If you're an experienced dog owner, you've probably already guessed that our wheaten was the product of a puppy mill — an operation in which dogs are overbred (females forced to bear two litters a year from the moment they're capable of getting pregnant) and kept caged in squalid, unsanitary conditions that can generate lifelong health problems. Pet shops buy dogs from puppy mills under the guise of acting as "brokers," but what they're actually doing is conniving in an inhumane business. Buying dogs directly from a reputable breeder is the way to go, but that can take time, and people who want a puppy or a cat immediately are what keep pet stores, and puppy mills, in business.
All of this is on my mind now because of this Star-Ledger story about how some of the Amish farmers of Lancaster County, just outside of Philadelphia, have become some of the most notorious puppy-mill operators in the country. We sure have come a long way since the 1985 movie Witness made the Amish seem, if not cool, then at least weirdly glamorous in their rustic way. Since then, we've learned about drug trafficking rings and other scandals that have taken some of the quaint polish off those black buggies. This story isn't going to help the Amish image, but it should help you remember what to do when the urge to get a pet comes over you.
Our story ends (sort of) happily. After some research, we tracked down a wheaten rescue network. Most clubs devoted to dog breeds have rescue operations in which people who want to adopt a purebred dog can put their names on a waiting list. I drove our wheaten out to Allentown, Pa., and left him in the care of a nice lady who boarded dogs that were in line for adoption. (While she stroked his ears, she got him to open his mouth and gasped at the sight of his snaggly teeth, one of the hallmarks of a badly bred dog.) He was later adopted by a woman with two other wheatens and a bunch of cats — a pretty sweet deal, all told.
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Originally published in The Opinion Mill.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Interesting tale - would've liked some pics of the dog:)
2 - Temple Stark
PICK OF THE WEEK ::: A section editor pointed your way as a pick of the 11-19/11-25 week. Click HERE to find out why.
Cheers. Temple
3 - DrPat
We bought three sibling kittens from a pet store. The two males were stout fellows with no problems (other than being weaned far too early, having ear mites, and other issues from their ill-bred start in life), but the female was a sweet packet of trouble. She had "failure to thrive," a fancy term for "born sick," and died before she was a year old.
The next time we bought a kitten from a pet store, it was in a Humane Society rescue arrangement, and the female kitten we got is so rambunctious she gives the older, heavier males a drubbing!
If I had it to do again, I'm not sure how I would choose. Our "boys" are great cats, and we love them dearly, but I know our purchase simply encouraged the mother-cat's owner to breed her again and sell the kittens.
4 - Teddybearcrys
I , for a short period of time took a job part time in a pet store. We guaranteed our customers that all our puppys came from breeders. But it wasnt long afterwards I learned they came from Lancaster puppy mills.A part of our jobs was to lie to these innocent customers.When the dogs were brought back ill, and bad tempered, the store owners would put people down telling them they were doing something wrong.I can not count how many pups came in and died from diseases in our back room.I had to leave that job because I could not lie to the public, nor live with what I had to witness.I am a proud owner of to beautiful pomeranians that I fel are saved from the torturous lives they lived in puppy mills.Thay are very insecure, but very loved as they should be.Ive made several calls and contacts to help these pets, but its never enough.They are still operating.and making 500+ dollars in profit per puppy at the pet stores.WE NEED TO BE THERE VOICE! Their wimpers are not enough.
5 - Crys
It may not have been a genetic problem with the dog. By carrying the dog home, letting the dog bark at the house, etc. it tells the dog that their fear is justified. This may have been a simple training problem that escalated.