Puppy Mills-What's the controversy?

It's something I don't understand either. The people I know who have bought and will buy from places like Uncle Bill's, ironcially, say they love animals. But they still insist on buying puppies from these places. It confuses and frustrates me to no end. I guess the old saying is true..."You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

I think it's the denial thing. After you know the facts it's not hard to figure it out. Puppy mills = animal abuse and torture. We just have to keep trying to inform as many people as possible.

I think there are a couple of things going on that allows puppy mills to continue.

1-lack of education. Being an animal person, I just think that most people know about these problems but most don't. If you go to a pet store and they tell you they come from loving homes, why wouldn't you believe them? I'm always amazed at the people that know nothing about puppy mills.

2-"microwave" society. Everybody wants something NOW! There's no waiting involved with anything. I can remember saving money to buy a show dog when I was little. Now, the kids expect their parents to buy them something if they want it. We're all so used to fast food, drive thrus for everything, online ordering, etc that nobody wants to wait for anything. If you go to the pet store and can walk out with a puppy in 20 minutes-GREAT! If you went through a rescue, you would probably have to wait to get your references checked. Yes, it's more responsible but people want things NOW.

3-convenience. Pet stores are located places where you can easily walk in and look at the puppies. Shelters and rescues-not always that convenient. Again, I would hate for someone to be inconvenienced when an animal's life is at stake.

4-Ignorance. My niece's boyfriend works for UB(I know I've failed as an aunt). He comes from a farming family so they don't look at animals the same way. He told my brother that they don't get their dogs from puppy mills. Ok, maybe not a direct truck from them but they come from a broker who brings them from the mill. I guess you could add denial to this number as well.

If people had to go to the mills to buy the puppies, it would put an end to the business. As it is, people will believe what they want to and they want to believe their Shimaltipoohua came from a loving home. Education is the biggest problem that we can address. So many of the pieces of the No Kill Revolution address these issues and that's one of the reasons I'm so anxious for it to be done in so many more places. Wouldn't it be great if puppies didn't come from those horrific conditions and the adults didn't suffer until they died?

Most of the casual animal people I know never heard of puppy mills or have heard of them, but don't really understand what the term means. So, I think a lot of it is education. And as Dashaholic said, it is also about convenience.

I hope that some of the education regarding the health and temperament issues that most pet store puppies have will sink in. But...there really hasn't been a lot of hue and cry since the Puppy Mill Pipeline and Oprah exposes which makes me sad and frustrated. I have been working on something to give to people to let them know the alternatives to buying from a pet store, instead of our usual mantra that pet store puppies are bad. That might help with the education piece.

I agree with everything you all have said. There was another post yesterday about the state-wide rally on July 9th. It was mentioning that the media doesn't pay very much attention to all of it. So, I wrote to Bob Segall (who did Puppy Pipelines) about maybe doing a followup. Here's what he said:

Elyse,

Thanks for the message. While I will not be able to attend the rally on the 9th, the WTHR assignment desk is aware of the event, so one of my colleagues may be there. We have discussed the possibility of a follow-up report and will continue to look at options for such a report. Thank you for your interest and feedback.

Best wishes,

Bob Segall
Investigative reporter
WTHR-TV
1000 N. Meridian St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
ph 317-655-5768
fx 317-655-5741
bsegall@wthr.com

Thank gosh for channel 13!

Your subject line scared me...I was afraid it was going to tell us to lay off puppy mills! :)

We can all show our outrage about puppymills in this state by attending the Defend the Dogs Rally on Monument Circle, July 9th.
Numbers can speak volumes!
The more people who attend this peaceful rally the more attention will be drawn to the deplorable conditions the breeding pairs of these puppies are forced to live (if you can call it that) in.
Please join everyone on the Circle and show your support.

Yep, I plan to be at the rally. I've tried to spread the word on Myspace, at the Petsmart where I volunteer, and to my neighbors. If every one of the 80 or so people who had rsvp'd got just 2 more to go we would easily surpass the goal of 200.

I think it also might have something to do with the fact that you can't blame the puppies for how they were brought up. Someone still has to love them and care for them, so you may get people who feel sorry for them adopt them out.

Your comment about people adopting puppymill puppies is a common mistaken notion. Puppymill puppies are SOLD in petstores. People BUY these puppies from pet stores, they don't adopt them. Until people STOP buying from pet stores and start adopting from rescue groups(some of who use pet stores as venues for adoption events,)shelters, and humane societies the puppymill pipeline will continue.

Though I agree that puppies born in mills ARE equally deserving of love, Diane is right in that if you get a puppy at a pet store, you aren't RESCUING it, you are BUYING it. Even if your only reason is to save it from the horrible conditions in the pet store. That money still goes into the pockets of the puppy millers, and still encourages them to breed more. As a matter of fact, I think some pet stores DEPEND on the puppies looking pathetic so people will buy them because they feel sorry for them.