Inside the Puppy Mills

It is SO important to read this article with an inquiring mind. The so-called "investigator" makes many vague, generalized statements. It sounds to me like the "investigator" got no closer to Mr. Weaver's establishment than to observe 4 buildings and hear dogs barking. Yet the "investigator" feels at liberty to attempt to destroy this man's livlihood by labelling his operation as a puppy mill. A genuine puppy mill is a bad thing and there ARE laws enforced by local animal control people to protect helpless animals. It is important for the reader to realize that this "investigator" works for the HSUS which has an agenda. Notice the "investigator's" remark toward the end of this article about "we have created these animals....." Doesn't that sound odd? The HSUS holds that dogs and cats are unnnatural products of human run breeding programs that should never have happened to begin with. Ultimately, the HSUS wants to help the dear little puppies and kitties --- by making them extinct. (If you search a little, you can find published comments by the head of the HSUS to that effect.) Puppy mills need to be stopped, but the HSUS plans to stop ALL breeding of dogs and cats by the systematic persecution of ALL breeders, both good and bad.
There are many reasons for getting a dog from a shelter. Someone who is looking for a dog for a companion and has enough dog experience to be able to avoid bringing home a problem dog SHOULD go to a shelter. However, someone who is looking for a performance dog (a dog who will compete in agility, flyball, competition obedience, or some other dog sport) should go to a breeder. Like human athletes, a dog needs to be physically ABLE to compete in his sport. Someone who simply choses a cute dog from a shelter and teaches it to love a sport that is to demanding for the dog's physical structure, has done that dog no favors.
A purebred dog is a specialist. He was born able and desiring to do a certain job. It's a joy to him. A dog who is doing what he was bred and trained to do (like herding or hunting) is a glorious celebration of teamwork between a dog and an owner. Someone who is seeking a canine partner for such an activity needs to go to a reputable breeder who understands that breed of dog and that activity.
Yes, beware of puppy mills, but also be very wary of the HSUS and be kind to your local reputable breeders.

It never ceases to amaze me the lack of understanding people have ab out buying a puppy..not a thought about where they are coming from. First off the petstores overcharge for the puppy and don't really care about taking care of them. People need to look at where they come from and if they go to a home to pick one out the parents should be healthy and cared for and the breeder willing to show all the dogs. Mass breeding only produces weak and poor quality puppies and unfortunatly does nothing for the mother either and her health suffers. To many puppies are put down or just die after being purchased from mills. People need to pay more attention and think about how much work goes into having healthy dogs and look for how these babies are spending the first months of their lives. Pound puppies are fine and there are real people out there selling great puppies that are raised in a home and are loved and cared for. Those taking advantage of mass breding need to be shut down and some should go to jail. Its not about dollars and cents!

This article makes it clear that regardless of where a puppy is purchased from it may have originally come from one of the puppy mills. When a puppy is given a good home, it is irrelevant where it came from. Adoption agencies have so many rules and are quite costly, so they are perpetuating the situation. In the long run, it was easier to buy a puppy from another state and have him flown into the nearest airport than to adopt right here! It is amazingly ridiculous the amount of effort it took for us to get the pet we wanted. We appreciate him even more for all the effort but some good people that are less tenacious would have just given up.

Yes puppy mills are bad and should be inspected and shut down if conditons are not right but for someone who is looking for a certain kind or breed of dog especially in a smaller town, we have no choice but to purchase our puppies from a pet store. Humane societys usually only have mixed breed dogs and are most likely well into there adult hood. Give us more choices and options then the pet stores so we can purchase our kind of dogs elsewhere which would cut back on how many the pet stores sell and buy from puppy mills

THe American Kennel Club is complicite in this horrow because without AKC registration paspers these puppy mills could not operate. Shame on the AKC!

Hey if this article touched you...touch your wallet and give to your local shelter for the holidays. And if you aren't in the postion to be able to donate...donate your time..shelters are always strapped for cash and help...either would be a great holiday gift not only to the Shelter but to the pets they help.... Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas!

You can buy a dog, or as I did, adopt one who is "free to good home". My dog has no papers, no lineage, is fat, goofy and a little on the dumb side, but I love her dearly. Dogs are family members, not status symbols. If we didn??t treat them like accessories, maybe puppy-mills would fade away.

Hey if this article touched you...touch your wallet and make a donation to your local shelter..and if you're not in the position to make a donation volunteer your time... Shelters are always strapped for cash and for help any combination would be a great holiday gift to them and the pets they care for... Happy Holidays and God Bless...

Five years ago, i adopted a mixed-breed puppy who was "free to good home". She is huge, happy, goofy, and not that bright, but I love her dearly. Maybe if we all stopped thinking of dogs as accesories and treated them as members of the family, puppy mills would fade out of existance.

Kieran

Everytime we travel to the USa we go and visit breeders And it seems they go=et worse each year, and we go to the USA every three years.this time in texas i saw a lady that had a shitzu in a cage hanging in a tree. They have AKC puppies and another Dog Club based in NY why does not anybody from those clubs go and visit those breeders?? Those people feed them puppies gluco and when the sugar wears out they just fall over.. It is more then sad. And why would anybody buy a puppy from a pet shop and pay $1000 and get a pet that pops blood while sitting in a metal cage. Do those people not know that animals have feelings too, that they feel pain like we do? that they bleed like we do? that they want to get loved like we do?? Shame on you puppy mills breeder and shame on you home factory animal breeders, G-d will get you all one day.

Does anyone know what happened to the boston terrier puppy with mange on the cover?