I found this poem a while back and its so sad but somehow we have to stop the cycle. I cant and wont step foot in any store that sells puppies. I have adopted a female that spent 7 years in a cage breeding and it breaks my heart to think about the life she led. The breeder told me she had never once left her cage...never been to a vet...never been held...just bred
PET STORE PUPPY
I'm a little puppy, so cuddly, sweet and small
I live inside a cage, you see at a Pet Store in the mall.
I'm not an only puppy, my sisters are all here.
My brothers, too, except for onewho died 'cause he was scared.
It's lonely here at nighttime when all the lights go dark,
We tremble in our cages and we whimper and we bark.
But no one comes to hold us or pet our fears away.
We sit all night in terror til the store opens the next day.
We don't remember mama, left so far behind.
she did the best she could for us til Man said "It is time"
He crammed us all in cages too small for us you see.
We rode for hours; we could not help but lay in poop and pee.
And now we sit in a pet store where kids come to taunt and squeeze.
They do not hear our whimpers or understand our pleas.
We're miserable and it's scary here; we all would rather die.
But since we don't we do our best to run away and hide.
I know you think my story too sad to leave me be.
You want to take me home with you, a happy little puppy.
But please, though it is fearful to live here against our will.
If you take me that leaves a spot another pup will fill.
You CAN stop our suffering but NOT by taking us home.
You must be strong and leave us here, unsold and all alone.
For if you do not take me, then another pup won't come.
And maybe he will not be shipped so far away from home.
Though some of us may not survive the cycle 'ere it falls.
If we DON'T sell, they will NOT need more puppies in these halls.
And if they need NO puppies, then the Man will NOT bring more.
Eventually, it CAN all STOP! You CAN close the door.
So when you see a puppy face so sad and sweet and small.
In a cage at a pet store at your neighborhood shopping mall.
The best thing you can do for him is leave him sitting there.
That is the best way you can tell all dogs how much you care.
- Author Unknown