Large pet store chains breed puppy mills

May 21, 5:05 PMDallas Animal Rescue ExaminerRebecca Poling

Did you think perhaps this was another instance of the media making much ado about nothing? Animal rescuers will tell you quite emphatically that it is not.  It is in fact part of a much larger problem - puppy mills.

To stay in business, large chain stores that sell puppies, like Petland, must have a steady stream of new inventory available for their customers. Demand for new puppies for these stores is far greater than can be filled by small, local "mom & pop" breeders- breeders who have only a few dogs, limit the number of litters each pair produces, hand-raise and care for the puppies and than sell them privately after a thorough screening of the purchaser. If you or your family bought a dog directly from a breeder at some point, you likely bought it from a "mom and pop" or backyard breeder, someone who truly cares about their dogs.

But the demand for puppies for those big chain stores so greatly exceeds the supply from reputable breeders there has been an explosion of puppy mills all across the country. Unscrupulous individuals motivated by greed and devoid of compassion, owners of these puppy mills buy as many adult intact breeding pairs as they can, house them in tiny wire cages and chain link kennels, and breed them constantly in an effort to produce as many puppies as possible. These animals often live in unsanitary conditions with little or no socialization. Many live in cages stacked one atop another. The puppies, often sick or behaviorally scarred, are sold either directly to large high volume pet stores or to brokers who serve as the middle man for the pet stores.   They are not sold to the general public because the puppy mill owners don't want anyone to know the conditions in which these poor creatures live.

Large chain stores that sell puppies have created a situation where dogs and puppies are routinely expoited. As long as there is a market for large numbers of purebred puppies, there will always be puppy mills.

The only way to stop the puppy mills is to stop the demand and the way to do that is to convince Petland and other large chains that sell puppies to stop doing so and instead support local animal shelters and rescue groups by inviting them to adopt animals in their stores, just like PetsMart and Petco already do.  It's better for their business because they're not selling a defective product, it's better for their reputation because it generates tremendouse goodwill, it's better for the community because they aren't contributing to an already overwhelming pet overpopulation problem, and it's better for the animals.  If PetsMart can do it and Petco can do it and even little boutique stores can do it, why can't Petland?

 UPDATE: Watch WFAA's 6 p.m. newscast tonight for a report on puppy mill legislation in Texas!