Pet Shop Puppies

[darci]

I have to admit before finding dog forums and becoming educated I bought Darci from a pet store. This is something that I would never ever do again and I would only reccomend getting a dog from a reputable breeder.

With all that said, I found a website called petshoppuppies.com they will research your pet bought from petstores.

What I found made me sick......

The lady Darci came from had 488 dogs, 130 of which were puppies.

Click this link and you will see the full report.

http://www.petshoppuppies.com/report.asp?ID=43A4192

As I said before, it literally made me sick. How could people do this to animals?
With 488 dogs they could have never saw anything but the inside of a cage.

I am so glad I know now better to only find reputable breeders and will try to educate everyone I know to never buy from a pet store.

[corgimom]

Darci,

I live here in Wisconsin and there is a breeder here that owns a puppy mill
farm called "pretty Penny Kennels"(something like that) he is always advertising numerous breeds in the paper - terrible to see what those animals
go through. Many of the parents of those puppies never feel a loving hand
on them and they end up in rescues terrified of people with rotten teeth and
numerous other ailments. It is pathetic to say the least. It' s all about the money.

Linda
Corgimom

[Michael Romanos]

Hi Darci and Linda
Retailers shouldn't be allowed to sell pure bred dogs at petshops and pet-type shops No one breeding pure bred dogs should dispose of their dogs litters in this irresponsible way. Governments should alter the commercial practices of their countries to stop pure bred dogs sold in this manneer.

Having said that, there is a breeder of Wheaten Terriers in NZ who owns over 300 of them - with around 130 living on his property. He is a serious "reputable" breeder, a conformation show judge and a show handler. But he is no better than a pet store retailer and the conditions for the housing of his Terriers is not good. And how does one take 130 dogs from walks etc, feed them properly and give them proper care and attention. Well you just don't. There is a prominent Pembroke breeder couple in NZ and this couple produce some excellent world class Pems. But they also sell/ give away Pems that are past their best for shows - aged anything from 18 months to eight years and these Corgis are not well adjusted when they move away, have been deprived as they have mainly been kennel dogs. This couple also have been known to debark Corgis, pick up five to seven month Corgis by the scruff of their necks, want to breed from a 14 month old female Pem. And have obviously got more Corgis than they can handle - yet there is no stopping their push towards wharever they have in mind.

There are many other instances of poor reputable breeders that are really no better than those who sell their dogs to pet shops. But I admit there are degrees of responsibility and actions. But if someone is capable of doing xyz how do you know that person is not also doing uvw?

[corgimom]

It would be great to shut puppy mills down here, but they are legal and all
we can do is educate people not to buy from these breeders.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

You can quite easily shut down puppy mills to a meaningful degree by Governments regulating the maximum number of dogs allowed on any one property.

Getting back to retail pet shops. If Governments stopped the sale of pure bred dogs, then the price that pet shop owners put on dogs they sell would drop considerably. At present you'll find that they charge around the same if the dogs they sell are cross or pure - and its right at the top range and utterly ridiculous for gullible customers.

[Cardiguy]

Pet shop buying is mostly impulse and emotion plus the convenience of the fact the dog is right there. Whenever I go to the local mall, I stop by the pet store to look at the pups and observe the people. Many pet shop buyers are either unaware that there are options, don't think the options, ie breeder, make a difference, or are too lazy to find a breeder and if they did would not know the differences between backyard breeders and reputable breeders. The thing they lack is knowledge. Therefore to really put an economic hurt on these pet stores, this knowledge has to be put out there for the general public to get without any effort on their part.

[corgimom]

Michael,

If governments would regulate it, yes it would be easy to shut them down,
but I don't know if it will ever happen here - for now, people have to be educated about them as to why not to buy from puppy mills.

linda

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by corgimom

Michael,

If governments would regulate it, yes it would be easy to shut them down,
but I don't know if it will ever happen here - for now, people have to be educated about them as to why not to buy from puppy mills.

linda

But they ARE regulated! The commercial breeding industry is highly regulated! For the sake of the discussion here, I'd like to hear definitions of a puppymill. Keep in mind "puppymill" is a term coined by the animal rights movement to encompass ANYONE who breeds.

