Pet Owners Sue Pet Store
We ran across an article in the Denver Post newspaper summarizing a lawsuit filed by pet owners against Petland, accusing the company of selling dogs with behavior and medical problems. The company claims that they buy only from licensed breeders that are inspected by the USDA.
Well, by their own admission the USDA is woefully underfunded and under-staffed, so being a USDA inspected facility at this point essentially means nothing. Many so called “puppy mills” where dogs are bred and maintained under awful conditions are so-called USDA approved facilities.
When we acquired our Irish setter, Coral from a breeder, we visited the breeder’s home. If a breeder wants to meet you somewhere - in a parking lot or “friend’s home” – rather than allowing you to visit her location – that should be a BIG red flag.
If we couldn’t personally visit the breeder’s location, we would NOT acquire a puppy UNLESS and breeder’s reputation could be verified. If a local breeder of the breed you are interested doesn’t have puppies, then ask them to recommend someone.
And of course there are always rescue groups and shelters – both of which can be sources of purebred and of course mixed breed puppies.
Posted in Where to obtain a puppy
Hi Dan and Suzanne,
I’m sorry to say that going to someone’s house to see the puppies is not quite as secure a situation as you say. Unscrupulous people are getting more and more “sophisticated” in their ways to sell pups.
There are now people who bring puppies from mills to their homes, where they allow people to come see them and then say that the parents aren’t available to be seen. Sometimes they will say that an adult dog is the parent of the puppies on the premises but have no proof of it.
There are far too many homeless dogs in the U.S. Adoption from a shelter has it’s risks and problems, but if someone is truly prepared to meet the challenges of giving a dog a good life (any dog from anywhere), choosing a dog from a shelter or breed rescue should be at the top of the list.
The less people buy from shops and places that may be getting their pups from mills, the sooner they will hopefully put mills out of business.
Thanks for all you do to make the world a better place for these innocents.
Hi vicki – thanks for your comment. Your point about dishonest people trying to defraud those looking for a puppy is well taken. We still have to believe that those sorts of folks are the exception rather than the rule. It also depends on how you find the person you are going to visit – an ad in a newspaper is much more risky than a referral from someone you know.
While it would be nice for adopting a pet from a shelter to be on everyone’s radar – that isn’t always a good fit for everyone, and we don’t think it helps to judge people for making other choices – e.g. the “should” word. Us seeking out a reputable breeder of field-type Irish setters is a perfect example.
The broader question of “supply and demand” when it comes to pets is quite a complicated one involving many factors – way beyond what we can discuss here. We’ll try to do a few posts on some of the releveant population articles we’ve seen about this. I think we all would love to see puppy mills – however one defines that – go away.
Thanks for your comment
Suzanne and Dan