http://www.care2.com/greenliving/puppy-mills-are-bad-business.html
Puppy Mills are Bad Business
The problem of unwanted pets is so huge that it necessitates another look at the source of the problem. With so many wonderful animals that need a good home, it seems like an obvious choice to bring one home from a shelter, rather than buying it from a store. Yet the pet trade in North America is booming. Pet stores in the United States sell upward of 500,000 puppies a year. With 5 million healthy adoptable pets being euthanized every year in the United States, why are we still breeding pets?
Puppy and kitty mills are mass-breeding facilities that churn out hundreds of thousands of puppies and kittens every year. Although they don’t sell directly to consumers, few people know they exist, yet they are the primary supplier of pets in North America. They’re fueling the pet population crisis across the continent, doing so through the friendly face of pet stores, classified ads and the Internet.
Thanks to repeated investigations by groups such as the Humane Society and PETA, however the grim reality of life inside these mills is becoming public knowledge. The breeding stock animals live in cages and are kept continuously pregnant for years without any human companionship until they are literally worn out and are killed.
Just as unfortunate as the breeding-stock animal are the puppies and kittens that are mass produced by the mills. Transported in huge numbers to be sold all over the continent and overseas, these babies see none of the nurturing that is so essential in their infancy. Even if a family offers the little creature a happy, lifelong home, it may never recover from its initial trauma from crowding and transportation. Many new pet owners can’t figure out why their dog barks non-stop or their cat lives in terror of everything that moves. Invariably, it is because they began their life in a breeding mill. The irony is that people tend to avoid bringing home shelter animals because they fear they’ll be wounded or traumatized. Quite the opposite is true. Shelter animals were often born in someone’s caring home and are generally far more adaptable to human companionship than a store-bought, mass-bred pet.
While the term “puppy mill” has come to mean any commercial pet breeding operation, there are far more than puppies and kittens being produced. Birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, reptiles and many other animals are mass-produced through pet-breeding operations and then sold through retail pet stores. More than 90 percent of all animals sold in pet stores are the product of mass- breeding operations.
If you are considering bringing a companion animal into your life, bypass the pet store and adopt from an animal shelter.
Some helpful links:
- Humane Society: How to Buy a Puppy.
- IDA - Puppy Mill Facts
- No Puppy Mills Canada
- Pet Mills
- Puppy Mill Rescue
- Stop Puppy Mills
Adapted from Building an Ark: 101 Solutions to Animal Suffering by Ethan Smith with Guy Dauncey (New Society Publishers, 2007).
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13 comments
add your comment »I found a puppy mill five years ago while looking at a house and land that was for sale.
The conditions were incredibly terrible. The authorities were minamally helpful then.
I became very involved and spent months motivating the owner to care for his dogs.
A farmer growing a crop, works to ensure a marketable one - let alone that these were suffering animals offering love and affection.
There must have been some mental illness here as he just didn't get it.
Eventually, the conditions improved marginally - he began to feed and water the dogs, to treat some for mange and worms. Some were completely wild adults and I'm fairly sure were shot. He sold out and moved.
This person was also a convicted pedophile and had served a prison term.
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We need to make the government accountable in the USA. Where are all the inspections?
I am writing a letter to them.......
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Puppy mills are a major problem all over the world. I just hope our Australian Government will come to their senses and ban all puppy mills and other inhumane animal farms in our country. Also, just letting you know that I have discovered that the lady who had all the poodles taken from her in QLD Australia, has a website as follows: http://www.geocities.com/neiger_poodle/index.html
I am disgusted and her website is very deceiving.
I have still got my petition going, which is against this breeder and others like her. Please lets get the ball rolling and get more signatures, so I can end this woman from mistreating such beautiful poodles. I am shocked she still has a website and want to shut her down for good and all those like her. My website is: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-our-animals-ban-puppy-mills-in-aus
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http://www.Petfinder.com
Adopt A Homeless Pet!
Spay and Neuter Kansas City
3710 Main Street,
Kansas City, Missouri 64111
(816)353-0940
http://www.SNKC.net
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my comment is - if you get a rescued puppy/dog , & spoil it etc , - actually you need to be able to promise from the very beginning that you guarantee when the dog dies of old age - you have to legally promise to manage the future reincarnation of the dog ; which means it can not ever go throught the unreliable rescue/squatter camp cycle again - you have to now find a dog breeder such as labrador(tests +) or border collie , or something , who is prepared to allow your mixed to be born by their thoroughbred . otherwise there is no valid point or existence inrescuinganyone .
And , once everyone is harmonious & agrees on this matter , all the other extra puppies can happily be double ot replicas, because they are secure about the future reincarnations .
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I'm not exactly sure what Beau F. was referring to, but I believe that his comment referred to the cost of taking care of a purebreed as higher than for shelter-pets, primarily because pedigreed pets have a tendency towards more physical (and mental) ailments than other pets (they're bred for elements such as small size, facial or body features, or other characteristics without regard to the detriment to the animal's health). Inbreeding is never a good thing and there are plenty of dubious breeders.
I grew up with shelter-pets, and they've always been loving and healthy.
We avoid a corner nearby because the pet shop sells puppies; last year there were 3 golden lab puppies which just kept growing larger (and to many buyers, less desirable) over the 6 months we saw them in the windows. I don't know if they were ever adopted by anyone and can only hope that the dogs were eventually given a good home.
Anyone who wants purebred animals can find them at shelters, although the official pedigree might be lost.
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When my Pomeranian died in January I was just distraught beyond words. To honor her life, I went to a rescue center in my area and adopted and brought home a wonderful Chi/Pom 3yr. old male, who is just delightful to have with me. I figured everyone is looking for a PUPPY, but what about all the wonderful dogs needing a forever new home? I am so happy I found this loving little guy, and could honor the memory of my beloved Angel by giving him a forever home.
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Wendy Czarnecki must be a moron and probably a show person as well. I for a short time showed my dog and did I learn what these people are really like! The dog and it's traits only matter and they will breed their dogs over & over until they get a "perfect" speciman, not caring that breeding for certain traits may damage the health of their animals! And the back stabbing, lies, and abuse that goes on, these show people should be the ones behind bars and neutered. The film "Best In Show" doesn't get 1% of it right! In my case it is the Scottish Terrier Show people and it's National organization. Pure evil.
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Just look in your local paper,there's alway more ads for dogs,then anything.All you breeders go work in a dog shelter and see what your business has caused.If there were no breeders,all the homeless pets would be adopted.There has to be a legal way to STOP the breeders!
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Beau F... I hope I am misunderstanding you. Your comment is just wrong. In my city you pay 60-75 dollars for a cat. Are you saying that you shouldn't rescue animals because of future vet bills?
Spay and Neuter and always use your Humane Society or ASPCA.
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