Curbing the Puppy Trade

[Thom Little]

With its narrow, winding roads dotted with horse-drawn buggies and signs for homemade quilts, candles, jams and jellies, Pennsylvania's Amish country in Lancaster County attracts millions of tourists each year. But giant billboards along a main highway call attention to a less appealing local industry. "WELCOME TO LANCASTER ... HOME TO 100'S OF PUPPY MILLS," reads one sign. It was paid for by Last Chance for Animals, a national animal-advocacy organization that opposes commercial breeding facilities where hundreds of puppies are raised in cramped metal cages without proper food, veterinary care and often even fresh air.

Activists estimate that 200,000 puppies are bred and sold each year in Lancaster County. The public's fascination with new designer dogs like the puggle (a cross between a pug and beagle) as well as the ease of buying a dog on websites like nextdaypets.com has only increased demand. And with that has come a backlash, especially in states like Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, where there is a high concentration of breeders. There, and even at the national level, a movement is under way to ensure that the U.S.'s most popular house pets, many of which are purchased during the holiday season, are raised in humane conditions. "No pet store will tell you that its puppies come from a puppy mill," says Ed Sayres, president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, "but these animals are commercially exploited to generate the highest amount of profit at the lowest possible cost."

The exact number of puppy mills is not known, since offenders often fail to register their operations with the government, as required by law. But hundreds of violations are reported each year. The horrific conditions found in some mills can cause health and behavioral defects ranging from genetic problems caused by overbreeding, such as hip dysplasia, to overaggressive play. "In order for a dog to be a normal dog, it needs to stay with its mother and littermates for a good eight to 10 weeks," says Carol Araneo-Mayer, co-founder of Adopt-A-Pet, a rescue group in Freehold, N.J. She says many puppies are separated and even sold long before they learn how to play with other animals and not to be afraid of people. Also, health problems can pile up. In May, Lancaster County residents Raymond and Joyce Stoltzfus agreed to pay some $50,000 to reimburse 171 customers who claimed the puppies they bought from the couple suffered from pneumonia, heart defects and kidney failure.

Animal-rights advocates contend that commercially bred dogs can be spared much of their misery with just the most basic improvements. "Do they have to be confined to cages 24 hours a day, bred with no limit on the number of litters and no required socialization with other dogs or with humans?" asks Josette Aramini, cofounder of the new United Against Puppy Mills group in Lancaster. The organization has worked to shutter large-scale breeders by petitioning local zoning boards to deny them permits.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1137662,00.html

[ruggerson]

1. NO ONE - I repeat NO ONE should buy a puppy or kitten from a Pet Store

Pet stores stock puppy mill animals.

You are purchasing an animal with no health clearances, and you are supporting the puppy mill industry and contributing to the suffering of animals.

When in the market for a puppy, look up your local breed club (the AKC online or google will help you find one in your area) and then look for reputable hobby breeders endorsed by the club.

Your prospective puppy's parents should have hip, elbow, eyes, heart and thyroid clearances. And the breeder of the litter should be happy to provide you with those documents.

Do NOT buy anything from a pet store. Ever.

[xultar]

2. Agreed.

[joeybee12]

3. Don't get a kittne from there either!

If for no other reason, if you walk around your neighborhood you'll see plenty of stray cats. Take in one of those!

[xultar]

4. Agreed. Or contact me I've got some cats looking for homes.

[cloud_chaser1]

5. If you absolutely have to have a puppy or kitten

contact your local humane society or dog or cat rescue groups.
They have plenty of perfectly good young animals and you wont have to pay anything close to what a breeder or puppy mill will charge.

My wife has been a dog rescuer for many years and has adopted out scores of wonderful gogs and cat, pure breed and mutts and the new owners continually thank her for putting them in touch with such a great dog or cat.

if you need specifics, IM me.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. That's where I got my puppy

When I was younger my parents got me a pup for my birthday one year and we got him at the local humane shelter. He seemed pretty happy and was with his brothers and sisters in a pretty good sized kenel and it went outside as well and had a nice place inside for when it rained and all that. Everything seemed pretty good but I didn't get a real good look around since I was so drawn to my pup I knew I had to get him. But I agree the humane society is pretty good and they told us to get his shots and all that stuff.
He only was $20-30 I think.

