If you bought from a pet store you not only over-paid but you baught a puppy mill puppy! Pets stores buy "in bulk", wholesale from puppy mills and back yard breeders and then triple the price they pay.

The practice of selling animals from pet shops promotes impulse buying and irresponsible breeding for profit. They buy puppies in large quanities from puppy mills or back yard breeders that ALWAYS have puppies available for sale. These operations are exactly what the name implies. They mass produce puppies with the prime motive as money. Their breeding dogs are kept in very poor conditions and are often malnourished. The dogs are never tested for genetic diseases and may not receive vaccinations or worse yet have been over-vaccinated with cheap or old stock. Puppy mills often get their breeding dogs from people in a hurry to get rid of dogs for some reason, public auctions and occasionally they are stolen from their owners. Females are bred ever heat cycle until they are worn out and then they are sentenced to death. The horror of puppy mills is encouraged every time a puppy is bought from a puppy store.

How do you know that your puppy comes from one of these places? The main reason is that responsible breeders will not, nor do they need to sell puppies to pet stores. Good breeders want to make sure that their puppy goes to a good home and is well cared for, for the rest of its life. They want to be actively involved in screening the home that their puppy is going to. Breeders are also concerned about keeping track of their puppies that they produce. They want to know about any health problems that their lines may carry. A pet store generally never hears about their puppies once they leave the store, and really don't care. They have waiting lists for their puppies and you will NEVER see an ad in the paper for them.

The pet store is one of THE worst places to buy a puppy and as long as there is a market for pet store puppies other dogs will be condemned to death by mass breeding only so that a few people can make some money with no thought of their "products" welfare. This is not to say that a good pet has never come out of a pet store, as many have, but for each that has many more have not. Remember when you buy a puppy you are adding another member to your family, not just another piece of furniture that can be disposed of at the smallest whim, and you are responsible for every piece of extra baggage that puppy comes with. Why take the risks when so many reputable breeders are there to guide you along the way of your dogs development?


Jeannie