Do all pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills?

Question

What about other animals like kittys and birds and even rodents(hamsters, gerbils, rats) and bunnies etc etc? Are there places like puppy mills where these animals are treated cruelly and bred to death and killed when they are of no use to them anymore? Also, what can I do to help stop these puppy mills besides not buying dogs from pet stores? All ideas/suggestions are welcome.

Answer 1

Yes, no responsible breeder would allow their animal to be placed through a third party... that is what a pet store is, a third party that is placing an animal without doing proper screening of the potential home and the only criteria for placement is that the funds clear - that is not what a responsible breeder would do because they care about what they produce and want to insure that they are going to a proper home.

The only real way of stopping mills is to not support them -- their only reason for existance is to make money and if they don't make money, they go out of business - they are a business and that is all. No business will continue that has not market for their services or wares, so if they can't sell what they produce, and lose money then they will go into a different business. If laws are made, they will only affect legitimate breeders because millers will use their funds to circumvent any regulations and legitimate breeders will attempt to follow the laws.

One thing you can do besides not buying a pet from a pet store is to not buy anything from any pet store that deals in live animals. I have known people :) that have gone into pet stores dealing in live animals, filled their baskets with stuff that they would buy and then after they were rung up and the total of several hundred dollars was told to them, have announced that they decided they won't purchase this from a store that supports mills and deals in live animals and walked out... leaving the items to have to be reshelved and the owners/workers knowing that they lost a large sale because of the practice of selling live animals. I then go to a store that does not sell live animals and do make my purchases and let them know that the only reason that they are getting my business and that of anyone I know is because they are not supportive of mills. BE VOCAL ... let the stores know that they are loosing money if they support mills and that they are gaining sales if they don't. IF the stores lose money, they will stop the practice of supporting mills. Consumerism is strong and will/can and does change policy.

add: Puppy mills are not against the law so 'reporting' them to anyone is futile and a waste of effort. Also, again, NO responsible breeder would place one of their puppies/kittens/whatever through a third party and that includes pet stores. There are not any puppies/kittens or whatever available at a pet store that are not produced by someone out of greed so you are supporting mills and irresponsible greeding if you support a pet store that sells puppy/kittens/whatever...

Answer 2

A very large percentage do. And as stated, the ones that don't come from 'questionable' situations. It may be a situation of a breeder who breeds a LOT, and is in it for the money, but they don't keep their dogs in conditions as horrid as puppy mills. Their dogs may be well-fed and (fairly) happy, but they're still in it for the money and probably doesn't devote much time to their dogs.

Regardless, you shouldn't buy from a pet store, even if you know that the puppy/kitten you are going to buy did not come from a puppy mill. Most of the money will go to the pet store, which means you are supporting the sale of other puppies and kittens in that store, and they may have come from pet mills!

Educating is the best thing to do. A lot of people suggest donating to shelters. While that's very generous, it's not exactly preventing the sale of pet mill pets. Yeah, you're giving money so that the rescued animals can have a good life, but the deed is done. What you can do to PREVENT it is to educate, whether it's suggesting that it be a topic to talk about at school, posting flyers in front of pet stores, or showing the employees at pet stores who sell puppies and kittens photos of the cruelty behind the puppy mills. They're usually unaware of the horror, and they will probably quit once they realize what they're supporting.

If you have a friend who is going to get a kitten or puppy and they don't seem to be geniuses about cats and dogs, advise them not to look for a kitten or puppy in the newspaper or at a pet store. Of course, you should provide them with information about why they shouldn't, and maybe some photographs too.

Answer 3

No, but none get puppies from breeders with show lines, they can find adopters right away. Pet Land gets it pups from a broker-Hunte Corp. who buys from breeders most of whom are mills or breeders for profit.
Rodents and rabbits are breed for profit anyway, mainly because the care they recieve as babies does not require the socialization and feedom from cages a dog needs. Birds live a very long time and often time require huge flight cages or they won't breed, small species also need good care or they won't breed. They breed for a long time and they don't really suffer from breeding alot like a female dog.
Baby birds are hand reared from the egg, you can do this easily on a mass scale note how pet land has bady bird keepers, so you get a well socialized bird that can't be badly breed. Mice, Hamsters and Gerbils are also breed for profit, but once again they don't need the same social care a dog needs, you have a litter and one person can be the sole care taker for a month or even breed them and let the young be socialized at the store. Hamsters and mice are short lived and pretty much and breed until they die. It is natural for them to breed back to back and it doen't do the same damage as it does to a female dog. A dog is harder to keep in a small cage and keep clean, mills look so bad because dogs as pack animals don't do well in tiny cages 24 /7 think of this a dog keep in a 2 by 2 foot cage, thats about what people keep breeding rodents in but the space per body size is different. Also a dogs body is made to breed less often while rodents Rabbits are made to produce alot of litters naturally. This is why female dogs can get overbreed. Plus mills really just lack good vet care and socialization, because the owners of those places are trying to make alot of money. One person can easily care for 100 rabbits one person can not care for 100 dogs.
You can stop mills by discouraging others from buying mill puppies and join groups trying to tighten animal welfare laws.