[Pharlo]

15. Tried that ....

One problem with this solution is it is VERY difficult to find a puppy under 2 months at the pound or a shelter. I generally get pups from six to eight weeks. I have a preference for mutts. The last two times I was seriously looking for a pup to add to the household, I contacted every pound and rescue shelter I could find in a 50 mile radius. Their concept of a 'pup' is an animal from five months to two years (which, while technically still a pup, is not what I was looking for). I placed myself on lists, and in instances where lists were not utilized, I called back on a weekly basis - for two months.

I prefer young pups for two major reasons:

1) They're socialized by 16 weeks - I want to socialize them myself.

2) They're being brought into a home with older dogs who will accept a young puppy as nothing more than a minor irritation. With older dogs, fights have a tendency to occur.

I do not purchase animals from animal stores either. I have always purchased from private individuals. When I go to get the pups, they're either in a barn playing with the owners kids, or in the persons house being pampered by the owner's children.

I'm just saying, sometimes the pound isn't a viable alternative. When I acquire an animal, it is generally as soon as possible after the death of another pet, and I'm not interested on being on a 2 year list for a young pup. I start with the pound, but I've never gotten anything from there. I do, however, leave a donation. And, I eventually find a pup that never ends up at the pound.

[Maraya1969]

22. I have always adopted older dogs and have had a problem only once

And I found a wonderful home for that dog. When they say an older dog is very appreciative of having a new home I believe it.

Someone may have "socialized" the dog better than you.

[Pharlo]

40. That's a possibility.

However, when I'm acquiring an animal I expect to get into the 100 to 150 pound range, I'm somewhat reluctant to spin the 'socialization' roulette wheel. If I socialize the pup myself, I know what I'm getting.

After 30 years (and approxiamately 25 dogs) and no instances of dog bites, I have a certain confidence level in my method. It works for me. If I wanted an older dog, I'd definitely get one from a shelter.

The pound and shelters are wonderful places to start a search - and if you're fortunate enough to find what you're looking for, then by all means, get the animal.

All I'm saying is that it is not always possible to find what you want when you are searching for an animal. And, in that instance, I see no harm in selecting alternate search routes - which do not include puppy mills.

The poster to whom I originally replied definitely gave the impression that anyone who truly loved animals always acquired them from the pound or a shelter. I disagree with that premise, and I gave my reasons for doing so.

[RedOnce]

7. Our puppy came from a pet store and he's just wonderful!

He is a Shiba Inu.

We wanted a Red Sesame Male puppy. First we tried to find one through our local breed club and even some out of state clubs. We also looked into rescue. I emailed at least 20 people but no luck.

After several months of searching my son called us from the pet store at the mall, they had him - on sale even! They buy only from small breeders - 3 females max. He came with papers, health releases, a free trip to the vet and a money back guarantee.

It was a great solution for us.

[napi21]

13. The pet store was lying to you! NO PET STORE buys from small

breeders!!!!! They all tell the same lies!

Consider yourself fortunate that you were one of the lucky ones to get a healthy pup, most of them aren't. And FYI, they ALL come with papers! It's a matter of taking 3 minutes to fill out some forms and sending them to the AKC. It proves NOTHING!

Another problem with buying a puppy from a pet store is that it keeps the vicious circle going. The pet store sells one XXX breed pup, and they order another one....and the beat goes on.

I've volunteered for a rescue group named "Small Paws Rescue, Inc." for 5 years. We rescue mostly Bichon Frise dogs, and we've managed to save hundreds of dogs from puppy mills. Most of them are 6, 7, 8, and 9 year old females that have been bread twice each year of their lives. It takes months and sometimes years to help them adjust to human beings, and some never totaly adapt.
http://www.smallpawsrescue.org/

There's another source for people looking for a dog or a puppy. It's called Pet Finders.
http://www.petfinder.org/

You'll find almost every breed of dog you can imagine, and most are living in foster homes, waiting for the perfect match of animal and human. Foster moms are always honest with you, and if there is a problem of any kind with the animal, they'll tell you. They want what's best for the dog and for you too!

Please don't ever buy a dog from a Pet Store anymore. Those pups are shipped in semi-trailors, and many die before they even get to their destination. It's a terrible business!!!

[RedOnce]

17. We do feel fortunate. He's happy, healthy and well socialized.

We had a very positive experience. Sorry to hear about the problems with the other puppy mills and pet stores.

[leftchick]

16. Here is a whole list of links to Shiba Inu without going to a pet shop

http://www.pets4you.com/shiba.html

And for rescues..

http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?action=1&pet.Breed=Shiba+Inu&pet.Animal=Dog&exact=1&preview=1

No one should ever buy from a pet shop.

