ok, after i googled puppy mills i can kinda answer my own question(what exactly is a puppy mill). a week ago today i drove 3 hours one way to pick up a 18 month old yorkie. the lady told me she was selling her because she had never came into heat. that was fine with me cause i had no plans on breeder her anyways. i just wanted a lil baby girl to love and spoil. ok when i arrived at the house i was very impressed with the house itself. she meet me out in the yard and we talked for a few minutes. i kept looking toward the house anticpating going in to see my lil girl. well she fianlly started walking the opposite way of the house. we entered a large metal building that had two rows of metal cages stacked on top of each other. five cages of yorkie's on top and five cages of shiz zuh on bottom. the place was very neat and clean but i was still in shock. when she showed me the lil yorkie that i had came for she just melted my heart. i just hated the thought of her living caged for her whole 18 months of life. the puppy did appear to have a very poor coat. the lady did say she had just gave all a " puppy cut" recently. the gold coat is thick and fine, but her grey/blue coat is very thin and wispy. she also has very dry skin on her back. i did purchase/rescued her. i do not regret it not one bit. even though i have been concerned about her health. i just could not leave her there not matter if she looked perfect or not. i took her to my vet the next day and she appears to be healthy, besides the skin/hair condition. the vet did a hair folical test and a skin scrape. the vet was checking her for ringworms, mites, mange, and also alopecia. i called today for the results but, the vet says it takes 10 full days for accurate results. friday will make 10 days, but so far the results are still negative. my neighbor seems to think the hair loss could be from stress due to her living arrangements. has anyone ever heard of health issue's due to stress? she seems to be so happy now and i am loving every minute of spoiling her. she also came into heat this past sat. i was so shocked cause the lady said she had never before and thats why she sold her. also is the type of living arrangement considered a puppy mill? i have only purchased one other puppy prior to this situation. my lil rocky was a home raised puppy. i had never seen caging living arrangements like that before. like i said the house/grounds/metal building were all very nice and clean. they lady actually seemed to be kinda well off, but i'm just having a hard time excepting that it is ok to let animals live like that. especially for long periods of time. ok well i'm gettin a little long, but please responed it you can help me with my little girl.
What You Can Do
To close down puppy mills and ensure the safety and humane treatment of dogs trapped in commercial kennels, you can:
Encourage state and federal officials to stop the mass production and exportation of sick and traumatized dogs. In addition to passing new laws, legislators can demand that existing laws be enforced.
Urge other people not to buy puppies from pet stores, over the Internet, or from newspaper ads.
Write letters to the editor about puppy mills and pet stores. Explain the mills' inhumane treatment of puppies and their contribution to pet overpopulation.
Visit a local pet store to determine where it obtains its puppies. Don't be misled by claims that its dogs were not bred in puppy mills. Insist on seeing breed registry papers or the interstate health certificate for each puppy. The papers will list the breeder's and/or wholesaler's name and address.
Contact your member of the U.S. House of Representatives and your two U.S. Senators, asking them to urge the USDA to strictly enforce the Animal Welfare Act and to support efforts to increase funding for USDA/Animal Care. Members of Congress can be contacted at: The Honorable _______________, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC 20510.
File a Breeder Complaint Form if your new puppy appears to be suffering from a medical condition. |