Its got to stop

Today I wanted to discuss some serious business. I've been talking to alot of rescue groups lately and its really getting to me. Everyone has their own opinion to the solution of over population and dumped dogs. Certainly there are many different factors that have a part in it all but to me the biggest factor in so many dogs being dumped are the Pet stores and puppy mills. Spaying and neutering does indeed help but when you have talked to so many people and had a really long look at the big picture it is pretty clear.

I deal with many dog people everyday and the dogs that are simply dumped or brought to rescues or shelters are often linked to puppy mills. Pet stores that sell puppies should be outlawed plain and simple. These stores rely on the awwww factor and hope that their clients have not thought it through. Obviously they want you to buy one of their puppies and you cannot even return them if you change your mind, oh no pet stores have a one way door.

Pet stores are set up for the impulse buyer. I even know people who work for rescue groups who are appauled by puppy mills and pet stores that sell puppies and they themselves buckled under the pressure. You go in just to look and maybe to sway some prospective owners and before you know it your sucked into a pair of the deepest, brownest eyes you've ever seen. But this is only helping the millers to keep pumping out those poor little helpless and innocent animals.

The fact is that good, reputible and ethical breeders do not sell their puppies to pet stores and if you try to convince yourself that they do, you are only fooling yourself. I have had this conversation so many times, "how do you know they aren't from a good breeder?" Because no ethical, reputible breeder who spends hundreds of dollars ensuring that their breeding dogs are fit and healthy and have the puppies vet checked, temperament tested and give written guarantees with their babies are going to hand them over to Joe pet store owner not knowing where or who they would end up with, wouldn't happen.

The people who are supplying pet stores with puppies are doing it to fill their pockets. These people have quickly discovered that the less you put out in feed and medical costs the more for your pocket. The puppies from these horrendous places are often taken away from their mother way too soon leaving them with serious issues. I see serious behavior, temperament and health problems repeatedly in pet store dogs and feel heart sick for families who fall in love with their dog only to loose it to a fatal disease.

It just has to end but how are we going to end this all. Not all millers work from Pet stores, the internet is a huge tool for them now as well. You see the photos of the puppies set up around flowers and pretty blankets all in a row. Which one do you want? Just pick one and its yours.

What you don't see are the parents left in the tiny cages full of filth and sadness, the dogs who are underfed, sick and lonely. No, if you saw those dogs you probably wouldn't buy a puppy would you? The solution starts with us, the people who go into the stores and buy the puppies. If you know a store sells kittens or puppies don't go there, give your business to the stores who have taken a stand against selling puppies.

One small step from you can cause a chain reaction. I will never go in a store that sells puppies, for one I won't give them my business and two its heartbreaking to me. I'm just fed up, dogs deserve our fight for this to end.