[RedOnce]

18. Thanks, these look like better links than I was using.

[Maraya1969]

21. Another dog had to die because you bought yours

[RedOnce]

31. Sorry, I don't follow your logic. Please explain.

[Maraya1969]

37. Because every time a person buys an animal instead of adopting

one another animal is left in the shelter. At some point the one that was not adopted will be euthanized. The numbers I have heard is between 13 and 15 MILLION dogs are euthanized every year. If people stopped buying dogs from breeders that number would go down.

Of course I think it would go down more if there were laws forcing people to neuter their animals.

Just remember this for the next time. I bought my first dog at a pet store also - about 20 years ago. Since then I have adopted 6 dogs, 2 cats and a bird.

[Lorien]

9. I agree. I do pet rescue, but I also have two purebred cats from

small hobby breeders (only two litters a year-and one of the breeds is ancient and very rare). I had huge expenses three years ago when two of my own rescued kitties became sick from-then died of-genetic illnesses. Mills DON'T screen for genetic illnesses, so you'll be just as likely to end up with a sick animal as you would be if you obtained one from a rescue or shelter. Also, we adopt out many purebreds from our rescue; I adopted out two pedigreed Bengal cats two months ago, and DUer Radfemfl adopted a silver shaded Persian from our group. All are gorgeous!

Support MANDATORY spay and neuter laws in your county, with the only exceptions being small, REPUTABLE breeders who breed for health and temperament first!

[yankeedem]

6. Wow, Rick Santorum

actually supports pro-animal legislation. I guess there is SOMETHING good in everybody.

[napi21]

14. Yea, I heard that about old Ricky too. I hate to say it but,

I have to believe there was some political advantage in it for him. I don't know what it was, but with everything else he's done in his life, I doubt it was done out of love for animals!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Reputable breeders

have their own associations which keep up the standards for the breed. My neighbors used to raise Great Pyranees, and they had it in their contracts that only show quality animals be allowed to breed-the buyer had to promise to spay/neuter those bought as pets. They got out of the business because puppy mills priced them out of it.

Arkansas does enforce animal cruelty laws, and, several years ago, shut down a puppy mill operation in my county. There is a group of volunteers that checks out these places and reports them.

[shenmue]

10. I got my dog at a shelter

She is so cute, well-behaved, easy to take care of and loves to be around people. Low cost, too. :)

[w8liftinglady]

19. all my dogs came from shelters

My current best friend,Chrystal,is absolutely the calmest,friendliest,most loving dog I have ever befriended.She is a lab.dalmation cross,and has the best traits of both breeds...

[benburch]

11. If anybody wants nice Illinois Dachshund breeders...

IM me.

We got a dog recently and did our research.

[Maraya1969]

20. Don't even SHOP at a pet store that sells puppies. There are other

ones like Petco and Pet Supermarket that do not sell puppies and have regular animal adoption days. There is a huge store near me that sells puppies and exotic birds,(which I have but I always adopt), and I wouldn't buy a dog bone from these people.

[kster]

23. Want a couple cool stories

the wife fosters dogs, the shelter calls us to take a dog that happens to be pregnant they found the dog chained to either a tennis court a basket ball court not sure which and they didn't have room at the shelter, we take the dog in and a day or two later she starts having pups right after the wife leaves for work (how convenient) rather than have her miss a day at work. My son (11) and I start you know what every Father and Son do at 4 o'clock in the morning ,deliver pups. We helped her get one out and and another she had trouble getting the sack off

When we took the dog and pups back to the shelter they where adopted within 24hrs.

Another story animal control pulls up in front of our house we were thinking o shit. It was an animal control officer who had fell in love with a dog that she knew was gonna be put to sleep, all shelters were full and some how she tracked my wife down and delivered the dog to to our door. When the shelter had an opening we brought the dog in again adopted within a week.

ALWAYS ADOPT,PLEASE.

[VolcanoJen]

25. Those are great stories, kster!

Thank you for the great work you and your wife are doing! :hug:

ALWAYS ADOPT!!

[XemaSab]

24. Don't buy purebred animals!

Most purebred lines are starting to collapse from inbreeding!

Get a mutt from the pound or adopt a mutt via the ads in the paper!

A mutt will be just as loving as a purebred animal!

