sevendogs: I'm in upstate NY and although we don't ahve a lot of puppy mills for hunting dogs, we've got puppy mills for every other type you can imagine.
I sure don't know what the hay is wrong with those breeders, except for their greed and the dollar signs that cloud their vision. They turn out a lot of sad puppies who are born with lots of problems and more often than not wind up getting put down, and not in a kindly fashion either.
Last June, at the end of the month I headed down to Princeton, NJ to pick up a dog I wanted to rescue. A 6 yr old Black Standard Poodle. Now this poor guy had been caged for the first 2 yrs of his life, then given some room to roam, but then sold to a rescue center and caged for 3 months. When I got him, at the urging of the rescuer (cause the schmidt told me he was going to the public shelter if I didn't come get him - doancha just love people who hold pets hostage), he had rear left foot neuropathy that he has since overcome. He is a clown, has lots of expressions and gets along well with my two older ones. He's a keeper.
I had been hitting the local rescue shows and pet shows looking for one just like that to adopt, only to find that 3 of the local breeders had found favor with the pet adoption group in our area and was using the adoption clinics to sell off their overbreed - that is, those that could be sold off without apparent problems. It hurt to see that, and it really frosted me. I had serious words with the pet adoption group leader more than once and threatened to write it all up for the local paper if I didn't see a change. It didn't give the dogs that needed adoption any chance at all, and it was tough going through those to see some of the older, trained and experienced pets languishing for adoption, hoping someone would notice them, while all the cute little puppies from the mills were stealing all the hearts. Man, had I not had to limit myself in that regard I would now probably have a houseful of older dogs that wouldn't move too fast, fart a lot in their sleep, be grateful for whatever treat or snack they could get and be a faithful companion until their clocks stopped tickin'.
Yeah, we've got puppy mills in my neck of the woods and I don't like them at all. I'm thinking that after I retire I might try to see if I can help rescue dogs. My oldest two are 12.5 and 10.5 and have been with me since puppyhood, so they are a bit taken back when someone else comes around. But they are nearing their time and afterward might be when I could organize some kennel space to help a couple of needy ones out.
No sevendogs, I don't like puppy mills at all. Mikey.
