Standard Poodles - Puppy Mills
What are Puppy Mills? Do you know where your Standard Poodle puppy came from? If you did not get it from a reputable Poodle breeder, you may have unwittingly gotten your puppy from a puppy mill! These mills are breeders who produce purebred puppies in large numbers, for one thing only -- money! They have no concern about the genetics or health of the puppies. The puppies are bought by the public through the internet, the facility itself, newspaper ads, retail pet stores and sold to brokers. These mills have been an ongoing problem for The Humane Society for a long time. Many of the problems reported at these facilities include: poor nutrition and shelter, inbreeding, over breeding, little veterinary care, lack of socialization with humans and other animals, overcrowded cages and killing of unwanted animals. What this means to the uninformed buyer is frequently buying a puppy that has current veterinary problems or other hereditary problems that may not show up until years later. Some dogs never have the chance to leave. They are kept as “brood bitches” to produce more puppies and are killed when they are no more useful. There are literally thousands of mills around the United States, with many of them still operating despite repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). There seems to be quite a few of them in Missouri. There are only 96 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors in charge with enforcing the AWA. They are having a hard time keeping up with the violations, due to the fact that they also have to oversea zoos, circuses, laboratories and animals transported via commercial airlines. All 50 states have anti-cruelty laws that are supposed to protect dogs in these facilities from neglect and mistreatment, but it if often difficult to enforce the laws. The Pet Store Link The Humane Society opposes puppies being sold from mass-breeding facilities to pet stores. Approximately 3,500 to 3,700 of the 12,000 pet stores in the United States sell cats and dogs, with their inventory coming from puppy mills. These pet stores sell between 300,00 to 400,000 puppies each year. Just having purebred registration papers on one of these puppies does not guarantee the reported lineage. The American Kennel Club (AKC), does not sell dogs and therefore, cannot guarantee the quality of the dogs registered. The "Retail Pet Store" Exemption Problem Dealers and breeders who sell their puppies directly to the public aren’t required to have licenses and are considered “retail pet stores,” according to the USDA. “Retail pet stores,” are excluded from minimum humane care and handling requirements. Lemon Laws Since the puppy mill situation has become known in the last few years, about 17 states have enacted “lemon laws” to protect consumers who buy puppies. These laws allow the consumer to receive refunds or reimbursement of veterinary bills. While these laws were put in place to try and get the pet stores and puppy mills to sell healthy puppies and improve conditions at the breeding facilities, they don’t go far enough to protect the puppies who are suffering in these establishments. Current Developments and HSUS Action Instead of legislatures trying to pass statutes to correct the problem of mass breeders and their network of nationwide dealers, the HSUS is targeting consumers for its anti-puppy mill messages. The consumer demand for purebred puppies is the major factor in contributing to the horror of these facilities. Consumers often find that a dog’s lifespan is longer than their desire to continue taking care of it. This often leads to millions of dogs being sent to animal shelters each year, where almost half are euthanized. According to the HSUS, almost one in four of the dogs entering U.S. animal shelters are purebred. How Can You Help? To help the unfortunate dogs kept in commercial kennels and eliminate puppy mills you can:
The link below goes into more detail about Puppy Mills and what you can do to help stop them.
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