The picture above is of a pet store that recently opened up in Wappingers Falls, New York. They sell animals that come from puppy mills.
A puppy mill, is a commercial dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions regarding the well-being of dogs in their care. Similar types of operations exist for other animals commonly kept as pets or used as feed for other animals. The term can be applied to operations involving other animals commercially bred for profit, e.g. "kitty mills." There are an estimated 4,000 puppy mills in the U.S. that produce more than half a million puppies a year. Commercial kennels may be licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture which may inspect the kennels routinely. For-profit breeding on a smaller scale is sometimes referred to as backyard breeding.
If you visit the following link, the website there has well documented cases where the USDA has done inspections at these puppy mills that supply the stores that are owned by Rick Doyle.
http://www.againstpuppymills.org/HoS_RickDoyle.html
The list of violations is not isolated to just this particular store or these breeders/puppy mills. This is a common occurrence all over the country, probably the world, for animals sold in pet stores. When profits are put ahead of concern for the animals health and well being, there is little regard for them, and shortcuts are taken that end up in suffering, diseases and premature death of the animals.
On a personal note to this blog entry, I have a neighbor who bought 2 dogs from the pet store in the Galleria Mall in Poughkeepsie, New York several years back. Within 2 years, one of her dog's went blind, and within the next 3 years, both of the dogs had died from medical problems associated with inbreeding at the puppy mill that supplied the pet store.
As a volunteer for the Dutchess County SPCA, I see dogs and cats that are currently waiting to be ADOPTED by loving families. These animals need a home. By adopting rather than BUYING, you are not only saving the life of an animal that desperately needs a "forever home", you are also saving the lives of future animals that would have been born in a puppy mill to supply the unnecessary demand, and you are not funding these horrible practices, and greedy people. If we take away the DEMAND for puppies in pet stores, the puppy mills will cease to exist and will have to find another way to make money, sparing future generations of suffering. It's common sense ecomonics. Supply and demand.
Save a life, ADOPT your next best friend.
The following video shows exactly where pet store animals come from. Please watch it. And think......Do you want to contribute to this cruelty?
To adopt an shelter animal, please visit your local SPCA or go to:
Petfinder.com
Adopt A Pet
In Dutchess County go to http://www.dcspca.org/
For more information on puppy mills, visit Againstpuppymills.org
Thank you!
Michael
This is a beautiful statement of life for life, Michael!
ReplyDeleteIn appreciation,
Sheila
This business will be looking over their shoulders soon. The education of the public is well underway about puppy mills. And with the bylaws at city council levels banning the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores (all over North America) it's just a matter of time until puppy mills are criminal operations.
ReplyDeleteWe were going to buy a Beagle puppy from this store. He was a good dog, even though we knew he came from a puppy mill. Most Beagles will just sniff sniff sniff everything, but he played around with us, still sniffing occasionally. Thing was he was four months old - the oldest one there. When we came back two or three days later, half the dogs were gone including the Beagle. We were heartbroken, because he probably got sent back to the mill to be part of the program or euthanized. We're going to get a puppy from North Shore though. I'll never forget him, and I really hope he at least went to be part of the program so he has a chance at being saved by the SPCA.
ReplyDeleteI just recently bought a "jack-a-bee"(jack russle, beagle) puppy from this store. I love her to death and her purpose was for my newborn son to have a family dog. I made a mistake however, I should've adopted and rescued a dog from a shelter. I don't regret my dog because I love her, it's just unfortunate that I have only gotten to spend a small amount of time with her due to the fact only 4 days after I bought her she was diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Her lungs were completley full of mucus, with no room for any air. She was minutes away from dying. I am now up to almost 5,000 in vet bills to get her better. I'm a 20 year old independent mother, who now has no savings for her son and is at risk of losing her car. Something must be done about these mills and stores ASAP!!!!
ReplyDeletebut if you get a puppy from a kennel aren't you supporting puppy stores too? since most puppies in kennels were at once in a pet store? puppies in pet stores deserve homes too, it's not their fault that they're there.
ReplyDelete