Today I share a post from a favorite blog of mine, Frogdog Blog. WARNING!!!! It has a very graphic and disturbing video with undercover footage from a puppymill. It is probably one of the worst I have ever seen. While no one wants to see this sort of thing I think it is important for us to watch. Why? because we HUMANS are allowing it to happen!! You will see in the news story how that is possible.
It is: Where does your puppy come from??
If your puppy came from a pet store it probably came from this type of breeder. No good breeder would EVER let their puppies be sold by a third party. EVER!!!! Nor does a reputable breeder hawk their puppies online with a "click to buy it now" option. EVER!!!! Now as a trainer it shouldn't matter where my clients get their dogs. If anything puppymill dogs come with a host of behavior problems that are a potential source of income to me. (and veterinarians as well) However as a human being who LOVES animals this disturbs me greatly. Can you imagine being one of those dogs and living that kind of life so a human can make money off selling your babies? It is clearly a living hell. And if you are not part of the solution by supporting reputable breeders, rescue groups or shelters then you are part of the problem. Period. Until we can break the supply and demand for puppies to be purchased like a product than this will keep happening. This woman is still in business remember. Personally I think being able to "order" a dog off the internet with a credit card is ridiculous. It is a living breathing being, not a pair of shoes.
And if that isn't enough info for you check out this blog post from Ruffly Speaking: How to kill a shelter dog.
I operate on the principle that when you know better you do better. So here is the information for someone to possibly learn the lesson. I don't think is is enough to be horrified by the photos and video of puppymills. I believe we need to spread the word every chance we get. No matter how that may cause people to feel. If you bought a puppy from a pet store or back yard breeder and didn't know better than you can claim ignorance. If you do it after learning about the existence of puppymills and bad breeders then shame on you. If we don't educate people on the issue of puppymills and internet puppy sellers then those uneducated people will still buy from them. I can't remember where I read it but someone mentioned maybe we need to give a stigma to buying from pet stores. If it becomes an unpopular choice would that help at all? I dunno but clearly something needs to be done if these kinds of kennels can still exist and stay in business. SOMEONE is buying these puppies after all. So who is it?
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