[Kolesar]

32. Our pure-bred golden retreiver was just the most beautiful animal

But I will probably go mutt next time. I read the golden retriever "rescue-foster" sites and see reports of health problems. Seizures and hip problems come up, along with others. Amateur breeders who breed two cute parents are making a big mistake if they don't check the bloodlines for common recessive genes. That's my understanding of it. Btw, the golden was acquired from someone who passed her on because they did not have time for her.

[RoveBlowsDogs]

26. This problem goes all the way to the top - Karl Rove

Puppy mills are a foul concept, especially given the abundance of animals in shelters who need homes.

The problem is, Karl Rove.

Karl Rove will not let anything happen to the puppy mill industry, because he loves puppies. Carnally.

Yup. Rove blows dogs. Routinely. And enjoys it. Puppies, really. Below the age of consent. Willing or not. And, while it goes without saying, these are homosexual acts, even though they cross species boundaries.

Of course you won't find any stories about this in the MSM. Or any M. This is the story the White House doesn't want to let out, because that would permanently lose the support of the religio - nutbars. I don't want to speak for the animal activist community, and I suspect that NAMBLA probably would show some support for the puppy aspect of things, but if the story is spun to be adult dogs, well, I suspect that the White House would gain NAMBLA's apathy again. That's purely a guess on my part.

As far as the evidence to support this assertion that Karl Rove regularly and routinely blows dogs - sorry, puppies - I think that we can compare the level of truth here to the level of truth in the White House's repeated assertions that Iraq had WMD pointed at us, that Iraq and the attacks of 9/11/01 were related, and Dick Cheney's denial of making any connections between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden.

The truth is out there. The truth may or may not be in my posting though. I cannot prove the Rove Blows Dogs. I also cannot prove the Rove doesn't Blow Dogs. Can you?

Yes yes yes, I know, I am copying an old LBJ trick. But what the hell, given the remarkable level of contempt the Repugnicans have for truth, reality, or honor of any sort, I say what the hell. Let's get this rumor spreading. Let 'em deny it. Often. And let GWB find himself promising to fire anyone in the White House accused of dog-blowing, then change that to firing anyone in the White House who is convicted, and so on, and finally to having him deny knowing anything about Rove's nasty little homosexual dog-related activities.

I'm not suggesting accusing GWB of blowing dogs. He has a history of torturing animals. (I'm not making that up. To the best of my knowledge, this is documented by responsible elements of the MSM.) Nor am I going to suggest that he has a habit of fisting dead babies. That's Rick Santorum you're thinking of.

So let's see - dead baby cuddling (I made up the fisting part, but the dead baby cuddling and forcing the living childrent to do same is true), animal torturing in person and humans by proxy, and alleged possible dog blowing. And these are the people who get all worked up if some queers want to get married and do the suburban nuclear family thing? Something doesn't add up here - I'll report back when I find out what....

Summary: Unelss you actually have or might someday have a journalistic reputation to protect, I suggest the that you consider helping to circulate the meme / sound bite / talking point / baseless rumor: Rove Blows Dogs. Let it circulate. Let them deny it. Consider it your little act of civil incivility in the war against facism.

If somehow this does something to reform or eliminate puppy mills, that's nice too.

[allisonthegreat]

27. oops

oops

[allisonthegreat]

28. It is pretty common knowledge

That most pet stores get there puppies from mills...

I have two mini schnauzers. The first one I got by default. My dog of seventeen years had just died, and my sister knew of a dog that needed a home. That is how I got Buddy. The second mini schnauzer was advertised in the paper as a free dog to a nice home and I decided Buddy needed some company..(everyone is neutered and spayed) I got Luna from this lady and felt so sorry for her I ended up giving her a 120.00 dollars because she had her spayed and this and that. One thing they do ask you to do is to not advertise that the dog is free when you post it in the paper. Medical people have a tendency to come then and experiment on them or individuals answer the ad and then sell them to universities.
My sister got a Jack Russell from the Animal Shelter and the poor little dog had been used to make babies. She is fine now and has adapted well.

[allisonthegreat]

29. oops

oops

[newyawker99]

30. Hi RoveBlowsDogs!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Kolesar]

33. that's a hell of a rude post for a serious thread on animal cruelty

Yeah, welcome to DU with your ten posts. You might as well have invented your screenname just for this thread. Either your writing style plain stinks--note that there is no continuity--or you are just stringing sentences together to be a wise ass.

