Are "we" the problem?
 

I guess I wonder the same thing but what I'm learning is that we can legislate humane conditions to the degree of food, water & shelter but we still don't have enough inspectors to enforce this & apparently (from some articles), the USDA is not without some degree of corruption itself.

Also, it seems that there aren't laws governing socialization, that dogs can be raised legally as cows, horses, sheep, etc. I think one of the things we need is some legislation that differentiates between pets & livestock.

Is a dog that is raised in a kennel unhappy if all his physical needs are provided? Do they crave human companionship or does that only come with association with humans? I don't know of anything that speaks to that issue.

Or on the contrary, if the parents are not unhappy with kennel life, does that mean that the puppies will not desire human contact and become more "wild"?
Would this in turn lead to less domesticated animals and poorer pets?

And then, something else has been preying on my mind. Are we the problem?? If we weren't so interested in paying $1500 or more dollars for a cute little Yorkie pup, would the puppy mills be in business. If all we did was rescue or at least not pay as much as we (myself definitely included) do, would it just no longer be so tempting? I read one article where the Amish farmer was making in the six figures with his puppy mill. Actually, he wasn't even doing it, the women were.

I will not buy anything from a pet store that sells puppies, I will not buy a puppy mill product or in any way benefit them to my knowledge. And I'm sure many of you will do the same. But we've got to do more, politically & morally & we need to rescue, & we need to spay & neuter all our pets.

On a side note, the other cash crop that I saw at the first Amish farm was tobacco.

Yes - surprisingly there was little on the report for the breeder. Last reported inspection was 2001!!!! Made me cranky!

[quote=doortego]I will not buy anything from a pet store that sells puppies, I will not buy a puppy mill product or in any way benefit them to my knowledge. And I'm sure many of you will do the same. But we've got to do more, politically & morally & we need to rescue, & we need to spay & neuter all our pets.

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pups
 

Dogs can certainly be working animals...farm dogs, sled, mushers, Seeing eye, dozen of types etc..goodness sakes my husband had working dogs on the farm, but they were not a Non-working or toy breed.
I have seen too many filithy barns full of miserable dogs...I do not respect any of them I have meet..none of these dogs are pets..they are profit machines...infact they do not allow dogs in the house..will someone please tell me how a breeder with no electricity can maintain a long coated breed?

I don't believe that keeping the parents in a kennel contributes to a puppies lack of socialization. It the fact that the breeder does not take the time to interact with the puppy at an early age. He has very little human contact, except to have his dew claws removed and tail docked, and from that he probably doesn't develope a very loving attitude towards humans. Then at 8 weeks hold he is separated from his mother and litter mates and handed to a human. What a frightening experience.

Also I do not understand why dog breeders are regulated by he USDA. If we could get the government to view domestic animals as having different needs than farm animals things would probably change.

IMO the regulations that the USDA sets for commercial breeders not only do not discourage puppy mills, they promote them. If you don't run your business like a puppy mill you are in violation of the code, and risk losing your license.

No breeder starts out with the idea that they are going to get a bunch of dogs and keep them in filthy cages and with no concern for their health. After all it is just not good business to not take care of your breeding stock. Even slave owners knew that.

But because they are kept in a seprate building and you have more than you can care for, the conditions gradually deteriorate, and before you know it you have a puppy mill.

If regulations stated hat you MUST keep them in your home, you would soon know when you had too many to care for, and they would be kept clean because you wouldn't want to have them in your house if they were filthy. Well with the exception of a few loonies out there.

The only way to regulate the puppy mills is to regulate anyone who breeds animals, which means mandatory spay/neuter so therefore eliminating any "accidents", license to breed and strict standards like there are in factories.


Puppy mills exist because there are no strict regulations and no one to enforce them. The USDA are more concerned about protecting livestock because millions of people can get sick and die than they are about dogs.

Have you checked this site?

http://www.stoppuppymills.org/

I really hate to say this but i don't think we will ever be able to stop puppy mills. First off there are not a lot of people who really know what a puppy mill is they buy from pet stores or order online before asking any questions i was one of them i never knew about puppy mills till i joined yt hard to believe it but it's true. Secomd the demand for dogs is so great that they will be in business forever. Even if you report a mill in terrible conditions they animal control will drive out there tell them they are in violation and give them so much time to get it fixed well the millers will clean up to the standards which isn't very high (clean food and water and clean cages) and then they are free to go back to the way they were as long as they have their own housing i.e. a barn a shed a chicken coupe whatever and clean food and water people don't care. Yes i think it is horrible that they treat these animals like this but what do we do? I posted a thread about a petshop with these poor very sick puppies i reported them and nothing happened here is the thread
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47084
these puppies were in horrable conditions and when i called back to see why nothing had been done i got a voice mail i left a very detailed message and he never returned my call i called 4 times and nothing. I think these millers pay off people so they stay off their backs and as long as the money is flowing to someone more powerful it will never stop. also a lot of the mills are in little towns where this kind of thing isn't frowned upon. I really hope one day it will be stopped but like one person said as long as we are willing to shell out $1500.00 for a pet they will keep producing them and for everyone of us that refuses to buy from a petstore or a mill there are 2 more people who will the best way to stop all of this is education about it more media coverage where more people can see it first hand so if you see or know of a mill call your local news and tell them about it get it in the news and educate people.