Answer 4

Complain if you think the dogs in the pet store are in bad conditions
Spend $10 or so and take out an ad in your local newspaper and explain why a petstroe isnt the place to buy a pup and what a puppy mill is
Educate people,and dont buy anything from a petstore that sells dogs or cats
Buy a bumper sticker and put in on your car that says stop puppy mills
pass this video along to everyone on your email list http://stoppuppymills.org/

Yes ,all the pets in petstores are from mills. Theres kitty mills, and puppy mills and hamster mills and rabbit mills and bird mills . If you ask an employee sometimes they say the hamsters or mice were donated by someone whos animal accidently had babies. And soemtimes the kitties were donated too (especially when their mixed and their cheap) either way just dont buy from petstores selling live animals.) The only way to stop puppy mills and animal mills is to boycott them .

Answer 5

I have not yet seen a pet store that didn't get it's puppies from puppy mills.

I would assume that many other animals come from "questionable" situations. I think that will kittens, in some cases, you just have the local idiot who doesn't spay their cat and sells kittens to the pet store when a litter is produced. Off breed cats are much easier to sell and cheaper to buy in a pet store.

The best thing you can do to stop puppy mills is to spread the word. Any opportunity you might have to tell someone what kind of conditions pet store puppies come from, do it. I have told people about this who had no idea what it was all about, but were glad to learn the truth about pet shops and puppy mills.

Answer 6

Unfortunately I believe puppies come from puppy mills to pet stores. Even if they are pure bed pups usually their conditions are so bad, the owners would not have anyone come to their house because they would be reported. I use to show and breed purebred dogs and I belonged to several breed clubs and one of the rules was NOT to Sell to a pet store and if I did and was caught I would be kicked out of the clubs and blacklisted. So needless to say if you are a good breeder that certainly is not a chance you would take. Also, most breeders do not make much money if any at all, after all expenses are covered - dog shows - vet bills - food etc. You should breed for the LOVE of the dog and nothing else. Needless to say puppy mills usually do make money at the expense of the poor animals, they do not show them, food is inadequate, and very little if any at all Vet care. Plus if you have a problem or want to discuss your pet - who you going to call the pet store? Breeders always welcome and want to know how the pet is doing they sold and will help with any problems.

Answer 7

All pet shop puppies and kittens come from byb or mills, mostly mills. It's most often (but not always) the same with small animals. You're much better off going to a shelter/rescue or finding a responsible breeder. There are responsible small animal breeders...who breed for health, temperament and type just like good dog/cat breeders.

Answer 8

Not all shops get there puppies from mills. If you buy from a shop check them out. I do not know about other animals expect for birds and rats. At least for some shops. I bred parakeets and sold them to shopsthat wanted hand rasied birds with the parroit family that is the best way. I also rasied rats and sold them, they were fancy rats so never used for food for snakes.. I also know a lot of fish stores buy from small breeders.

Answer 9

If the animal isn't from a rescue center that is using the pet store as an adoption service, it is safe to assume it is from a miller, or a back yard breeder.

Any animal can be the product of a mill. There is horrible stories about the pet turtle trade, and how they are milled.

The best way to stop mills is education. There are lots of ways to get involved, and that is simply just trying to educate the public about such horrible things.

http://www.awarenessday.org/ is a site dedicated to Puppy mill awareness, but I must say take care when visiting sites like these, some of the stories and pictures are disturbing.

Answer 10

Definition of a Puppy Mill (From Mill Busters Website.)
Puppy mill is a common term used to describe large scale dog breeding operations. The term originated
among critics of these operations.

So as you can see this is not the only place pet shops get puppies from obviously they also get them from loving people who breed their one pet dog in their back yard and also of course from horrible people who breed them in their yard. People please stick to facts.