I would like to add that in addition to the above the newest scammer out there is the Puppymill/Puppy broker posing as a rescue.
When you see a rescue advertising themselves as having returned or unwanted puppies RUN! What this is doing is two fold---The puppies that are returned to the mill that cannot be sold in the stores are still
valuable so when they are returned they will take them to "Rescue Puppy Store". The owners of the puppy store claim to be a rescue but really all they are is a second hand puppy broker. They buy the unwanted puppies when they are returned and sell them at a cut rate and people are falling for this. To make is sound more legitimate they will make you fill out an application for their "rescue" but pretty much anyone can buy and have a puppy shipped from these places.
A real rescue will be a background check, home visit, interview the adoptive family and they will NEVER ship a puppy across the country NEVER NEVER NEVER!
When you see one of these store advertised and decide that is the way to rescue RUN!!!! All you are doing when you purchase from these type of scam artists is making a new spot in another Pet Shop and supporting the mills!
Also a while back there was another thread about a puppy ranch. Also bad news. A rescue will not meet you in a parking lot with a van full of year old dogs and puppies. RUN!!!!!! They are a puppymill in hiding too scamming good hearted people into thinking they are saving a puppy.
It is not so much the puppies in the store that are the problem. When you go into any pet shop that sells puppies you have to remember were it is they came from. The mommy is left behind in horrible conditions to pump out more and more litters of puppies to sell. That is why it is truly wrong to buy from a pet shop. It doesn't matter how well taken care of the puppies are in the store, how much hand sanitizer, what kind of security system they have, what matters is ALL OF THE DOGS BACK AT THE MILL! The horrible treatment and lack of humane care they have to endure their entire life. That is the reason that you shouldn't purchase a puppy from a pet shop. The ones that are left behind to suffer.
