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Originally Posted by magicgenie  It's wonderful this thread has lasted this long and I'm happy to see the puppy mill situation being discussed here. With Ethics being at the core of YTCEHB, it is very appropriate to tackle puppy mills and brokers here.
While on the one hand I could support tougher legislation, we have to handle that very delicately so as not to have it harm the small breeder who is doing things correctly.
At first I LOVED YorkieRose's suggestion about requiring chipping and holding the breeder accountable for dogs they produced showing up at a shelter. I would do that. But then I started to wonder if that would just drive the bad breeders further underground.
I'm all in favor of keeping media attention on the puppy mill industry and concentrating on educating the public about what they are supporting when they buy pets in stores.
Reminds me of last Christmas when I had a litter of very nice puppies and a man from a nearby wealthy town phoned looking for one. He didn't seem interested in price, nor in discussing quality, seemed kind of rushed and inconvenienced that I was a few miles away. I was thinking so far he didn't seem like a good prospect for my puppy but I went ahead and booked the appointment for him and his wife to visit, hoping they would show more interest in the important things when they got here. I have no difficulty sending people away without a puppy if something about them bothers me. Well, the wife phoned the next day to say they were cancelling the visit because they "went to a nearby mall and found a nice one with a warranty and everything."
This puppy mill stuff has to be kept constantly in the news and everybody's face until they get it that buying a puppy in a store is a very bad thing.
Anyway, thanks everybody for keeping the discussion civil. That's very nice. |
Closing all pet stores would be a very good very HUGE first step. Maybe that shoud be our focus.