I had heard this week that Oprah was having a puppy mill show. I didn’t realize that it was on today and just happened to catch it. I have heard of puppy mills and know the HORRIBLE conditions that some of these breeders keep these dogs in, so watching the footage was no surprise. The puppy mills they focused on were in the midwest and more specifically in PA. They brought up many good points, and brought to light this serious issue that many people do not even realize exists. First of all, 99% of pet stores sell puppies from these puppy mills keeping these businesses thriving. They instruct those looking for a new pet to avoid the pet stores. Also avoid ON-LINE puppy sellers that continuously have dogs for sale. An easy way to check is to Google or search the name of the kennel that is selling on-line and you will always find out if there is pending litigation or if there has been past problems with the breeder. This is a good way to search out any breeder good ones and bad ones alike. I had done some research over the last year on English bulldogs and thought I had found a good one. I tracked them for several months and then found out by searching Google that they had been suspended by the AKC and had local pending law suites against them. WOW I couldn’t believe it. It was a good thing I searched and it taught me an important lesson before I bought. Some of the tips they gave on the show was not to buy your dog from a pet store, find a reputable breeder for the type of dog you want and go visit them, and most importantly ALWAYS check the Humane Society or your local shelter first before buying a dog. Locally we some really great shelters that need our help. “Second Chance 4 Animals” is a great organization that helps foster and place many animals in need of a good home. Many people don’t know that you can get a purebred dog of ANY BREED at a shelter and that there are rescue organizations dedicated to any breed that exists. Also have your pet spayed or neutered. It is our humane responsibility to help curb and even eliminate the amount of dogs that are being euthanized EVERY DAY! As you are reading this there are HUNDREDS of dogs that are being euthanized this very minute and hundreds more being chosen to be killed tomorrow. They humanely euthanize the dogs and then they go to the landfill. Yes that’s right, the landfill. My heart breaks just thinking about it.
I have often thought of adopting a dog from a shelter and as it has happened Butch fell into my lap almost out of nowhere. Things being what they are for me right now I cannot responsibly adopt another dog but I can guarantee that one day you will be reading about our new adopted addition. I am trying to find ways to help shelters from what I am doing with “My Buddy Butch” and if I can convince just one person to adopt a dog from a shelter or save one from the pound then I guess it has succeeded.Â
