I had heard the term puppy mill before I got Charlie but was uneducated on what it meant. I was one of those people that went into the mall's pet store just to hold the cute yorkie pups. The reason I never bought one was because of the insane price tags they put on these little guys.
There was a few years I almost bought from a local breeder and bragged that she sold to pet shops. Boy, was I dumb.
I'm happy that I ended up with a puppy from a local family whose female had one litter then would be spayed and was knowledgable and had a history of yorkies. The family is very nice and clean and kept the puppies indoors. They were socialized well and received tons of love including from kids. Charlie is pure bred with papers. I loved that they asked many questions and even wanted to visit my home to see what everything was like. They hated having to list him for sale and not know the person he went to. The rest went to fam and friends.
I will never look at pet shop animals the same again. So sad. |