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You wouldn't pay someone to mistreat an animal, would you?
Sadly, that is exactly what people do when they purchase puppies at
petstores. All puppies that are sold in petstores come from the same humble
and horrible beginnings... PUPPYMILLS.
For the unknowing this may mean nothing, but it should...and it will, once you
get your new puppy home.
Puppymills are merely commercial breeders. Again COMMERCIAL breeders.
These breeders are in it for the money, NOT to produce healthy puppies.
While your puppy may seem healthy in the petstore window, many illnesses
and diseases do not surface until later in life when things like hip displasia,
blindness and seizures may cut their lives short.
Why should this matter to you? For many reasons. The largest being that if
most people could see the conditions in which these dogs are kept, not only
would they not buy the puppies, they would do everything in their power to
help these dogs. Indeed it is a pitiful sight to see dogs covered in feces,
producing litter after litter, in tiny wire-bottomed cages. It's funny how you
never see those photos in petstores.
Horrible conditions, horrible injuries. It is not uncommon for puppymill
parents to be suffering from conditions such as:
Cherry Eye
Chewed-off limbs
Parasite infestations
Flattened feet (from living on wire floors)
Broken jaws (from debarking tools)
Severe tooth-loss (to include bone-eating infection in nasal
bones)
Another reason that it should matter to you is that puppymillers/commercial
breeders do not perform health tests. They breed their dogs according to
heat cycle, never bothering to find out if the puppies they are producing are
carrying any genetic diseases that can end a dog's life at an early age.
Again, they do not care for anything except the consumer's dollar, and they
aren't going to increase their overhead to insure that you have a healthy dog.
And by purchasing these puppies, consumers are insuring that puppymillers
will stay in business. They would have NO market if consumers did not
purchase these dogs!
Behavior of these puppies can range from odd to downright impossible to live
with. Although these puppies are taken from the mill at the age of eight weeks
(at best), they retain a lot of abnormal behaviors that their parents handed
down to them after years of being in the mill.
For example:
Pottying on heat registers - this mimics pottying on wire-bottom cage floors
and is the only thing the puppy has known. This can be VERY difficult to
overcome.
Poop-eating - this is the only way the mother could keep her living area clean,
and the puppies learn very young that this is the best thing to do. Again, very
difficult to overcome.
Distrust of men/women - puppymill puppies are NOT socialized. This can lead
to fear and aggression issues even as tiny puppies. Their earliest days are
traumatic, and they do not become used to people. This is especially
problematic in large breeds.
Remember that commercial breeders are also using the internet to fool
consumers into thinking they're good breeders. When looking at these sites,
remember these rules:
**NO good breeder has a "shopping cart" button on their website
**NO good breeder will sell a dog without an application process
**ALL good breeders perform health tests
**NO good breeder sells hybrid (mixed breed, designer) dogs for
high prices
**NO good breeder produces many litters, from many breeds.
Good breeders produce no more than a few (at most) litters per
year
**REMEMBER!!!! The term "Champion Bloodline" does NOT mean that your
dog is coming from a good place. MANY so-called champions earned their
titles from registries catering to puppymills.
DON'T BE FOOLED! DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE
BUYING A PUPPY!!!
Again, we STRONGLY urge you not to purchase dogs from petstores. We
have first-hand experience with the results (both from out of control and sick
puppies, and from long-time mill parents) and we can honestly say that it is
not only tragic, but horrifying.
(For more information please visit our Links page.)
Sadly, that is exactly what people do when they purchase puppies at
petstores. All puppies that are sold in petstores come from the same humble
and horrible beginnings... PUPPYMILLS.
For the unknowing this may mean nothing, but it should...and it will, once you
get your new puppy home.
Puppymills are merely commercial breeders. Again COMMERCIAL breeders.
These breeders are in it for the money, NOT to produce healthy puppies.
While your puppy may seem healthy in the petstore window, many illnesses
and diseases do not surface until later in life when things like hip displasia,
blindness and seizures may cut their lives short.
Why should this matter to you? For many reasons. The largest being that if
most people could see the conditions in which these dogs are kept, not only
would they not buy the puppies, they would do everything in their power to
help these dogs. Indeed it is a pitiful sight to see dogs covered in feces,
producing litter after litter, in tiny wire-bottomed cages. It's funny how you
never see those photos in petstores.
Horrible conditions, horrible injuries. It is not uncommon for puppymill
parents to be suffering from conditions such as:
Cherry Eye
Chewed-off limbs
Parasite infestations
Flattened feet (from living on wire floors)
Broken jaws (from debarking tools)
Severe tooth-loss (to include bone-eating infection in nasal
bones)
Another reason that it should matter to you is that puppymillers/commercial
breeders do not perform health tests. They breed their dogs according to
heat cycle, never bothering to find out if the puppies they are producing are
carrying any genetic diseases that can end a dog's life at an early age.
Again, they do not care for anything except the consumer's dollar, and they
aren't going to increase their overhead to insure that you have a healthy dog.
And by purchasing these puppies, consumers are insuring that puppymillers
will stay in business. They would have NO market if consumers did not
purchase these dogs!
Behavior of these puppies can range from odd to downright impossible to live
with. Although these puppies are taken from the mill at the age of eight weeks
(at best), they retain a lot of abnormal behaviors that their parents handed
down to them after years of being in the mill.
For example:
Pottying on heat registers - this mimics pottying on wire-bottom cage floors
and is the only thing the puppy has known. This can be VERY difficult to
overcome.
Poop-eating - this is the only way the mother could keep her living area clean,
and the puppies learn very young that this is the best thing to do. Again, very
difficult to overcome.
Distrust of men/women - puppymill puppies are NOT socialized. This can lead
to fear and aggression issues even as tiny puppies. Their earliest days are
traumatic, and they do not become used to people. This is especially
problematic in large breeds.
Remember that commercial breeders are also using the internet to fool
consumers into thinking they're good breeders. When looking at these sites,
remember these rules:
**NO good breeder has a "shopping cart" button on their website
**NO good breeder will sell a dog without an application process
**ALL good breeders perform health tests
**NO good breeder sells hybrid (mixed breed, designer) dogs for
high prices
**NO good breeder produces many litters, from many breeds.
Good breeders produce no more than a few (at most) litters per
year
**REMEMBER!!!! The term "Champion Bloodline" does NOT mean that your
dog is coming from a good place. MANY so-called champions earned their
titles from registries catering to puppymills.
DON'T BE FOOLED! DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE
BUYING A PUPPY!!!
Again, we STRONGLY urge you not to purchase dogs from petstores. We
have first-hand experience with the results (both from out of control and sick
puppies, and from long-time mill parents) and we can honestly say that it is
not only tragic, but horrifying.
(For more information please visit our Links page.)
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