How to Buy a Puppy
- as taken from the Humane Society of the United States.
Doe this sound familiar?
You gaze into the sad eyes of the puppy in the pet store window and you want to "rescue" the lonely pooch...
You read the ad in the newspaper and the couple seems so trustworthy, with their "decades of experience" breeding dogs...
You find a website with photos of green hills and beautiful puppies that insists the "little darlings" and "bundles of joy" will only be sold to "loving families"...
BEWARE! A cruel commercial mass dog breeding facility could hide behind each of these scenarios. Most likely, you've heard about them. The Humane Society of the United States calls them puppy mills, and for good reason.
Puppy mills frequently house dogs in shockingly poor conditions, often without providing quality food, clean water, or regular veterinarian care. The adult dogs are bred over and over to produce little after litter - without hope of ever becoming part of a family. The result is hundreds of thousands of puppies churned out each year for sale at per stores, over the internet, and through newspaper ads. This cruelty will only end when people stop buying puppy mill puppies.
Puppy mills will continue to operate until people stop buying puppy mill dogs. You can help shut down puppy mills by being sure you never support one. Every puppy purchased from a puppy mill helps keep puppy mills in business. Every puppy purchased from a puppy mill means there is one in a shelter that won't get a home.