BY LAUREN SCIORTINO Don’t buy Pet Store Puppies

What’s wrong with a pet store dog? Well, you may not know this, but pet store dogs almost always come from puppy mills. A puppy mill is a place where people breed dogs for money. Puppy mills originated during WWII, when farmers were looking for another way to earn income. There was a growing demand for puppies, so they used that to their advantage. These farmers were very poor, so the conditions for the puppies were terrible!

Some Random Info The dogs are kept in cages until they can’t produce anymore litters. Once they can’t have any more babies, the dogs are either abandoned or killed. In most places, puppy mills aren’t illegal The dogs are sold to brokers (the person who delivers the dogs from the breeder to the store) for $50 to $200. They sell the dogs to the store for around $400. The customers then buy the dog for up to $3,500. The Top 10 Breeds found in Puppy Mills are: Labrador Retriever German Shepherd Yorkshire Terrier Golden Retriever Beagle Boxer Bulldog Dachshund Poodle Shih-Tzu

Why should I care? The big deal is that 1) it’s cruel to the dogs, and 2) the conditions there are terrible! The food is infested with maggots, the water is green with algae, the floor is wire, they get no veterinarian care, their cages are stacked on top of each other because of over breeding, I could go on and on. What’s even worse, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is doing next to nothing to stop it. They view it as breeding, raising, and selling cows and other farm animals. But, other groups, like ASPCA, are doing everything in their power to get rid of puppy mills. They are organizing campaigns and rescue missions against puppy mills. So what? They’re breeding dogs. What’s the big deal? What makes puppy mills different from other breeders? They both breed dogs to have babies. Maybe the puppy mills are a little dirty. They can’t be that bad.

What can I do? Some ideas from the Humane Society of the United States are: Inform your community by writing a letter to the editor of the newspaper Boycott pet stores Some organizations have pledges you can take, like ASPCA