There are as many definitions as there are individuals using it. To the animal rights activist, anyone who breeds even one litter is a puppymill. To someone in the dog fancy it is the competitor who beat them last week, or someone who breeds more than someone else think they should. Is it the high volume commercial breeder? Or is it someone who has numerous dogs, breeding at random, kept in substandard conditions? For me the latter is the accurate definition. Animals kept in these conditions are in violation of county and state animal welfare requirements - so their owners are breaking the law and when these laws are enforced then the violaters are charged and dealt with accordingly.

Debbie

[glencorgi]

Quoting Michael: "Retailers shouldn't be allowed to sell pure bred dogs at petshops and pet-type shops No one breeding pure bred dogs should dispose of their dogs litters in this irresponsible way. Governments should alter the commercial practices of their countries to stop pure bred dogs sold in this manneer."

The commercial dog breeding industry is legal in the US and in fact began with encouragement of the United States Department of Agriculture. It is highly regulated and facilities inspected regularly on both federal and state levels. While I am not a fan of the commercial breeding industry nor do I like the sale of puppies in pet shops, there are certain realities one must face. On the one hand - reputable breeders cannot fill the demand for purebred puppies or dogs, plus there are many homes reputable breeders would not sell to. The commercial breeders and pet shops fill this niche.

It is because of the involvement of the government that commercial breeding kennels and pet shops have become the lucrative business they have; that and the swallowing of the animal rights propaganda on pet overpopulation by the purebred fancy of breeding less is better.

Linda and Cardiguy are both right - education is the best weapon in making both pet shops and the commercial breeding industry less profitable which is the most effective weapon in seeing their demise.

As far as legislating where animals can be sold, those are popping up. Some I am not in disagreement with, although one really needs to be careful even with those. A coastal South Carolina proposed legislation against selling animals from sidewalks. Sounds good on the surface, however if one considers many rescue groups hold adoption fairs on the sidewalks in front of the local PetsMart and adoption fees are paid - that is a sale within legal definitions. So one needs to be very careful what one wishes for, it might just come back to bite one on the bum. We're seeing some true problem definitions coming out of Los Angeles county now.

Debbie

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Cardiguy

Pet shop buying is mostly impulse and emotion plus the convenience of the fact the dog is right there. Whenever I go to the local mall, I stop by the pet store to look at the pups and observe the people. Many pet shop buyers are either unaware that there are options, don't think the options, ie breeder, make a difference, or are too lazy to find a breeder and if they did would not know the differences between backyard breeders and reputable breeders. The thing they lack is knowledge. Therefore to really put an economic hurt on these pet stores, this knowledge has to be put out there for the general public to get without any effort on their part.

Excellent post Cardiguy. Ironically, in about 5 years of being involved in rescue, I can say I've only had two pet shop puppies that meet the criteria of the stereotypic pet shop puppy impulse buy. I've had others from that background, but they were only with me because of the death of their owners. A few others were because owners moved and couldn't take their dogs with them. The majority of the breeders behind the corgis I get into rescue have horsey connections or are of the mindset that corgis are so great everyone should have one and are just breeding for pets.

Debbie

[corgimom]

Debbie,

It is the "latter"here in Wisconsin - and No one has shut him down and he
continues to advertise in the classifieds.

Linda
Corgimom

[corgimom]

Go to WWW.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/mill-visit.html and read the article
about Pretty Penny Kennels - he is still in business and advertises in the
classifieds and buyers guide all the time. Read the interview with the breeder.
No one stops him? Type in the heading just as I indicated above.


Please also go to www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/gs8.html and note the
CORGI in the cage with her litter at Pretty Penny Kennels.

Corgimom
Linda

[Michael Romanos]

My definition of puppy mill is a large multiple number of dogs under one ownership with indiscriminate breeding.

[corgimom]

Michael,

Did you read the article. This guy is a puppymill guy. He has hundreds of
dogs and keeps them in terrible conditions, yet because he doesn't sell to
retailers, but to the general public, nothing can be done to shut him down.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

THis is exactly what I'm alluding to - Governments should have legislation prohibiting X number of dogs under any one ownership - individual or collective (or company) - and limiting the number of dogs on any one property or properties. If that was in place this scumbag wouldn't be able to do what he's doing.
Another thing, this scumbag probably belongs to dog clubs, probably including the AKC. What are they doing about it? Whether they are involved or not ie whether the scumbag is a member or not, the AKC should be making strenuous overtures to the State Government and local town/city authorities where this guy lives.