Puppymills~Do you hear me?

[megansmomma]

I am always trying to bring awareness to anyone who will LISTEN about rescues, puppymills, HOW to purchase a puppy.........so I thought!

My husband went on our annual camping trip last week and came home to tell me about the Bull Mastiff puppy that our friend's daughter had just purchased from a pet store!!!

I do have to say that my husband gets it........when he came home the first thing he said to me was "Honey, I'm glad you didn't go with year. Kimmy had a was bragging about her new puppy that she bought at Alsip Nursery! I just help my tongue and shook my head. I'm so glad that you weren't there this year" He then told me how she was telling everyone how she drove to St. John, IN (from Chicago) and how much $ she spent on him~well over $1000! I just looked at him and said "If she went that far, she could have saved herself about $1,000 and went directly to the mill to pick him up!"

I just don't get it.........this is someone who HELD my Doodlebug when I brought him home from the rescue. I told the story, I preached about pet store, I had conversations with and she did it ANYWAY!

Sometimes I really think I am talking to myself!

[cthalhofer]

well that really sucks you try so hard and your story falls on deaf ears well all i have to say is keep telling your story and you have made a small but wonderful difference

[Lexi Rae]

people just dont get it.. do they? or just dont care

[ARCHIE]

People only listen to what they want to hear! Simple as that.
Like one rescue person said, You can't save them all, I guess that
would go for humans who buy in petstores as well. Even if you
saved one person heartache from this kind of purchase you doing
good Jodi. Keep preaching, you never know who is listening.
I bet lot's of us have heard you loud and clear on YT.

[TresCutePiggies]

It's so hard when we find our message fall on deaf ears. I talk to people who love animals just as much as I do (or at least I think they do), and then I'll later hear things from these same people who make me just cringe. You can't say they were ignorant either, because I educated them!

My parents got two bullmastiff puppies in 1999 from what I now understand was a backyard breeder. They loved their dogs no doubt, but...I don't need to fill that in for you. The female passed away at FOUR years old from bloat in her sleep (okay, probably not genetic), but at two years of age had already required hip surgery on both hips, and honestly was never quite the same again. The male (who eventually came to live with me after I graduated from college) required entropian eye surgery at around two years old while still living with my parents. I then had him for almost his last three years of life where I spent $20k (yes, you read that correctly, and no, especially right out of college I was not rich) trying to save his life, and he passed just shy of his 8th birthday.

Of course, you don't want to tell someone who just bought a puppy all of this and "rain on their parade" so to speak, but maybe THAT would have gotten the message across. Not only do you perpetuate the cycle of puppymills, but there is a good chance you will suffer while watching your pups suffer, and that is heartbreaking too.

Here is Hutch - the male (and yes, he has a pink teddy bear). And one with Starsky, and you can see Hutch is getting a belly rub in the background. I miss them both so much, and especially knowing that they went through so much pain breaks my heart.

Even the most well bred bullmastiffs still don't have a very long expected life span, so that makes it all the MORE important if nothing else can convince people...

[megooego]

Wow I feel the same way!

A few weeks ago for a comp class I wrote a persuasive essay about puppy mills, and how purchasing a dog from a pet store supports puppy mills, whether you realize it or not. Every student had to do a presentation in front of the class, and we were supposed to try to persuade people to take our view. Well I went to class this Tuesday to find one of my fellow classmates showing everyone cell phone pictures of her new maltese puppy, that she purchased from PETLAND. I talked with her and she said, no it's okay Petland doesn't suppport puppy mills, they use only local breeders. This is such a joke, I made many references to Petland and the investigations done involving the store in my presentation!

Seriously, I don't understand people sometimes!

[Nancy1999]

I know how you feel; I think part of the problem is that people don't know how to go about choosing a breeder anyway. They don't know where to look; I think stores give them some sort of confidence that they are getting a "purebred." When I decided on a Yorkie, I didn't know where to look, newspaper ads didn't sound very promising, it wasn't until I found Yorkietalk, and suggestions that I check out YTCA breeders in my area, that I'd even heard of the YTCA. I always thought show breeder's dogs were only for people who were planning to breed and show, I didn't realize that they sold pets at very affordable prices. When Joey was close to a year old, I was shopping with him and a girl told me she just bought a "teacup yorkie" at a local pet store, for $2800.00, I was just floored, but didn't tell her she could have found a dog from a reputable breeder for much less. Also, her teacup was only 12 weeks old, and already three pounds, so it wasn't going to be a tiny dog either.

Some people think that it's safe to buy from a Website, like that is much safer than a pet store, and some people think the reason people don't like dogs being sold in pet stores is that they are in a cages all day and exposed to too many people. I actually believe we will always have commercial breeders, and that's why it's so important to pass laws that help raise kennel conditions.

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by megooego

Wow I feel the same way!

A few weeks ago for a comp class I wrote a persuasive essay about puppy mills, and how purchasing a dog from a pet store supports puppy mills, whether you realize it or not. Every student had to do a presentation in front of the class, and we were supposed to try to persuade people to take our view. Well I went to class this Tuesday to find one of my fellow classmates showing everyone cell phone pictures of her new maltese puppy, that she purchased from PETLAND. I talked with her and she said, no it's okay Petland doesn't suppport puppy mills, they use only local breeders. This is such a joke, I made many references to Petland and the investigations done involving the store in my presentation!

