FollowText.com » Pets-and-animals » Buyer Beware When you Get a Puppy!

Buyer Beware When you Get a Puppy!

by: RebeccaFoxton
Total views: 6 | Word Count: 537

When you buy your puppy in a pet store, probably most of you don't question where the cute little fluffball came from. You might assume that the pet store buys from breeders or maybe a local family had a surprise litter.

Pet store puppies are rarely bred by reputable breeders, they are sourced from puppy mills. Most people won't have heard of a puppy mill. Soon, you will probably wish you hadn't.

Puppy mills are canine intensive breeding plants, where literally thousands of puppies are bred to supply the pet industry. It's a sad life for a puppy mill puppy, from the very start.

Poor health, temperament issues and hereditary diseases are often the legacy of being bred at a Puppy Mill. Socialization rarely occurs as the puppies are taken away from their mother early, thus depriving them of these skills.

Their substandard living conditions, where they are housed in cages, sometimes with many others also lead to health and temperament issues, as they receive little chance to bond with humans before being shipped to the petstore.

It is responsible when breeding puppies to take into account any diseases a breed is prone to, and to carefully select dogs to mate, otherwise you end up with a walking wagging time bomb. Good breeder will make proper vet care, immunization and health a priority.

A good breeder will have spacious, clean and humane premises, and should voluntarily be able to show you the bloodline of your puppy. A breeder ALWAYS gives a guarantee (although details may differ), tips on care, and would never make you return the puppy if dissatisfied, as they would have properly interviewed the family.

The situation is very different at a puppy mill, where the main aim is profit rather than animal welfare. Their goal is to produce as many puppies as possible to turn over the greatest margin. This means often poor breeding, where animal unscreened for hereditary diseases are used, or possibly even interbreeding which can lead to no end of health and temperament issues.

The mothers may have the worst of it, as they must carry puppies every time they are on heat, and there is no escape from the poor nutrition, lack of medical care, housing or breeding cycles. When the females are no longer useful, death or abandonment generally awaits them.

There is legislation in place but puppy mills still exist. Consumers can help stamp out these intensive dog breeding plants buy only buying puppies from reputable breeders ( visit the premises, get recommendations), consider adopting ( this is the most humane way to stop the industry and to help rescue a dog who has been abandoned), refuse to buy from pet stores ( many of them do not know or mislead their customers as to the origin of the puppies).

Don't buy a puppy mill puppy just to save him. You will just create the market for more puppies to be produced. The best thing to do if you see puppies being bred or kept in inappropriate conditions is to inform the appropriate animal protection authorities who will be able to take action.

Puppy mills only exist because of the end consumer, so buy puppies responsibly and ask some tough questions the next time you see puppies for sale.

About the Author

About the author: Rebecca Foxton can help you give your pet better health with Fortiflora. For an excellent source of health tips for pet owners, read her dog supplements articles on Dog Buffs.

Buyer Beware When you Get a Puppy!

About the Author

More Articles from: Pets and Animals