Thinking About Getting a Puppy!
Spring has certainly sprung, everyone is out and about enjoying the weather. Some may even say “best time to get a puppy is in the spring” Why you might ask, because the weather is better (especially in NY) for training your pup for out door, walking, socializing, house breaking etc. However, its my belief when armed with knowledge you are in a position to make a more knowledgeable decision. My advice, don’t buy from pet stores or online breeders you just don’t know what you might end up with. Visit the environment the puppy is raised in, make sure the mom and other puppies are healthy this has a major factor in a healthy pet. I think we all, including me when not armed with the correct information have purchased a puppy online or from a pet store. May I ask, how is that working of you? I have some stories of my own on this but what is most important is bringing awareness to the conditions of how these dogs are being breed and in deplorable conditions, just so someone can make a buck off the back of these innocent animals.
If you are thinking about a puppy or dog, visit your local shelters or adotion agencies for example http://www.yorkie911rescue.com/ one of many who screen all dogs for health and behavior prior to adopting them out.
Having said that:
I stumbled accross the info below while surfing the net at http://vimeo.com/6223784
So where should you buy a dog? The absolute worst place, it turns out, is a pet store.
An HBO documentary, Madonna of the Mills, exposes the fact that virtually all pet store puppies are raised in puppy mills in horrible conditions, in wire pens no bigger than a dishwasher, and the puppies are sickly with parasites and other serious issues.
America has a nasty secret. All of those cute puppies that are sold in pet stores come from “puppy mills.” Their mothers spend their entire lives in a tiny, unsanitary cages, never walked, never petted, never doing anything but making puppies . When these dogs can no longer produce litters or money for their owners, they are put to death – stoned, shot, drowned or starved.
“Madonna of the Mills” is a documentary about Laura, an office manager from Staten Island, who stumbled on this secret four years ago and vowed to save as many of these breeding dogs as she possibly could. Laura has now rescued over 2,000 dogs from Amish and Mennonite farmers in Pennsylvania. In the process, she has forever changed her life and the lives of those families fortunate enough to adopt one of these remarkable “puppy mill” survivors.
“Hopefully moving forward and armed with factual information we all can do our part to stamp out puppy mills one person at a time.”
Thank God for people just like Laura!!
