember wanting a beagle, because of Snoopy. (I had a “Curse You, Red Baron! felt pennant over my bed, and loved everything Snoopy.) I think a beagle was $125.
On a more serious note, I believe Life magazine ran the first major puppy-mill expose, in the early ’60s.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 24, 2008 @ 7:17 am
Here’s a great site for anti-puppy mill stuff (and just about any other issue you interested in):
http://shop.cafepress.com/puppy-mills
They have T-shirts, caps and yes, bumper stickers.
And don’t forget to check out the Obama Christmas cards (since you took down BarkObama, where else can I share this, LOL??):
http://shop.cafepress.com/obama-christmas
Comment by 2CatMom — November 24, 2008 @ 8:22 am
Okay…that’s more what I was thinking of, 2CatMom. Thanks!
I’m still willing to consider the previous offer, though, if someone comes up with something really good.
Comment by Susan Fox — November 24, 2008 @ 9:38 am
I got an email from someone I know from time spent as members of the Board of Directors for the local shelter.
She wants a puppy for Christmas, has located a website for somone in Kansas selling doodles of one kind or another, for $1700 apiece. What did I think about that? she wanted to know.
She got this URL, plus Raised by Wolves and Smartdogs.
Oy.
Comment by Jill — November 30, 2008 @ 8:40 pm
I also think that buyers support the cruelty of puppy mills. Selling animals via Internet admittedly is one of the main sources of income for dishonest breeders. People don’t adopt children online, so why is it possible in case with pets?
Comment by Kelly Wright — December 7, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Kelly, I was with you up until the last line.
I do not accept any premise that equates pets with children. They are different in how we relate to them (or they sure as hell should be), how they are treated under the law and so on.
When you equate pets with children you are setting up a framework that does not serve either well.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 7, 2008 @ 1:22 pm