States attempt crackdowns on puppy mills

[Lobster Martini]

(Note: Puppy mills are one of my, pardon the expression, pet peeves. I have edited this article for length. The link to the full article is below.)

Bob Baker has seen the worst of the worst in his 27 years as an animal cruelty investigator.

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"Most breeders learn how to keep their standards just above violating cruelty statutes, but the conditions are still unacceptable," said Baker, a St. Louis-based national investigator for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It's difficult dealing with these people. We file charges on the most egregious ones."

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Puppy lemon laws, which let buyers get their money back if health or genetic defects are discovered within a set time, are on the books in 16 states and were introduced in four others this year.

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The Humane Society of the United States has long identified Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania as the major puppy-mill states, said outreach director Stephanie Shain.

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Daisy Okas, assistant vice president of communications for the American Kennel Club, said breeders, kennel operators and pet stores register all types of breeds with her organization. The AKC has 15 inspectors who visit about 5,000 places a year where significant numbers of dogs are registered.

Shain, however, said people who want a puppy should avoid pet stores and instead buy from a hobby breeder or adopt from a shelter.

Puppy mills, Shain said, damage dogs emotionally and physically because the animals are confined in tight, unsanitary quarters with little or no socialization with humans or veterinary care. Females are bred repeatedly, some when they're as young as 6 months.

The overbreeding, combined with the dismal environment, results in sickly puppies that have genetic defects and temperament problems, she said. The dogs are sold in pet stores or on the Internet to unsuspecting buyers.

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(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_re_us/puppy_mills)

[Wilms]

1. Grrrrrr.

They're a pet-peeve of mine, as well.

I don't want to offend anyone, but ignorance and vanity on the part of pet-purchasers goes a long way toward fueling this problem.

Ten of thousands of dogs are put down weekly in the US, and this phenomena plays no small part.

Designer clothes, designer coffee, designer poodles...where does it end?

Learn how to raise a dog (it isn't hard but it isn't necessarily innate), then head for the pound to select one of the biggest loves of your life.

Peace

[OwnedByFerrets]

6. Ditto!!

[StarryNite]

8. Pound Puppies Rule!

Who says you can't buy love? We just love our little pound puppy and she loves us. Here she is greeting us with big smiles when we came home. She is as happy to us as we are to see her.

[FloridaJudy]

14. What a cutie!

She looks a lot like my own Pound Puppy "Smudge". The vet and I think she's part Tibetan Terrier. Much as I'd love a Tibetan Terrier, I can't justify buying a pure bred when there are so many dogs already looking for loving homes.

My shaggy little mix has repaid every cent I've ever spent on her with loving interest.

[StarryNite]

15. Awww, thank you.

We don't know what breeds she is. They said she is part Collie, rough. But we're thinking it must be Border Collie because of her size and shape of her head and nose. As to the rest of her, we have no idea. :shrug: But she is very sweet and we love her very much. I'm going to have to look up Tibetan Terriers to see what they look like.

[Warpy]

2. You have to be licensed to breed a pet in this city

and if a cat or dog surprises you with an unexpected litter, you can face a hefty fine.

I think it's a good program. I've seen far fewer feral cats and dogs in my area over the last few years.

[MountainLaurel]

4. That's an impressive rule

I hate people who don't neuter or spay their pets (particularly men who won't neuter a male because of their own projecting). Going through heat or rutting after females in heat is not a pretty or easy time for an animal, let alone for the innocent litters they breed.

I walked out of a local pet store in tears recently when I realized they were selling puppies.

[yella_dawg]

3. I called the sheriff, SPCA, and I don't know who all else

on a neighbor many years ago. The smell alone was literally shocking. (I grew up on a farm. I understand animal odors.) Bottom line, nothing could be done. I drove by the house a year or so after I moved out, and the "breeder" happened to be out in the road checking the mail. I stopped out of courtesy, and learned that a fighting dog breeder had moved in my old place, and their attack dogs kept breaking free and having poodles, etc. for lunch.


Sick beyond imagining, but cosmic justice of a sort.

