The tides are a changin’

“Hey Karen,” said our online editor, Steve Frye, to me this morning. “You’ve got to check out this story I’m posting about this new pet poll.”
The poll was conducted in April and asked more than a thousand pet owners from across the nation whether their next pet will come from the pound or from a store. (See the full story here)
More than half the people said the next time they’re in the market for a new pet, they’ll be heading to the pound, shelter, rescue, etc. to pick out their new pooch.
This is fantastic news.
I am not one of those fanatics who protest at dog shows and think buying a puppy is all together bad. I bought Sensi from a breeder, after all. If you’ve done your research, have your heart set on a specific breed and really want the puppy experience, there’s nothing wrong with buying from a reputable breeder.
On the other hand, I encourage everyone to never, ever, in their whole lives even think about buying a puppy from a puppy store.
I don’t care what someone tells me — to me, a puppy store is the equivalent of a puppy mill. If you don’t think those doggies in the window came from a horrible, miserable existence where their parents are abused and neglected, then you’re just naive.
A lot of people like to think they’re “rescuing” these poor puppy mill dogs when purchasing them from the store. I’d like for people to stop thinking that way and start thinking of the impact of their puppy purchase.
When you purchase a dog from a store, all you’re doing is providing more income to puppy mills and making it possible for another abused and sickly mother dog to give birth to another litter of unhealthy puppies which will go on to perpetuate the cycle.
Honestly, I’m not sure why we haven’t made puppy stores illegal.
And it’s not like these pet stores need to go out of business. They’ve got lots of cages to showcase dogs and God knows that rescue groups are constantly fighting overcrowding.
Instead of selling puppy mill puppies, these stores should just offer up their cages to local rescue groups. It might not be as profitable a business, but I bet the quantity of business they’d get would skyrocket.
Puppy mills will never go away until pet stores stop selling puppy mill dogs.
The best way to affect change is not to buy future puppies from pet stores. So in that regard, it’s wonderful news that this message is beginning to sink in with pet owners all across the United States.