Seriously, I don't understand people sometimes!

It sure is amazing how it doesn't apply to them! PETLAND All you need to do is google the word!

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by TresCutePiggies

It's so hard when we find our message fall on deaf ears. I talk to people who love animals just as much as I do (or at least I think they do), and then I'll later hear things from these same people who make me just cringe. You can't say they were ignorant either, because I educated them!

My parents got two bullmastiff puppies in 1999 from what I now understand was a backyard breeder. They loved their dogs no doubt, but...I don't need to fill that in for you. The female passed away at FOUR years old from bloat in her sleep (okay, probably not genetic), but at two years of age had already required hip surgery on both hips, and honestly was never quite the same again. The male (who eventually came to live with me after I graduated from college) required entropian eye surgery at around two years old while still living with my parents. I then had him for almost his last three years of life where I spent $20k (yes, you read that correctly, and no, especially right out of college I was not rich) trying to save his life, and he passed just shy of his 8th birthday.

Of course, you don't want to tell someone who just bought a puppy all of this and "rain on their parade" so to speak, but maybe THAT would have gotten the message across. Not only do you perpetuate the cycle of puppymills, but there is a good chance you will suffer while watching your pups suffer, and that is heartbreaking too.

Here is Hutch - the male (and yes, he has a pink teddy bear). And one with Starsky, and you can see Hutch is getting a belly rub in the background. I miss them both so much, and especially knowing that they went through so much pain breaks my heart.

Even the most well bred bullmastiffs still don't have a very long expected life span, so that makes it all the MORE important if nothing else can convince people...

Everything that you said is EXACTLY what was running through my mind as he was telling me this story. My husband said that he was already HUGE and all I could think was HUGE=BAD HIPS

I just love your pictures! They are beautiful gentle giants

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by ARCHIE

People only listen to what they want to hear! Simple as that.
Like one rescue person said, You can't save them all, I guess that
would go for humans who buy in petstores as well. Even if you
saved one person heartache from this kind of purchase you doing
good Jodi. Keep preaching, you never know who is listening.
I bet lot's of us have heard you loud and clear on YT.

Thanks Carol How is it that I can help to get the message across through a computer screen but not to someone standing in front of me holding my Doodlebug

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

Thanks Carol How is it that I can help to get the message across through a computer screen but not to someone standing in front of me holding my Doodlebug

Luke 4:24 "No prophet is accepted in his home town." We often have much more impact over stangers than our own friends or family. The same thing happened to Jesus.

[ARCHIE]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

Thanks Carol How is it that I can help to get the message across through a computer screen but not to someone standing in front of me holding my Doodlebug

Possibly because we're reading from a screen and it's sinking in as we
do so, where as watching your mouth move and thinking about what
to cook for dinner!

[RachelandSadie]

I'm so sorry! i know how frustrating that's got to be for you! i want you to know that your efforts don't fall on deaf ears. before i got on here, i didn't really get it. i didn't understand what the big deal was, i mean i knew about puppy mills and i hated the big operations you see on Oprah, but i didn't realize how many are out there, and how many are just in backyards of local neighborhoods everywhere in MO. it's terrible. now that i know, i promise to do my part to preach the message of NO PUPPYMILLS, NO PETSTORES to all who will listen to me....all we can do is HOPE that one person changes and goes on to tell the same story....so you've turned one person around and made me wake up and see and i'm going to do the same to teach others...so the chain begins and honey you didn't speak in vain!!

[RachelandSadie]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

I know how you feel; I think part of the problem is that people don't know how to go about choosing a breeder anyway. They don't know where to look; I think stores give them some sort of confidence that they are getting a "purebred." When I decided on a Yorkie, I didn't know where to look, newspaper ads didn't sound very promising, it wasn't until I found Yorkietalk, and suggestions that I check out YTCA breeders in my area, that I'd even heard of the YTCA. I always thought show breeder's dogs were only for people who were planning to breed and show, I didn't realize that they sold pets at very affordable prices. When Joey was close to a year old, I was shopping with him and a girl told me she just bought a "teacup yorkie" at a local pet store, for $2800.00, I was just floored, but didn't tell her she could have found a dog from a reputable breeder for much less. Also, her teacup was only 12 weeks old, and already three pounds, so it wasn't going to be a tiny dog either.

Some people think that it's safe to buy from a Website, like that is much safer than a pet store, and some people think the reason people don't like dogs being sold in pet stores is that they are in a cages all day and exposed to too many people. I actually believe we will always have commercial breeders, and that's why it's so important to pass laws that help raise kennel conditions.

i was here as well. searching ads in newspapers was the only way i knew how to start looking. i knew about not going to pet stores, but not about back yard breeders being just as bad...not until i got on here and actually opened my mind up to learn something.

how can we get the message out about the YTCA?? i didn't know about it until YT...

[Patti]

I also think it is too easy to go see a cute puppy, they usually take credit cards and off you go, no questions asked. People only get what they want to. The shelter I volunteer at it doing 2 peaceful demonstrations in the next few weeks at petstores. One is just opening in a high end mall, Northbrook Court in Northbrook, IL. The have Nieman Marcus, Lord and Taylor all upscale stores and they are letting in a pet store that sells puppies. We have all written to the mall management, owners etc and they don't care, it's all about the money. All we can do is keep trying.