Could this be the beginning of the end for puppy mills?

[Sswor]

BiCoastal–the “says who, is there a study to prove it?” line was in regards to s1969 stating that the # of puppies in “rescue” was directly related to an impulse buying problem.

So–says who? I think you and others, are painting the general puppy-buying public as inherently irresponsible and I do not think that is fair. The world is full of people who buy a puppy from a pet store and give it a good home for life. I have met a few, and am always surprised at their honesty considering the stigma.

In any case, point being, dogs are relinquished to shelters for a lot of reasons. If pet store puppy sales directly led to dogs being abandoned, we should have been overrun with abandoned pets in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Pet stores that sell puppies have been on the rocks since the early to mid-90’s thanks to PETA, etc groups and yet there seems little to no change on the abandoned dog front. Maybe it’s not pet stores and puppymills and impulse purchases to blame after all? Maybe it’s more complicated then that.

[Bicoastal]

@Sswor

Maybe it’s more complicated then that.

Yes it is complicated. Lifestyles have changed, society has changed. I don’t think creating more animals is a comprehensive solution.

[Incantation]

Dogs end up in shelters for only one reason - they were not purchased through reputable breeders. There would be no need for shelters if all dogs came from reputable breeders, because the breeder would be taking back and re-homing.

In my breed, it is not uncommon to NOT have all the pups spoken for before a litter hits the ground. As long as the breeder is willing to take care of the puppies in the event they don’t find a buyer, then what is the problem? They often have multiple show quality pups from the same litter that they don’t mind keeping. It is a very high labor, little sleep breed to raise, so most do 1 maybe 2 litters a year tops.

As for impulse buying, many here would consider both my show dogs to be impulse buys. Once I decided I wanted one, I didn’t want to wait a year or more if I could find one sooner. When I started looking for a show puppy, I think it took me about 2 weeks to find one. My friend in another breed helped me evaluate her. She finished, owner handled, in 4 weekends of showing with 3 majors, including a breed specialty.

When we lost our last girl (her daughter), we were very distraught being dogless for the first time in 20 yrs. I went looking again. Within 2 months, I found quality puppies available, from 2 different litters. The puppy we bought was already 11 weeks, so I could have gotten her sooner if I had found her. I am thankful every day that I have her. She is both big and correct.

My cousin just lost her boxer. She was very distraught and didn’t want another dog. after a couple of weeks, the house felt too empty, and she decided to get a puppy. I don’t think she is evil for not wanting to wait a year for one. She tried to go the rescue route, but they denied her, so she ended up putting a deposit on a puppy from a breed she always wanted from a litter nearby. I consider the breeder to be irresponsible by my standards. It is a farm that breeds livestock and LGD - as far as I can tell, no health testing or take back clause, which is where I personally set the low bar. She has never bought from any type of breeder before, and I wish she found a better breeder, but my point is that she is not going to dump said puppy because she didn’t wait X period of time for it. That is like some breeders in my breed saying that they won’t sell for less that $XXXX, which is more than the going price for a quality puppy, because they believe that if you don’t pay that much, you won’t take care of the puppy.

[Bicoastal]

@Incantation

Dogs end up in shelters for only one reason - they were not purchased through reputable breeders. There would be no need for shelters if all dogs came from reputable breeders, because the breeder would be taking back and re-homing.

Unfortunately, some owners do dump their dogs at shelters or toss the Craigslist dice despite contracts. Same in the horse world (first right of refusal and such). Maybe they are embarrassed, maybe they can’t be bothered. It’s a shame it happens. Many breeders chip their puppies with THEIR contact info so in the event one of theirs does end up in a shelter, the breeder is contacted and can intervene.