[Solon]

34. Agree 100%, none of our dogs or cats ever came from a pet store...

Our two dogs, as an example, both are rescuees from different areas. Our older, late, dog, Lucky, was found on the side of the highway by one of my grandmother's friends. She couldn't keep him, I was 12, always wanted a dog, and we just moved into a house with a fenced in backyard. It was perfect, we got him within a week, he was around 1 or 2 when we got him, and we believe he was both abandoned and abused. He had ideosyncracies we worked around, like not wearing baseball caps around him, and other things. He lived till last year, died of old age at around the age of 15. He was an unfortunate cross breed though, Dachsun/Lab mix, we think, so his legs were too short for his body, and he suffered, later in life, from a leg bowing problem and arthritis in his front legs. Our other dog, Lucy, we got when Lucky was around 7, he was suffering from a "mid life crisis", moaning etc. She solved that real quick, even though she was a chow mix. She was rescued from the county pound, a week before she was supposed to get the needle. She's still around, happy and healthy.

Now, the two older cats(Kit Kat, Cocoa) came from the Humane Society, they are somewhat fat, happy, and healthy, plus fixed, as were the dogs. We have the odd one, Zero, adopted from the Humane Society, unfortunately she was injured by a lounge chair as a kitten, she's fine now, but a little clumsy. It was a back injury, so she isn't as flexible as normal cats, she can't do the "righting" reflex at all, and has a tendancy to not be able to jump forward, but instead straight up. Then again, Cocoa also doesn't do the "righting" reflex that well either, but we attribute that to lazyness. Our two youngest cats are funny. We had a stray cat come up to the house, loving us, etc. We took her in, but we didn't know she was pregnant, took her to the vet, found it out, so we waited, she had a healthy litter of four kittens. As soon as they were weaned, we gave away two, the longhairs, to friends, and the other two we kept. We had the mother spaded soon afterwards. Then, one night, she snuck out of the house, and took off, we searched and searched, but couldn't find her after that. That is the risk of taking in strays though, we are only glad that she left us a nice little present, and that we were able to get her spade before she took off. The kittens are fine, healthy and happy, like all the other animals. Its a full house, let me tell you. :)

[Silverhair]

35. Find a pet ONLINE from the animal shelters.

Most animal shelters now have web pages and pictures of available puppies and kittens. The cost is much less than a pet store.

[Anna75]

36. www.petfinder.org is a fantastic site!

My family has three dogs and two cats all of which are "rescues". The petfinder website is a really great tool to use in helping you find a new family member or a rescue organization. They also have a classified section where people can post about animals that need re-homing (although like all sites you must weed out the dishonest ones). Often older family dogs can make a great addition to your home because they already have manners and need very little training. I have fostered a few dogs for people and have had great luck finding homes through petfinder (and yes, I thoroughly interviewed). When our last dog passed away I decided I truly wanted a pug. After three months of being on many different lists I received a call about a litter of puppies that were a pug that mistakingly became pregnant from a chihuahua. Although we had to wait, it was well worth it. Our best behaved and absolutely fabulous with the children dog is actually a rescued full bred pit bull who was found abandoned chained to a building. With firm guidance she has become the best example of a loved pit bull. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to educate people on the original uses of this beautiful breed. Any misguided and mis treated animal can become vicious, and it is so very unfortunate that pit bulls are associated with awful occurrences. See the rescue site http://www.outofthepits.org/ if you are interested. Thank you for caring about animals!

[The Stranger]

38. Kick and recommend for greatest.

[Catchawave]

39. Please support PAWS legislation

Information here:

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pets_related_news_and_events/paws.html

Questions and Answers about the Pet Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS)


July 12, 2005

What does the bill do?

The Pet Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS), introduced by Representatives Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Sam Farr (D-CA) in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) in the U.S. Senate, strengthens existing law covering commercial breeding facilities by amending the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The PAWS legislation would require that any commercial breeder who sells more than six litters of dogs or cats, and produces more than 25 puppies or kittens, directly to the public in a year be licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bill also allows for public access to source records for animals bred overseas and imported into the United States, extends the temporary suspension period for facilities with AWA violations from 21 days to 60 days, and gives the USDA direct authority to apply for injunctions......much more at link!

Edit to add that this is a great example of a bipartisan congressional effort!!!

[Greyhound]

41. Please don't forget the largest reason this travesty exists, the AKC

they are the organization that exists for one reason only, profit, but presents itself as an authority to ensure the animals welfare. Their negligence has caused the demise of so many breeds I often feel like a recording when clients come to me for a recommendation about what breed they should get.
I feel a rant coming on and it's too early so I'll just end now. :eyes: