Puppy Mill Pups

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

OMG! I just wrote the two worst words in canine history, Puppy Mill. Yet, we ended up with a
beautiful GD from a local pet shop, and guess where they got their pups from. We even asked to
be sure she was not a puppy mill pup and they assurred us she was not. Then we got her papers and researched the breeder on the internet.

Mitzi is now 18 months old and we have more gray hair then before she joined our family. Mitzi is a really beautiful, blonde with some apricot coloring. She weighs about 55 lbs. and is long like a retriever with a very poodley face. She is extremely loving and sweet natured and we are delighted she is with us. She is also in good health at this time.

Out of curiosity though, it would be interesting to see if any other DK members have "puppy mill" pups and even possibly if any are related to each other.

Mitzi's breeder was C. Wallace Havens in Sun Prairie, WI. .
Her Sire was Candyland Dreams, a Poodle; and Dam was Lisa E , Golden Retriever.



Thank you for any interest in this topic.

Sally

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

My puppymill dog is from PA, but she is a rescue. Every (EVERY) petstore puppy comes from a puppymill, no matter what they tell you. Papers can be faked and people lie to make money.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All pet store dogs come from puppy mills.
Papers mean nothing. The AKC registers any dog whose parents were both the same breed. Dogs have names; your dog has a name, mine has a name, and the dogs in puppy mills have names. That's what the papers mean. They are good for lining a bird cage, not much more.
Ask yourself this: Would a legitimate breeder accept $300 a puppy, put it in a cage in the back of a truck, and wave bye-bye? Knowing that the puppy is going to be sold again to a pet store and sit there in a cage alone for weeks or maybe months? All alone in a dark store at night. Always in a cage, never playing outdoors, never running on grass? Sitting in a cage in a store until any unknown person comes in and buys him? What kind of a breeder do you imagine would do that, when they could keep the puppy with his mother and littermates, and get the WHOLE purchase price instead of a third of it, and KNOW where the puppy is and who he's with?
When you buy from a pet store, your money supports puppy mills.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's a full article on Wallace Haven's puppy mill from Best Friends Org. This article is two years old :

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:lY_TJKgT8rAJ:network.bestfriend...

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I like to think that I 'rescued' Samantha from the pet store. I didn't know then what I know now. I believe that she came from a back yard breeder. I am lucky - she seemed to have been well socialized somewhere before she found us and she is healthy!! She hs no issues other than being ball obsessed. She is 14months old, looks like a long haird Chocolate Lab and she has brought so much happiness to us!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Adrianne, we all love our dogs, whether they come from pet stores or not. We all think they are the most wonderful dogs in the world. And sometimes you do get lucky, and they stay healthy past their third birthday.
I am sure none of those here who bought a puppy from a pet store realized what they were doing at the time. This is not about trying to make people feel bad or guilty. But now that you know, the point needs to be loud and clear that buying a puppy from a pet store is the wrong thing to do. Samantha's mom is still standing on a wire-bottomed cage in the mill, filthy and matted, never setting one paw on the ground, churning out puppies. The more people "rescue" them, the more she will be forced to bear. Jackdoodle lives every day of his life in misery, and it gets worse every year, because the mills know that people will go buy those cute puppies in the pet store.
The only way to end the cruelty of the mills is for people like us to stop patronizing them. And blast the message so that everyone knows. As Oprah Winfrey once said, "When you know better, you do better."

[Brenda Hetzel]

One local pet store in our area is family owned and occasionally sells doodles for 1500 and they are from a local breeder. She, the breeder, picks her pups up at the end of the night and takes them back home with her . She doesnt leave them overnight at the pet store.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Then why doesn't the breeder sell the puppies themselves? Why would they put them in a cage in a store?
I think if you paid the "breeder" a visit, you would be very surprised.
The "Puppy Palace" in my town is family owned, too. A family owns a store, that's all. The puppies come in trucks from puppy mills, through brokers. Sometimes cross-country.

[Brenda Hetzel]

I think, but I'm not sure, she is part of the family. And its not really a cage. Its a huge glass enclosure where costumers can pet the pups.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Doesn't make sense. I wish the legitimate reputable breeders here on DK would weigh in on this. I'm willing to bet none of them would put one of their puppies in a cage in a store, whether the store was owned by a family member or not. And sit there a few miles away with the mother of the puppies and think about them there alone every night in the dark store? No way.
Please do not patronize a store that sells dogs...no matter where they tell you they came from.

[Brenda Hetzel]

Yes, I would like to hear also, but remember, she does take them home at night, doesn't leave them in the store. Im not saying it's right or wrong. I would like more opinions myself. This seems like a good, reputable, family business and might be an exception to the rule.

[Adina P]

They may indeed be a nice, reputable family that just doesn't know that much about puppy raising. Do people have to qualify to buy a pup or can anyone who happens to walk in buy a pup? Do they advertise that the parents are health tested?

I can imagine that there are exceptions to the rule that fits 99% of cases, but I still think it's not the best situation for a pup. How do they provide disease prevention?

Our local family owned pet store sells pups, but they aren't really from breeders...usually local folks who didn't spay/neuter and end up with a litter...they agree to take them and they sell them really cheap ($50-75). I would say this is also an exception to the rule, but it still bothers me greatly to see pups behind glass.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think that a business is any better or worse than another one because it's a "family" business. Did you know that the Mars Corporation is a "family" business? Yep...the huge conglomerate that poisoned & killed Lynne NJ's dog and thousands of others is owned by one family.
I don't want to make exceptions for any store that sells puppies. It's a bad precedent. It makes it too easy for other unsuspecting people to believe lies and tell themselves that "this store is different". As a rescue mom, I'm sure you understand my feelings on this.