¶ … buy your dog from a pet store 'How much is that doggie in the window?' Passing by a pet store, it's easy to be tempted to buy a puppy or a kitten. However, according to the American Humane Society, it is estimated that approximately 3.7 million animals were euthanized in American shelters in 2008. "56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized," according to the organization. This is despite considerable efforts of the Humane Society not to euthanize animals, unless absolutely necessary. And while some of these animals may have been unsuitable as pets because they were sickly or violent, many were not and were killed due to simple overcrowding. The most common reason people surrender their pets is that they are simply unable or unwilling to care for them. There are too many dogs for too few owners in the United States. Buying a puppy from a pet store simply feeds an industry dedicated to breeding more and more animals in a manner that is neither good for the animals nor ultimately good for society. And the owners suffer the heartbreaking work of dealing with a dog with health...
Many dogs within these operations are severely mistreated and the dogs used to breed the dogs are killed after they can no longer produce quality 'stock.' "In order to maximize profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little to no recovery time between litters. When, after a few years, they are physically depleted to the point that they no longer can reproduce, breeding females are often killed" (What is a puppy mill, 2011, ASPCA).
There is a common misconception that purebred dogs are 'better' than mutts, because an owner 'knows what he or she is getting' when he or she buys a purebred. However, dogs bred in puppy mills are bred without any concern for their genetic quality. "Because puppy mill operators fail to apply proper husbandry practices that would remove sick dogs from their breeding pools, puppies from puppy mills are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions," and…
