July 21 – No Pet Store Puppies

nPosted on July 21, 2017

nToday we are asked to think about the problem of puppy mills – places where dogs are kept in small, overcrowded cages so that they can breed, creating puppies that can be sold for profit.

nThe American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) claims that there are thousands and thousands of puppy mills in the United States. And the breeding dogs in puppy mills live miserable lives – and even the puppies created in the facilities tend to have behavioral and health problems because of careless breeding practices.

nIn the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dogs, including puppies, are killed every year in animal shelters because they cannot find owners.

So, ASPCA says, we should be adopting our puppies from animal shelters or from pet owners we know, or buying them from known, caring pet breeders that use good practices and care for the breeding animals as they should be cared for – and, yes, that includes love!

nApparently, almost all puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills, so we are asked to not buy puppies in pet stores.

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Even more: we are asked not to purchase ANY pets or pet supplies from pet stores that sell puppies. And of course, we need to write or call or visit in person the pet stores we are boycotting, and tell them why: “I will not buy my cat food from your store any longer because you are selling puppies here, and I cannot support puppy mills.”

nActually, when I was looking into this topic, I discovered some local pet stores that claim that their puppies ONLY come from responsible breeders, not from puppy mills. I haven’t checked their claims – but that would be another worthwhile thing to do today!