Puppy Mills5 min read
The Truth About Puppy Mills
A puppy mill is a factory for dogs. Even though more and more people are taking a stand against them, we still have thousands of licensed and unlicensed puppy mills.
Most people don’t realize that when they buy a dog from a pet store, that dog most likely came from a puppy mill. In puppy mills, dogs live in tiny, crowded cages. Often, cages are the minimum legal size allowed (only six inches larger than the dog on all sides), and female dogs are bred as frequently as possible to produce as many puppies as possible for the pet trade.
Life in a puppy mill is no life for any animal. Together, we can take a stand against puppy mills and make them a thing of the past.
We receive more than one hundred calls each year from people needing help with a dog they purchased from a pet shop or puppy mill. Some times the only thing required is a referral to a good trainer, behaviorist or holistic veterinarian. Unfortunately, there is very little we can say or do to help. The majority have already spent more than they could afford to purchase the dog, which seemed healthy at eight or ten weeks old. Later, as the puppy matured, is it discovered to have inherited hip dysplasia, Demodectic mange, epilepsy, or a variety of other crippling or life threatening conditions.
Our best advice is use common sense. Buying a puppy advertised on the Internet is extremely risky because you have no idea who you’re dealing with. There aren’t any consumer laws to protect you. You also don’t know about the temperament or health of the puppy’s sire and dam or what sort of conditions the dogs are kept. Pedigrees and OFA certificates can be altered, scanned and sent with the click of a mouse by mill operators that know exactly how to deceive the public. After all, their livelihood depends on the sale of puppies, so deception is an important part of their trade.
Breeder's Tactics
Beware of high pressure sales gimmicks such as “not sure he’ll be here tomorrow” or “two for one” sales or things that have nothing to do with the business of breeding animals for profit. Breeders who advertise dogs “free to good home” should be avoided. Common sense begs the question: why is the dog free? Did his value depreciate because he’s no longer a cute puppy? Especially if he bears the scars of pack life in a large-breed mill. Or because the flaws he inherited are now more evident? Or is the dog at an age where he or she is no longer useful to the mill operator?
These are just a few of the warning signs you should be aware of while searching for a healthy, well-bred puppy. Every dog should be worth something, even if it’s only reimbursement for spay or neuter and a microchip.
Research Your Breed
Research should be your first step toward the purchase of a purebred dog. Visit your local library, a national club’s website, and an AKC dog show. Learn everything you can about your breed of choice. Find out where the breed originated, what it was bred for, its expected lifespan, and most importantly, every genetic ailment it is known to have. Rhodesian Ridgebacks, for instance, have a variety of health concerns for the average pet owner. Such as, hip and elbow dysplasia, hypothyroidism, dermoid sinus, cardiomyopathy, entropian, epilepsy, bloat and degenerative myelopathy (“DM”).
DM has been a problem in Ridgebacks (and other breeds) for a long time. Only recently has a DNA test become available which allows reputable breeders to eliminate affected dogs from their breeding program. To learn more about DM, please go to http://www.offa.org. Most ethical breeders are taking advantage of the new DNA test and now include the results for sires and dams in the health guarantees for their puppies.
Whether you are looking for a pet, performance, or show dog, do your research. Check pedigrees and the OFA site to get an idea of how long a breeder has been “in” a certain breed. Find out if he or she did the appropriate health screenings prior to breeding a litter. An AKC championship is not generally easy to attain, and thus, it does indicate a degree of quality in the sire and dam of a puppy. Before contacting a breeder, find out everything you can about them, and then compare what is advertised on their website to what can actually be documented as fact.
Also, it never hurts to shop around and compare prices, pedigrees, health guarantees and club affiliations. Try to visit as many breeders as possible before making a final decision. A “backyard breeder” may offer you what seems like a reasonable price for a puppy, but don’t expect a health guarantee or breeder/buyer contract to be included. Backyard breeders usually have one or two females, which are bred on every heat cycle to produce two or three litters per year. Their primary reason for breeding dogs is to supplement another income.
Buying a puppy from a pet shop is never wise because most of them come from puppy mills. The same applies to buying from the mill itself, where many people don’t realize they’ve been swindled until it’s too late. Others tell us they bought a puppy from a mill to “save it”, which is understandable, but it is exactly what the millers expect you to do. In your mind, you really are saving the pup — probably saving its life — but to the mill operator you are just another customer and more incentive to continue breeding for profit. Again, use common sense. If it looks like, smells like, and sounds like a mill, it probably is.
Conclusion
Thinking about buying a pup from a breeder? Not sure who to trust? Go to www.archive.org to look at a breeder’s website– from the beginning — as it appeared on the Internet. And BEWARE of breeders who peddle their own dogs as “rescues”.
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