How can people not know

Along with a nice hike with my dogs on Sunday I spent the afternoon shopping with one of my daughters. She went ahead of me by an hour or two; she loves to shop. Once I got to the mall we hit the regular spots and then took a quick coffee break; unfortunately the coffee shop is across from the pet store.

As I sat watching the people flow in and out of the store a little scruffy puppy was catching everyones eye. Even after years of showing dogs and researching rare and new breeds I hadn't a clue what it was. It was adorable; I could see that; but it did not resemble any of the breeds that I knew or fashionable mixes that are so popular these days.

I watched a little girl lead her Mother into the store to see this particular puppy. Mom was petting the puppy but the puppy was not intereacting with the Mom, a bad sign right off. The store was packed and people were coming out with armfuls of goodies, several with puppies. And a huge sign says "no money down, 0% financing; are we at the car lot? Oh ya, we are at the mall and this is a puppy mill supporter.

As my daugther joined me I asked "how can people not know?" With all the news about puppy mills and pet stores I cannot believe that people simply don't know. Admittedly it is difficult to see from the eyes of someone not in the world of dogs so I listened to my daughter. She said "people just don't know." Talking to people she knows, friends, acquaintances and customers at work she stated "people simply don't know." But how can we change this?

As I sat and watched the adorable puppies in the windows all I could see was the image of their parents, breeders. The breeder dogs left behind to live a solitary life, alone in filth. Never knowing the meaning of a family or loving home. And when they no longer can push their bodies to conceive puppies they are dumped, euthanized or left.

I will not enter a pet store that sells puppies. I have on occassion but I know I'll end up being physically removed; so I dont' go there. If I did, I would bring a soap box and stand to tell everyone the sorted details of the past life of these little puppies. How so many of my clients ended up with sick, malformed and mentally unstable dogs from these stores. There are several big ones in the area and one that hits on the celebs, who should know better and who could spread the word just by using their voice.