i just caught a commercial for 2morrows show on oprah, i don't know what we can do to help, but judging from the commercial, oprah will let us know. 2morrows show is about puppy mills and the horrific abuse that these animals endure.
i don't usually watch oprah because of time constraints in the afternoon, very hectic here at that time, but i'm not missing this one for anything, and i am hoping she lets us know what we can do to help.

here is a link for a preview of the show.

http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows...promocode=HP51

I will try to tape it or watch it too. The little bit I know about puppy mills comes from my relatives on my mom's side who live in Lancaster, Pa. Apparently, puppy mills are a fairly rampant problem amongst some Amish families, who run them as a business. The dog is seen as strictly an animal without compassion - a way to make money. It was on the news one time when we were visiting (maybe 2 years ago), and I was shocked.

There are so many reasons to NOT buy from breeders, pet stores and puppy mills.

Adopt!!!

there are definately 101 reasons why you should not buy from breeders...but if you MUST have a purebred remember a few simple rules...
1. look into rescure organizations...almost every breed has a rescure group..and most of these animals are healthy and have no problems. With computers now a days...its very easy to google a specific breed rescue group in your state.
2. do not buy from a petstore...most of these pups are puppy mill places
3. if you buy from a breeder...check the facility. if they are breeding more than 1 breed and they have litters all over the place this is a back yard breeder and not necessarily a good one. reputable breeders will not over breed and will only breed occasionally.

but really in all honestly...adopted animals are wonderful. Save an animals life and ADOPT. I worked 3 years in shelter medicine and killed hundred of animals a year because they were unloved. It sucks!!!!! and if people would just stop buying from breeders and have their pet spayed/neutered we would be better off.

This is one topic that I am happy to say I know quite a bit about.

I have volunteered for Westie Rescue and we even had a demonstration at a puppy mill dog auction here in WI. I foster West Highland Terriers until Westie Rescue can find them new homes. Like someone said before, if you would like a purebred dog, please contact the rescue organization in your state. There should be a rescue for just about any breed. And most states have one. It is easy to find one using google.

If you do get a dog, make sure you find a responsible breeder. There are good ones that devote their lives to bettering the breed and are not in it just for the money. You can go to stoppuppymills.com and it will tell you what a puppy mill is like, and also there is a checklist on the website to help you find a good breeder. A lot of these puppy millers will tell you the dog has papers, but they are not AKC papers. There is a "pet registry" that all they have to do is pay a small fee and that is what they are calling "papers". AKC is a very good organization and the breeders that are a part of them are required to follow very strict guidelines or they will lose their accreditation.

This is a very important issue, and we need to make everyone aware what is going on in these "dog factories". I have a mill dog now and she is sweet but she is not the confident, happy go lucky dog that her breed is characteristic of. She spent her first 3 years in cage. Never knowing what it is like to be free and be able to run and have fun. People are thinking they are getting a deal on these dogs because they are getting are many times sick and don't come from healthy parents. Many times the parents have health problems that are passed down to their puppies. The puppies may look wonderful in the pet stores but by getting a puppy mill puppy you are further aiding the industry and causing the parents of these dogs to have a life of torture.

I would be happy to share any information if anyone has any questions.

Thanks for listening!

Dawn

I went to college in York, PA, and Lancaster, PA has been dubbed the "puppy mill capital of the United States." It's sickening. I did a persuasive speech in my communications class in college on puppy mills (the persuasion aspect being not to buy puppies from pet stores), so I did quite a bit of research on the topic. I was AMAZED by how many people in my class had no idea such a thing existed. I passed around photos of the conditions at many puppy mills. I included a quote from an interview with an Amish farmer who said that dogs were "just like any other crop." CROP! They didn't EVEN view them as animals, just CROPS!

It made my blood boil.

Needless to say, when Jeff and I decided to get a puppy, I was **** bent on adopting. We searched online on petfinder.org and went to some shelters/rescues and adoption events. We were turned down by almost EVERY organization. The reasons ranged from us not having a fenced in back yard to us working full time (that 9 hours a day would be too long to leave a dog alone). We weren't even interested in young puppies--we were trying to find a dog a couple years old. They made it nearly impossible for us to adopt, so we ended up buying through an ad in the paper. We met the proud momma (Corgi) and papa (mutt, thought to be Corgi/Jack Russell/Chihuahua) dogs--both looked and felt to be in great condition. The litter of puppies was the only litter on the farm. There were 5 puppies, and we ended up with 2 of them (intended to only get 1, but you know how it is...). The farm also had horses, which also looked to be in great shape. The house was clean, and the puppies had both an indoor and an outdoor pen to play in.

Anyway, we tried to adopt and were rejected. We now have 2 very happy (and spoiled!) puppies. We are very informed--we have done, and continue to do, research on training methods, raising sibling puppies, proper nutrition, etc. We take the pups to dog parks and play groups for socialization, and we've been through a basic training class. We're currently working on slowly letting them stay out of their crates more and more. It just kills me that some place wouldn't adopt to us for such silly reasons. I know they want the best homes for the dogs, but no one can convince me that our home is worse than NO home just because we don't have a fence or something.

Sorry, I'm done now

I think that logic is ridiculous! That's saying that A) you have to be home all day in order to rescue a dog and B) people with backyards are excluded from pet neglect. In fact, what's to stop someone with a backyard from just leaving their dog out there all hours of the day and night!?! I've certainly seen it before!

I was talking with a man who was trying to adopt a poodle from a rescue after his had passed away. They refused to give him one because he did not have a back yard- even though he lived right in front of a huge park!

When we adopted Dax, I was afraid we would be denied because we live in an apartment. They are high energy herding dogs so it is extra effort on our part. I asked the president of the rescue her opinion on that and she said, "We have given 2 cattle dogs to someone in an apartment downtown and have refused someone with acreage. It's all about the care and quality of life you can provide and that doesn't always mean you have a backyard." It's easy for someone to leave a dog in a backyard all day. We can't ignore Dax. He will eat our stuff In fact, they won't adopt dogs out to people who will have their dogs outside more than 50% of the time. IMHOP, a lot of rescue groups are doing their dog's well being a great disservice by blindly excluding people on that fact alone.

Sorry... end rant\\