Christmas is right around the corner and thousands of children across the country will ask their parents for just one thing—a PUPPY! Each year, hundreds of thousands of puppies are bred by commercial breeders, and then shipped to pet stores around the country. These “puppy-mills” routinely engage in animal abuse by overbreeding, housing animals in inadequate shelters, and failing to provide sufficient nutrition.
Iowa is home to the third largest number of commercial breeders. Not surprising, these breeding facilities hide behind cute kennel names and naive images of puppies running free in the miles and miles of endless Iowa farmland. These images could not be farther from the truth.
Meanwhile, there are thousands of wonderful, smart, loving, (house-trained!) young dogs waiting at shelters hoping that someone will decide to give them a “forever home.” Some of them will get their wish–but too many of them never will. Each year, 3-4 million (yes, MILLION) cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters. Not vicious mail-man-chasing dogs, but loving, sweet, doe-eyed animals that have been thrown away because their owner found them “inconvenient.”
Next weekend (Sat Nov 22), commercial breeders from around the state will gather for a “puppy sale” at the Pathway Christian School in Kalona, IA. Purchasing pets from pet stores and puppy shows supports the business of selling dogs for money which, in turn, increases the number of animals in shelters. Educate your friends and family about the dangers of purchasing pets from pet stores or “puppy shows.” Check out : www.stoppuppymills.org for more information.
Steve Wieland
fsford
timhilton
smahieu
Morgan N. Engling
maryiowa
jaimiesuzi
jarens
kevinjames
brieanne
lcm
Andrew
enwinfield
I really like the Bob Barker “spay or neuter your pets” after every episode of The Price is Right approach much better than attempts to put breeders and pet shop owners out of the puppy selling business, but that’s just me.
The answer is not one or the other–it’s both. Spaying/Neutering is essential for keeping pet populations manageable and ensuring that fewer animals end up in animal shelters or otherwise neglected because they are unwanted. There is nothing wrong with reputable breeders–breeders who take the time to meet potential purchasers, breed sustainable litters, don’t overbreed or interbreed their animals etc.. Commercial breeders care only about profit–breed as many puppies as possible. These breeders rarely, if ever, care about the welfare and health of their puppies, and account for “operating costs” (i.e. dead puppies) by breeding more, rather than breeding better. The vast majority of these commercial breeders (1) sell directly to pet stores, which have a well documented history of subpar animal care, (2) routinely evade inspection of their kennels and breeding facilities, and (3) misrepresent the health of their animals and the living conditions of their animals to the public. Such behaviours amount to nothing more than blatant animal neglect and abuse and should be prosecuted as such. Now…if only we can work on stricter penalties for the scum that abuse animals….
And spaying/neutering your pets, while worthwhile, doesn’t do anything to solve the problem of the millions of abandoned animals in shelters right now. We can hopefully curb the problem in the future with spay and neuter programs, but the problem NOW is that there’s animals that need homes, altered or not. And breeders, puppy mills, and pet stores do nothing but compound the problem by supplying “designer dogs” to an uneducated public.
As a shelter volunteer, the excuse I hear from people who are considering buying from these places instead of adopting is that they want a specific breed or age of dog/cat. What the public doesn’t usually know is that there are individual breed rescue groups that usually operate as a network of foster care homes for a specific breed of dog. As for the people who come in wanting cute cuddly puppies and kittens…they have them at shelters, too, though we don’t always know when the litters will be coming in off the street, unlike disreputable breeders who will basically forcibly impregnate female dogs to meet demand. And as the owner of two shelter pets that were adopted well into their adult lives, adult pets are often a much better choice as they have established personalities so you have a better idea of what you’re getting into. (And they usually have better bathroom habits, too.)
Anyway…adopt from shelters. (rant over)
I’m not being facetious when I say this, but I think shelters should work on training their dogs to make them more marketable. I’ve only had one dog in my life (and he was the best dog ever). He came to us at the age of 2, fully trained, but he needed a new home. I’ve tried warming to puppies, or other dogs, but if they aren’t trained, and I can’t stand them.
Good to know that you can select your breed through those groups. But, I’ve been in animal shelters before I didn’t see many pure breds…..
Many shelters train their volunteers in animal obedience training–including the one at which I volunteer. Animal training requries building a relationship and that takes time. Animal ownership is a responsibility and requires commitment–you are completely entitled to your opinion re: untrained animals. I would hope that you would not be so irresponsible as to ever purchase or adopt an animal that you are not willing to train.
Adoption is a choice-it’s not for everyone. But for me, Adoption is the only Option.
And the thing is…the vast majority of breeders don’t train puppies before they’re sold, either. 8 week old puppies don’t really have the capacity to be fully trained at that age, and the breeding adults are usually caged all day which doesn’t lend itself to being a good pet, either. Honestly, I think you’re more likely to get a fully trained pet at a shelter than from a breeder–oftentimes perfectly good family dogs are brought in and put up for adoption because their owner died or is too old to care for them, or a family member has developed an allergy, or they’re moving to a place where they can’t have pets.
The shelter in IC where Emily and I volunteer takes dogs to adult obedience classes or puppy classes, and trains volunteers how to teach dogs simple commands like “sit” and “down.” But programs like that take money, which most shelters don’t have, and if it comes down to paying for a dog to go to obedience class for $100 versus paying for fifty cats to be wormed at $2/each…well, the greater good for the greater number wins out. It’s just a fact of dog ownership that you’re going to have to put some time and effort in to training them to get the pet you want, whether the dog’s from a breeder OR a shelter.
