How do I find responsible breeders willing to sell to pet stores?

Question

There are two pet stores in this area that sell puppies from puppy mills. I heard the one in the mall sells 20 puppies per week! I can't stand the thought of that many people willing to support those horrible places! I know that most of them are uneducated about where the puppies come from and they just want a companion puppy, not one that will compete in shows or for breeding. I would like to open a pet store that would support adopting from shelters (both of my pups are from the local shelter) or from a rescue group, but that does offer puppies for sale from responsible breeders for people who think they must have a puppy (there are not many puppies at our local shelters) so they don't have to buy from the mall, but they are not supporting puppy mills. Unfortunately, pet stores have such a bad reputation nobody will sell to them. I would counsel and interview each prospective owner to make sure the puppies went to a good home, and would not sell to them if not. Any ideas?

Answer 1

It's darn near impossible to find a responsible breeder that will sell to a pet store (even one that sounds as awesome as yours!).
Breeders like to pick out their new puppy's owner's personally, and it would be hard to convince them that you will do as good a job of picking out prospsective owners as they would. Also, breedrs know all the kinks of their particular breed, and feel they can do the best job of screening out potential owners who aren't prepared for the breed i.e Shelties bark a lot, and aren't good matches for people in the city, etc.
Have you considered purchasing puppies from backyard breeders (those who advertise in the paper)? Those people usually breed for profit, but they aren't puppy mills. They are usually home raised, and often purebred.
You also might try other shelters in surrounding communities.
petfinder.org might also be a good source for puppies.
Hope this helps!

Answer 2

No responsible breeder will sell a puppy through a pet store or other third puppy, EVER. We want to personally check out the new homes and make sure they are suitable for the puppy.

Besides, as a commercial store with goods offered for sale at a clearly stated price, legally you CANNOT refuse to sell a puppy to someone who comes in with the money to pay for one, no matter how bad an owner you think they'd be.

Answer 3

There is no reputable, responsible breeder that will EVER sell to a pet store. If the breeder is truly a reputable, responsible breeder, that's a huge never. They screen their applicants and will not sell to 'just anybody'. I'm not saying you are just anybody, you sound concerned with this, but a breeder won't sell their pups to anyone to be the middle man.

Puppy mills are horrible. Too bad all the buyers from the mall don't realize the conditions in which these pups were bred and raised. Sad.

Answer 4

We do not need more pet stores to sell puppies no matter how you would screen prospective buyers. There are great breeders who put time, effort and money into their breeding programs and if people would not be so lazy and do some research it would be easy to find these breeders. Ethical breeders would never sell their puppies in a pet store so unless you are planning to sell poorly bred animals forget it as a matter of fact forget this idea altogether.

Answer 5

I consider you would purchase both from a breeder or a pet store. When you prefer to buy from a pet store I propose purchasing from Petsmart. Prior to now i've bought 2 guinea pigs from there and they lived full glad lives. I suppose both cages seem very entertaining ... But the factor you need to don't forget is the score. Humans who have quite a few expertise in caring for rodents rate the cages. The primary cage only has a rating of 2.95 out 5 stars and the second has a rating of about three.Forty five out of 5 stars. - So if i had been going to select out of the two; i might without doubt select the second . * Hope I helped.

Answer 6

How do you KNOW the puppies are from puppy mills and not commercial breeders?

MANY pet owners are happy with their commercially bred puppies, and many CBs take good care of their breeding stock, no matter what lines of crap the AR groups try to feed the public. *I* wouldn't buy one, but that is their choice.

Part of the problem is that people are not willing to wait for a puppy and want it immediately. When they find they cannot get one TODAY from a good breeder, they go to a CB or pet shop.

I would NEVER let my puppies be sold by a broker, nor would any breeder I know. *I* want to choose which is I good home and I would NEVER trust that decision to someone else.

Answer 7

If you really want to make sure the new owners are responsible people who are seriously looking for good quality dogs, you should open a pet supply store. Take applications from people and find the dogs yourself from the AKC available puppies list. You could charge a finders fee and then they can buy their supplies from you. It wont work though. Puppies are usually impulse buys which is why the pounds are full. Good Luck. Its a good idea but, unfortunately there are few responsible dog owners.

Answer 8

I would not open a pet store if I were you. Why don't you try to get awareness out in your community about how bad these other pet stores are and maybe you can get them shut down. You could also volunteer your time at the humane society. If you really want to sell animals, become a registered breeder. Responsible breeders will not sell to pet stores.

Answer 9

It isn't that no one will sell to pet stores because of reputation, but rather responsible and ethical breeders sell their own puppies, screen their own buyers, care about the welfare of each and every puppy that they produce.It is against the breeder code of ethics to sell to pet stores, brokers, wholesalers, etc.

Answer 10

Instead of selling puppies, have a breeder referral program. My vets office has one set up. He has info on all the AKC breeds, and a program to help select the right breed for you. Once you do the breed selector(which gives several choices) he gives you the breed club contact info, any local breeders info, and the rescue group contact info. His breeders sign up for their info to be given out, but have to agree to help educate the buyer about the breed. It has worked great for him. The breeders like it because they get to educate the buyers and meet them(most of them don't actually place THEIR pups this way, but help the buyer to find one) The buyers like it because they end up with a good quality pup that works for them, and my vet likes it, because he gets all those people back as clients!