Back Yard Breeders/Puppy Mills

[MaxandMe]

TINK it was Linz81 reply that asked (silly me)........and glad you do have that clause tink

[annieG]

I don't know how many of you remember this but about 18 months ago, the breeder that I got my first doodle from died. Her son took many of remaining dogs to the Humane Society in Oregon. It was not a puppy mill but a breeder that just kept adding more and more dogs to her program and it got out of hand, she got sick and in the end there was not plan for what she had created.

I think you have to know your limits and have a plan for the worst case scenario.

Sorry, I know this isn't a very pleasant post but I am a crusader for responsible breeding after my awful experience.

[Tink]

Oh Annie, that IS awful.
Well, as I stated elsewhere, 5 is my absolute limit. I can take proper care of that many by myself... more than that and I'm afraid I would start needing help which I can't count on having. I do live alone most of the time since dh drives semi, so need to know my personal limits. I have no desire to own more than 2 breeding females at any given time. For me this needs to stay a hobby...

Canada will be retired from breeding within the next year, so with Snuggles growing up to replace her I'll still be able to carry on without adding any new dogs. I may very well decide when Canada retires to spay and just give her to a friend who's gotten quite attached to her. I hadn't counted on getting Snuggles back... but it does happen. Thank goodness I was able to take her.

[Maureen]

Originally Posted by gene

Our local Petland only pays between $50-100 for these puppies they sell for up to $2000 a piece, so unfortunately they consider it a "cost of doing business".

gene does that mean they do kill puppies that don't sell after a while?

holy cow, I can't imagine a pet store charging $2k and GETTING it for any kind of dog. Doesn't everyone know how tragically those puppies have been "cared" for?

[dreamer728]

Originally Posted by Maureen

Doesn't everyone know how tragically those puppies have been "cared" for? [/color]

Unfortunately, no. Up until a few years ago I had no idea that pet stores were bad...I didn't know about puppy mills, why they were bad, etc...as kids we had pets growing up and we never spayed/neutered them...

I think there is a serious lack of education about animals in general.

[annieG]

Educate, educate, educate.

One of the first invited guests to my daughter's first grade class each year is a woman from the Salt Lake County Animal Control. She presents a wonderful program to educate the children on how to care for animals.

Many of the parents have commented on how much they have learned from their first graders after this presentation.

[lmtoth2]

I didn't realize this thread was even here - I just stumbled upon it. When we started looking for a dog we went to a few pet stores. I had no idea it was bad to buy from them. We saw a small terrier and they wanted $1800 for him. I thought that was insane so we started looking online at individual "sellers" (aka breeders). When I found out we could get a puppy and know the parents for less money I wondered why anyone would go to a petstore.

I am so much more educated now about buying puppies...we went into it w/o knowing much and actually got really lucky to have stumbled upon Dexter.

[Jac]

Thanks Sue, nice to be back!
Annie, I agree with you and those who have echoed your comments...education is the key to any change. If people understand why pet stores are bad, they will not look for pets from them.
I like the idea of going to grade schools...you know, each of us, as pet owners who have studied this, should participate in public awareness. We can write letters to the editor of our papers, we can speak at school classes or community groups...we are only limited by our imagination!
Those of you who have talent for writing....how about a childrens book? Or a series of them???

[annieG]

Leslie, I totally agree with you. This forum has taught me so much and I will pass as much of that on to others as I can.

[gracielou]

I'm glad to see this topic being visited again, here in Kansas you have to be State licensed if you have over 3 breeding dogs or produce so many puppies a year. The bad part is they have to know your out there and puppy mills and back yard breeders don't have Web Sites and that is how they catch most of the people that aren't licensed. And even at that they only have so much man power to monitor people which is sad because conditions of any kennel or household could become extreme for puppies or dogs before they get visited.

[madcity_mike]

I did a simple seach a few weeks ago for labradoodles in the news and i found this. I immediately forward it to Shannon at IDOG. It breaks your heart!!

www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic ... 60466/1985

[Tink]

Oh Mike, that's awful. Wisconsin is really lax in this area. As I said in an earlier post, when I researched the local laws pertaining to state requirements I was surprised to learn what they are.
Anyone who truly has no concern for the animals has too much freedom to do just what was done in that article.

[madcity_mike]

Little good news! A friend of mine is going to be fostering a couple of those puppy mill doodle pups from the article I posted last week! I will keep everyone posted!

[gene]

Great news Mike!!! Thanks for the update!

[dixiedi]

That's great Mike, please do keep us posted