Let’s just think a moment about the motivation of the pet store. They are there to sell things including puppies to make money. There is nothing wrong with making money but to have integrity while making money is important. There are far too many pet stores out there that buy puppies from puppy mills. Puppy Mills are dog breeding kennels that breed lots of dogs and keep the dogs and puppies in less than desirable conditions. Most of the puppy mills are in the Midwest (US) although there are lots of local puppy mills to watch out for too. They do not check the larger breeds for hip problems, nor do they check for other health problems that are prone to certain breeds. These health problems range from blinding chronic eye problems, crippling hip dyspepsia, skin problems, and so many more. These puppies can be raised in the most horrendous conditions that can be imagined. Many of the breeding dogs are never let out of a wire cage which may be stacked on top of other cages. We will not even discuss the cleanliness of stackable wire cages. The puppies carry the stress of their mother in her situation with them when they are shipped out. They are taken away from their mother and siblings far too young usually five weeks and miss some important skills like how hard should I bite. I must admit when I was a teenager I worked for a pet store that bought puppy mill puppies. I had never even heard the term or knew anything about puppy mills. I witnessed sweet little baby puppies shipped in tractor trailers arrive into my back room in horrible conditions. I still have a very hard time even thinking about it let alone writing or speaking of it. But to get the message out there I must.

 

I will never forget my first experience with this situation. I was seventeen years old, born and raised on a farm so familiar with animals. But I was not familiar with the cruelty of the human world. When this blank faced truck driver unloaded these crates of puppies in the middle of winter to the back door of the pet store the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was awful. The smell if urine, feces, and vomit filled the room. My first thought was to get them out right now! Get them out of these horrible wooden crates! But no, the paperwork had to be signed. I brushed past the clipboard to the sound of a whimper and began to open a wood and wire door. The driver told me I had to sign that I received my shipment in good order and I said “What do you think is in good order?”  “Why don’t you let me look first.”  My first bout of “good order’ horrified me. This baby Irish Setter whimpering could not even stand up because he was frozen to the spilled water and urine in the crate. I ran to get some warm water to release him from his terror and wrapped him in a towel and just held him. Then I realized I heard no more sounds. I panicked. I knew this was going to be really bad. I wanted to turn and punch this guy right in the face. If I did not have so much to do at that moment to save these poor pups from another moment of horror I would probably still be in jail for killing a truck driver. It was not good. There were three dead pups, frozen to the bottom of their crates in the back of a tractor trailer truck or somewhere along the way. Four others very sick with upper respiratory  infections and stayed in the back room for a month without seeing a vet but given shots and medicine that to this day I have not idea about. They needed vet attendance and were not given any. The manager of this particular pet store actually wore a stethoscope around his neck as if her were a vet. I stayed as long as I could and even stole a beautiful Husky that was nine months old and lived in a crate in the back room since six weeks old. He could not sit up nor stand up straight in this small crate. His only problem was he had mange (totally treatable) so he could not be sold. This was not a life threatening problem so the manager could not get a “death certificate” and would loose the money he paid for the dog. If a dog did not come up to muster it was put to sleep so he could collect his fifty dollars by sending a death cert back to the breeder.  The pet store owner’s main concern was to be sure to get a death certificate from the veterinarian so he could get his money back. He would buy more puppies from the same place again and again. I know this is a very unpleasant side of the pet store business but for you the consumer; knowledge is power to make a good decision. Needless to say at the tender age of seventeen I was fired from my first job. Had my father been alive he would have been so proud. That little Husky  pup that I stole (don’t tell a soul) was with me for seven wonderful years until cancer took her away.

 

 So NEVER buy a puppy from a pet store. I know we want to save them all. I have lived with that since I opened my first pet store puppy wooden crate back in 1973. We cannot. We must stop it. Do not even walk into these places. If we do not buy them to save them they will stop being there. Yes, it is very difficult. I know; my heart was wrenched out as a teenager. I can never walk into a pet store that has puppies. These puppies have not started out on the right foot and through no fault of their own we must stop even though we see many will have some sort of behavioral issues to overcome. The people trying to sell you the puppy will use allot of pressure to make you feel sorry for the puppy; they are counting on it. It is far too heart wrenching for me because I learned too much as an innocent teenager. Now nearly fifty years later, I still feel my stomach wrench and my eye fill. Shame on us. It still goes on.

To help stop the business of puppy mills and to ensure the purchase of a quality puppy I would suggest that you only look at local breeders with good references. And of course there are hundreds of thousands of puppies and adult dogs available at thousands of local shelters. So be sure to look through all of the local doors available to you for that special pup waiting to come into your life.