Animal cruelty......?

Question

I see all these videos of breeding warehouses that are horrible. What i'd like to know are the majority like this are is it a exception?

Answer 1

I watched a show on Oprah the other day (the youtube clip is here: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iPvUTyOoPh... if you would like to watch it) about puppy mills.

The guy on there estimates that 99% of puppies in pet shops come from puppy mills. So, there are a lot of them out there.

The Amish community especially contributes a lot to puppy mills. They don't view dogs the same way that the rest of society does. Dogs are simply livestock for them.

Responsible trustworthy breeders would NEVER give their puppies to the pet shop. They screen potential owners before handing the puppy over and their homes are open to visits and inspections.

Sadly, breeding warehouses/puppy mills/ etc. are very real and a big problem.

I hope I helped some and good luck!

Answer 2

Quality breeders don't resell to pet stores. The breeders that sell to pet stores do so because they are willing to take less money either A) to avoid having the general public tour their facility or B) because they are producing so many that it's not feasible to sell them all out of their facility.

I don't mind buying say a corn snake from a breeder that breeds a lot of snakes. But, I would never want to buy a puppy from a breeder that does not take the time to socialize and raises their pups in kennels rather then the home. Even if the dogs aren't kept in horrible conditions, not being kept in home conditions early on makes them a lot harder to housebreak and train later. Puppies develop in different stages and having a puppy in a cage with minimal human contact does not make for a good pet later.

Breeding dogs in a kennel situation is NOT the ideal way to raise a pet that will need to be reliable in a family situation. Breeders that choose to do it that way are in it purely for the money. They don't care even if the end 'product' they create is inferior because of the way they raised it.

In other words, if you see a puppy for sale through a pet store, it was raised by a breeder that cares more about the money then the puppy. Even if it wasn't raised in horrific conditions, it still wasn't raised in ideal conditions.

Quality breeders want to meet you, discuss how the pup should be kept, and will let you see their other dogs. They want you to enjoy the puppy and have it fit in well in your family. They look out for the happiness of the dog and the best choice for your situation.

I don't know if I agree that those videos represent the majority though, as I've seen many slaughterhouse videos released by the same people and fur videos that are not at all representative of how it is done. At the same time though, I've been involved in two puppy mill raids and they were as horrible as any video I've seen about it. One puppymill supplied many of Florida's pet stores. We were still getting animals surrendered from them years after they were closed down that are being surrendered for expensive hereditary conditions.

There's no reason to buy a puppy from a reseller. There are plenty of decent breeders you can meet through a breed club. A dog is a family member you may have for 15-20 years. Even if you have to drive several hours to get a dog from a reliable breeder, it's still worth it in the long run.