[nam78_two]

5. K&R.nt

[Blueberry_raspberry]

7. bump!

[Hidden Stillness]

9. Never Support Puppy Mills

Puppy mills typically feature the worst conditions of puppy and dog confinment. Animals spend their entire lives in very small, cramped cages, usually with other dogs or puppies, the cages are not cleaned so they live in feces and urine, underfed, no exercise, fights that are not stopped (sometimes to the death), no socialization, so you find fearful animals that have never been around humans in any nice way. Medical conditions are not treated, as that would take from profit, so you usually find ear mites, infections, etc. Dogs are bred and kept pregnant their whole lives, over and over and over, until they succumb to infections of the uterus etc., and are killed. They never live one moment of unexploited happiness their whole lives. All these animals are as abused as those exploited for dog-fighting, and all are killed rather than treated medically; all are easily replaced. People who know or understand nothing about caring for animals, and who generally don't care, run these places, and often because they can't find jobs they really want, and so turn to this. Animals are not exercised, let out of the cages, socialized, fed good food, or even given routine shots--it is a depressing Hell. They are not inspected unless someone calls in an abuse complaint.

The more the animal rights idea spreads--that these animals deserve not to be abused, not that they are "commercial property"--the more these places will be shut down or have to live up to standards. The only problem is with the law to return sick or unsocial animals: many people would like the laws completely changed, because if you return an animal now, it is killed. Many people would like to be able to sue for monetary damages, paying vet bills, punitive amounts, etc., ans then keep the animal. Never buy an animal from a pet store; they are the worst. Go to a shelter, and learn how to take care of animals.

[Mythsaje]

10. Ironically, it was buying a dog from a pet store

that launched us into the canine rescue community and all that entails. We lucked out in that he is a great dog, and well socialized even before we met him. He's mildly epileptic, which isn't an unknown trait in his breed, but, all in all, he's a great dog.

Believe it or not, the Amish are big puppy-millers, aided in the fact that dogs are considered "livestock" by the government, and therefore the laws to restrict certain behaviors are relatively lax.

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing them amend the laws to make it illegal to breed without the express intention to make improvements to the breed, backed up by proper paperwork. It would at least prevent the terminally stupid or ignorant from getting into the "business."

[judaspriestess]

11. I had mutts all my life

but the pets we have now are from puppy stores. My cats are from the shelter. We will never buy from a puppy store again. But I personally feel we rescued our dogs.

My bulldog only had one testicle drop therefore he could never be bred. We never intended to breed him anyway. He cost alot of money and I am sure if someone else would have bought him, there is no telling what they would have done to my bubby because they could not breed him. And he's neutered.
He is the LOVE of my life.

Our female doggie is a sheltie, she is a complete runt. I bought her about a month before the pet store was closed on some violations, no telling what would have happened to her, no one wanted her but I loved her the moment I laid eyes on her. Crystal and Thor are inseparable. She is spayed.

I am glad they are shutting down puppy mills, its a travesty.

[StarryNite]

12. I feel, without a doubt,

that you rescued your dogs too. I'm so happy for you all.

[yewberry]

13. One step further:

"Shain, however, said people who want a puppy should avoid pet stores and instead buy from a hobby breeder or adopt from a shelter."

A "hobby breeder" is still an amateur. Many are unlicensed and there is no way (especially over the internet) to know whether you've found someone who knows what they're doing or someone who's got a backyard mill going. I hate to say "be suspicious," but when it comes to dog breeding, it's safer to be very careful.

[jmowreader]

16. I DESPISE hobby breeders!

In Fayettenam, this is how they work: someone buys a pit bull (around here, all they do is pits), decides he wants to make some money and breeds it to his buddy's pit. A number of weeks later, he's sitting in the parking lot of some store selling these dogs out of the back of his pickup...well, at least until one of the store's employees comes out and runs him off the premises.

Small professional breeding operations, with carefully-selected parent dogs, are a different story.

[shenmue]

17. I got my dog from a shelter

Best $55 I ever spent. :loveya: