This doesn't surprise me. Most pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills, even if they don't say it. I've never seen pictures of a happy pleasant puppy mill either. Puppies from puppy mills generally suffer from such things as inbreeding related health issues and also health issues from living in a poor environment. When the breeding dogs (which are usually breed one pregnancy after another) can't breed as quickly, they are often sold at auction. Facilities that do animal testing will often buy dogs at auction so basically the breeding dog is tortured for life.
Best way to get a dog is to go through a rescue/shelter. If people insist on buying a dog, they should visit the breeder. If you can't visit the breeder, then there is an issue.
I saw an episode of Animal Cops on Animal Planet where they arrested many people for running this one puppy mill. As the owner of four cats, a dog, a guinea pig and a few birds, all I could do was cry.
I didn't know Petland even sold dogs. That must be something new. I hope they go down over this.
There are cat breeders that are a bit dubious but those are mostly 'in home' breeders. You read stories of ladies with 100 cats... usually they are breeding them. I've read stories where they will go into homes of someone who breed cats and find cat skeletons and horrid conditions. Bengals are one of the more popular cats to breed these days. Cats do plenty of breeding on their own... no reason to breed them.
Birds it also depends. Some wild birds are illegally taken from the wild. Others will breed birds.
Dog breeding though is big business. There can be a lot of money in it for the breeders. There usually isn't as much money from breeding other animals.
The spay/neuter situation with dogs and cats has led to the huge decrease in natural breeding that used to happen frequently. I'm not saying that's a bad thing because all my cats are neutered. Puppy mills now fill the void that used to come from everyone trying to find homes for their unwanted puppies and kittens. It's just not as easy as it used to be to find a reasonably priced pet. That, coupled with the rage for pure breeds, opened a door which is now pretty hard to close. It takes forever to get a puppy mill closed and when you do another crops up right away or these poor pups are shipped in from Mexico.
Puppy mill animals are usually taken away from their mothers way to young and they often have health and mental issues. I agree with nelie - get a shelter or rescue pet. Get an older pet if you can. Or visit the kennel of the dog you are buying so you can see how the parents are living. Insist on seeing the living conditions. If they won't let you see the mother and puppies in their natural setting walk away.
Some of the reputable breeders in our area are getting concerned that their puppies might contribute to inbreeding so they are now starting to cross breeds and getting some of the cutest combinations. I like a mixed myself because they tend to be healthier. The pug crosses are particularly cute and saucy because they are now ending up with snouts and can breathe much better and they get the sweetest faces. We're seeing maltese/poodle crosses. Neighbours have chihuahua/jack russell cross brothers and tiny, saucy, and silly boys they are. And let's hear a shout for the labradoodle.
One thing is for sure is any pet you buy from a pet store is from a mill unless otherwise stated.
There are still so many unwanted pets, that the only reason Puppy Mills fill a void is because of the demand for pure bred and designer (mixed) breed puppies on demand. Puppy mill puppies are (at best) pet quality animals, generally sold for show dog prices, but they're available as impulse purchases, rather than requiring the buyer do any research or legwork.
It saddens me, because it's the desire for puppies that often is the very reason for many of the unwanted pets. Someone who doesn't have the time for training, buys a puppy and then can't deal with the behavior problems when the baby isn't cute anymore. Where if they went to the shelter and brought home a socialized and house-trained adult (who was either trained by the previous owner or by the shelter staff), they'd have the companion they wanted in the first place.
It's amazing how many people are shocked when we tell them our "new" cat is eight years old. We adopted a fat, old lady not a cute baby. She was already spayed (declawed too, which was a requirement of the landlord, but by bringing home an already declawed cat, we didn't have to force that upon a baby - declawing is the equivalent of cutting off all of your fingers and toes at the first knuckle).
Yes, babies are cute - but cute is not all you want in a pet (at least I hope not).
We were at one of those stores today! Ohhh, those sweet little puppies! We were there b/c we love dogs but are not planning to get one until smallest, now 2yrs. is in kindergarten.
One of the reasons rescues/shelters have so many dogs is people buy their dogs from the pet store, sometimes on a whim, and then realize that the dog is a bit too much for them. There are many 'breed specific' rescues around as well.
I never wanted a puppy/kitten because honestly puppies are a lot of work, kittens are too but less so. I wanted a dog at least 18 months old and our first dog was 18 months old and the other was 2.5 yrs old.
I also think that mixed dogs are best although one of my dogs is a 'pure bred' dog as far as I know. He is a beagle and I had done a lot of research on beagles before getting him and I knew what I was getting in for the most part. He is actually better than I expected breed characteristic wise.
Pet stores seem to treat living things as throw away items and it isn't a good practice. I won't buy from a pet store that sells animals as well because I don't want to support that business.
I think it's ironic that one of the strongest arguments FOR purebreds is so rarely used by people buying them.
Breeders will often say the advantage of (good) breeding, is that not only appearance, but that to a large degree physical and mental characteristics such as temperament, intelligence, trainability, skills in certain areas and health are more predictable with carefully bred purebreds (which is why you see a higher percentage of pure breds as service dogs, they're bred for the traits that make excellent service dogs - which doesn't mean that mixed breeds never make good service dogs, but it's easier and more successful to breed for those traits than to hope to find them).
But how many people are really looking at all (or any) of that when they select a purebred? I'm not saying it's given no thought, because I've heared alot of people say they chose a lab or a golden retriever because "they're good with kids," but more often you hear from people that they chose a particular breed because they "look cool." Some people do their homework, but an alarming number don't find out the negative side of their breed until they experience it - after the dog is in the home.
I've heard alot of people dismiss breed characteristics, because they think they can compensate with training (often these are also the people who have just as little experience with training). But it's not easy or often even possible to train hunting out of a hunting breed or herding out of a herding breed (our sheltie-beagle mix we had as a kid was never happier than when she was "herding" children away from the road. If playing on the sidewalk, she'd place herself between us and the road, and keep nudging until we got back on the grass of our yard. She also loved to pick up small birds - usually the ones learning to fly because they were easier to catch, and she'd carry them around carefully until we'd see her with something in her mouth and tell her to drop it - and a dazed but unharmed bird would fall on the ground, wobble a bit then fly away).
Petland linked to puppy mills
