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Join The Fight To Stop Puppy Mills.

by: RebeccaFoxton
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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.

Imagine a compound of small cages where dogs are bred intensively; that is a Puppy Mill. Hundreds of thousands of puppies are farmed in this way across North America to satisfy a demand in pet stores. A Puppy Mill dog has a wretched and hopeless start in life.

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.

Add to this negative early start poor feeding and possibly inadequate water, coupled with miserable living conditions with no room to move and little contact with humans, before being taken often incredibly long distances to the pet store, during which many die.

Usually when breeding dogs, breeders will study the blood line of each of the parents to check whether there is any risk of inherited diseases, so that they breed a healthy puppy. Medical and vaccination programs will also be adhered to, until the time they are released to a loving home.

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.

Breeding dogs are kept in miserable conditions, without proper attention to their diet, health or exercise regime, and forced to breed every time they are in season, physically exhausting the dog, and leading to weaker puppies. At the end of their breeding life, the dogs are often killed or abandoned.

Puppy mills are still in operation despite laws to control them. The way to combat these farms is to remove the demand for puppies by only purchasing your puppy from a good breeder, or adopting one from an animal rescue centre; don't trust pet stores, which may be ignorant or misleading of the truth.

It is imperative that you don't buy a puppy from a mill to rescue him. It is creating a demand for another puppy to be bred into a life of suffering. Contact the appropriate bodies, and demand they 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 brilliant health with Fortiflora. For an excellent source of health tips for pet owners, visit her dog supplements article series on Dog Buffs.

Join The Fight To Stop Puppy Mills.

About the Author

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