Most Bay Woof readers understand that adopting a dog is a life-saving act of love. What many don’t realize is that the alternative – buying a cute little puppy at a pet store or ordering one over the Internet – directly supports dog cruelty on a massive scale.
While there are reputable breeders who provide their animals with excellent care, the vast majority of puppies sold at pet stores and online are produced at horrific mass-breeding operations called puppy mills.
The Humane Society of the U.S. is committed to putting the worst offenders out of business by raising the public’s awareness of their activities. As part of the organization’s Stop Puppy Mills campaign, it has spent years investigating Petland, one of the country’s largest pet store chains where live puppies are sold. The campaign has organized demonstrations across the country to persuade the company to stop selling puppies, and last March a class action lawsuit was filed against Petland on behalf of consumers who had purchased unhealthy puppies from its stores in 20 different states.
The organization’s latest and arguably most potent action against puppy mills and the retailers who support them took place on May 17, when a compelling documentary aired. Entitled Animal Planet Investigates: Petland, the one-hour special follows HSUS investigators as they infiltrate the breeding operations that supply Petland with puppies. The shocking footage clearly demonstrates that breeding animals and the puppies they produce are routinely confined to small cages and deprived of sufficient food, water, sanitation, and medical attention – not to mention simple human kindness. Petland’s business dealings with such operations is clearly documented in the film.
The public’s response to the expose was immediate. HSUS had already dedicated an area of its website to the tragic stories of people who unwittingly bought sick puppy mill dogs. After the documentary aired, new complaints poured in.
Stephanie Shain, senior director of Stop Puppy Mills, who was interviewed for the special, feels very positive about the impact of the show: “We are encouraged to know that the show will help warn potential puppy buyers never to buy a puppy from a pet store or from any seller whose operation they haven’t personally visited and screened.”
To learn more about stopping the tragic business of puppy mills, visit www.humanesociety.org/issues/campaigns/stop_puppy_mills. Consumers who have purchased a sick puppy and want to share their stories, or who want to report a puppy mill operation to the HSUS, can do so at www.humanesociety.org/puppymillstory.
Take away message: When you are looking to add a canine to your family, don’t even think of buying a puppy unless you have visited the breeder and found the operation sanitary and humane.
Best practice: Adopt a wonderful homeless dog from a local shelter or rescue group.
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