Just curious.....just watched this video on the large franchise, Petland. They insisted to their buyers they don't buy from puppy mills, although, an investigation proved otherwise.
Just so eveyone here knows...I have never bought from a pet store and never will and always educate others to stay away from them. I have been against puppymills since I knew anything about them as a young adult. I do not support pet stores and loath puppymills.
Anonymous2008-11-21T06:32:44Z
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Did I purchase my little girl from a pet store - No Way!
But she is a pet store puppy.
I worked for 10years in boxer rescue - and my little munchkin was slated to be euthanized by the pet store - and they were convinced to turn her over to rescue.
She is now an absolutely gorgeous almost 3 year old breed standard brindle boxer - who has already had two TPLO's and will need to have further surgeries - at least one of which will be a spinal surgery for lumbosacral Stenosis and Spondylosis. I use her as an example of why you should never purchase the pretty puppy in the window. Even if you can ignore the horrible treatment their parents get - it can still wind up costing tens of thousands of dollars.
I've seen the video and it is very disturbing! The scary thing is, a lot of these people, that do buy from pets stores, aren't even educated enough or, have absolutley no idea, what a Puppy Mill is and thousands of people out there, support Puppy Mills, because they buy from Petstores. I have never, nor will I ever buy a Pet Store Puppy! There are so many awesome dogs, in Shelters and Rescue Groups, that are waiting for good loving homes. It breaks my heart and I will never begin to understand, how anyone who has a heart, can treat a dog, the way that puppy mills treat theirs. I really feel really sorry, for those poor animals, who did not ask to be put in the position they are in and have to suffer, because some Barbaric Idiot, made that decision for them!
I regret my descison, but this was 6 years ago. I was NOT aware of puppy mills and Back Yard Breeders. I just saw a cute little shih tzu (coco) puppy and bought her.
I still have her today. And she is about 6 years old. So far, I have not had any major health problems with her. Though she is quite bigger than the breed standard of a shih tzu and she loves to eat!
Anyways, I plan on finding coco's papers, and I will google it, and try to find where she came from. Since she hasn't had major health problems puppy mill dogs get, I am assuming she came from a BYB. My best guess, is that they couldn't sell her, and sold her to Petland. And that is how she came into my life.
But, I will NEVER ever by from petland again. I know better now.
My second dog was bought at a petstore, way back when I was in 5th grade. Before I'd ever even heard of a puppymill. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, the dog who became my Dad's dog just celebrated his 20th birthday last month, and he was about 3 months when we got him. Sadly he's in pretty bad health now, and I'm trying to convince Dad to let me send him to the bridge.
When I found out about puppymills, I vowed never to buy a puppy from a petstore. The pups are so cute and cuddly, but still the images of those poor dogs in the mill and knowing that I'd only be adding to suffering by buying one is enough for me to say No.
Petco and PetSmart are a different story. Puppies and kittens in those stores aren't from puppy mills. They are from local shelters and rescues, those stores donate space to help them get adopted.
It is sickening and horrific. I am sad to say I am from Missouri, known to be a leader in puppy mills. I do not understand why we cannot make stronger laws against this. After all, part of being human is to be humane. No one should ever buy a puppy from a pet store and people should ask the right ??? when purchasing a puppy. I have had breeders hang up on me when I ask how many dogs they have and how many different breeds they have. Insist on seeing the facility and the parents of your puppy.