Also, re: purebreds: if you go on the IC Animal Center’s website and look at the dogs available for adoption, you’ll see (I believe) “purebred” poodles, dachshunds, boxers, and collies. And in the last six months they’ve had purebred golden retrievers, labs, miniature pinschers, rottweilers, malteses, pugs, and probably more I’m not remembering. (By purebred, I mean not mixed breeds.)
There’s nothing wrong with mixed breeds. Google “hybrid vigor.”
Good to know….I feel so enlightened.
I simply don’t have the patience to train a dog…but love the “comes trained” approach. My oldest child is 6, so I’m sure I’m going to have to deal with doggie questions soon….
Like I said, I sincerely hope that if you are not willing to take the time to train a dog and work to integrate him/her into your family then you would be wise enough to refrain from pet ownership. Just like children, puppies don’t come pre-trained.
Re: purebreds: The worst part about Christmas is all the abandoned animals that will show up in the new year because parents did not think through training and effort required with a dog. My parents have two rescued Yorkies and a Cairn. One was used for breeding at a puppy mill, the other two were just neglected because the owners did not want to put in the effort to deal with the terrier personalities. Wait until after the holidays to get a dog, and get one from a shelter. The most popular breeds will be the ones most discarded. Also, purebreds always have some sort of health issues (yorkies and their teeth, cairns and their skin, etc.) because of the breeding techniques. These are not a problem if you are willing to address them with lots of time/money, but a mixed dog will be healthier in general, save on health care costs.
Thanks for the clarification, emily.
ON a semi-related note, Bolt is a most excellent family movie that relates to abandon animals, well-trained dogs, and a little hampster with a lot of heart.
Jaren and I are considering a puppy, and we went to the puppy expo down in Kalona just to see what they had. It was disgusting. There was clearly no screening process keeping puppy mill breeders out of the program. One guy had a couple metal crates full of sleeping puppies on a rickety metal table. When we walked by, I commented on how all the puppies were so cute asleep. He slammed the table, startling all the puppies awake, and yelled something about “amber alerts” as we walked away disgusted.
Even the breeders that appeared to be reputable were happy to haggle over prices and to sell a dog to anyone who came along. This visit reinforced our belief that, if you really have to buy from a breeder, at least buy from one who screens buyers and is interested in the dog’s welfare, not in money or in satisfying the customer.
Anyway, Jaren and I are probably adopting a beagle-mix puppy from Pet Central, the adoption shelter downtown. Will post pictures…
YAY ADOPTION!!!
I’m glad that you had the same reacation re: Kalona sale. It was horrifying to me, and I was torn between crying my eyes out and choking the life out of these disgusting people. THANK YOU for not supporting these inhumane breeders. Adoption is really the best option…you just have no idea how much of an impact you are about to make in the life of a young animal.
Are you hooked on the beagle mix breed? If not, there is an adorable terrier mix (yes, she’s part pit bull) at the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center where I volunteer. She is 35 pounds, full grown, and had to be abandoned by her owner when he moved. I call her Snuggles b/c all she wants to do is snuggle up and give you kisses. She’s precious. If you’re interested let me know and I can show her to you guys.
Emily, Out of curiosity, on average how many cats and dogs are euthanized at the Iowa City Adoption Center on a monthly basis? (ballpark figure is fine)
I’m not Emily, but I’ll do my best. It’s hard to know those numbers as the shelter staff do their best to put animals to sleep in a respectful, quiet manner and don’t really publicize it to the daily volunteers.
I’ll make the distinction here between adoptable and non-adoptable animals. All animals are given at least a week to calm down and adjust to the new surroundings before they are behavior tested to be put up for adoption. A lot of animals–and I don’t know a number, or could even ballpark it, because it’s behind the scenes and doesn’t really involve volunteers–simply aren’t adoptable. Feral cats can’t be put up for adoption because they’re wild animals. (Though the shelter does work with JCHS’ trap-spay/neuter-release program for ferals.) Dogs can’t be adopted out if they’re aggressive or territorial, and they go through a bunch of tests to test how they’ll do with strangers, children, food, etc. And some animals are ill or injured beyond repair, and the shelter does what they can, but sometimes it doesn’t work or the animal is just clearly miserable. So there are countless numbers who come in and are just not fit for adoption, and are humanely euthanized.
ADOPTABLE animals are euthanized pretty rarely, in my experience. I work mostly with cats, and there have been cats that have lived at the shelter for over a year until they were adopted. Same with dogs. I can think of maybe two animals that were euthanized after being put up for adoption. One was a cat that was pretty old and in a lot of pain and depressed; the other was a dog that started displaying aggression and went after a volunteer. I haven’t been able to get to the shelter as much as I’d like this semester, but from what I’ve heard the temporary location makes it harder to keep the animals healthy so there have been more animals put to sleep than normal. Hopefully once they build and move in to the new building this will again go down.
Sorry for the novel!
[...] I mentioned in a comment to Emily’s post about puppy mills, Jaren (my fiancée) and I had gone to a puppy convention down in Kalona a couple weekends ago and [...]