PSA: Don't buy your dog from a commercial pet store. Also involved: puppy mills. - General

In the beginning this may read as a blog post, bare with me as it has a point. I am an animal lover. I suppose many people on Facepunch are. That is why I feel the need to post my recent experience on here, to educate and warn you as to what you may very well be getting into when purchasing a puppy from Petland or a similar store. All of the puppies that they purchase have to come from somewhere. Many people don't think about that when they purchase a puppy. That dog came from somewhere else, and dogs, like most consumer products, have the ability to be mass produced. This is where my story comes into play. (I'll make it brief) I walked in on my 16 year old border collie having a stroke. The vet thought she would pull through, but she had brain damage and when we took her home she was obviously in pain. She was always my dog, she stuck by me when I had a catastrophic brain injury that left me in and out of a comatose state at home for 40 days. She refused to leave my bed, and stuck by me after that. I did what I could for her, but when I saw the pain she was in, I took her to the vet to be put asleep. That was hard, but nowhere near as what would happen next. About 3 weeks later my mom and I decided to walk into a pet store just to look at some of the puppies and get an idea on breeds to look at (we needed another dog because my younger dog was not handling the loss of Betty well. Anybody that tells you dogs don't grieve is full of shit). We were absolutely not going to get a dog that night. Long story short we walked out of there with a 16 pound Australian Cattle Dog that we named Aislynn. [img]http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/190768_1949442139595_1348856032_2264851_3471980_n.jpg[/img] The only problem was, after we were done checking out we were given medicine to give her to take care of discharge from her nose and eyes. Within 48 hours Aislynn was at death's door. We got her on an IV and brought her back to health, but something was not quite right, the vet tested for distemper, and in the meantime Aislynn came down with double bacterial pneumonia. Shit was starting to get very fishy when we began to research Aislynn's shot records, as they were from a vet that does not exist, and the breeder [name omitted due to a pending lawsuit] had at one point at 72 counts of animal cruelty brought up against him. Aislynn tested positive for Distemper and last Saturday she finally succumbed, being born sick she was a fighter to the end, it took the enough of the medicine to put her to sleep to do the job 3 times over. I am posting this as a public service to all of you. These puppy mills produce sick dogs, who are underweight and unhealthy. And the dogs that have the puppies are forced to have litter after litter until their uterus finally tears, then they are disposed of. There is a good reason reputable breeders don't deal with pet stores. Don't purchase from a commercial pet store. Adopt from a rescue, or better yet if your state still has kill shelters, save a dogs life. Anybody else ever had something like this happen? Two links I felt the need to include, as the video is one of the men involved with her, and the other is an informative website. [url]http://www.petshoppuppies.org/indiana/1.htm[/url] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhjqBsOCiPs[/media]

Good post OP. Both of my dogs are rescued dogs. People should adopt more and get their pets spade or neutered. (Bob Barker)

I got my dog from a friend who then had a litter. She turned out just fine. I don't like going to those "puppy" stores. They're depressing to just go in.

Rescues typically have better temperament anyhow.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;28860661]Rescues typically have better temperament anyhow.[/QUOTE] Yes because the pet stores attempt at a pure bred is typically heavily inbred or not a true pure bred. My first dog was a kill shelter rescue. Most laid back dog I have ever been in contact with.

I found my dog, We tried to see if he was anyones for 6 months, but no one claimed it was theirs.

Puppy mills are a big thing down here in Southern IN. Dem Amish.

I've never bought any of my pets. Of my 3 cats, two were strays and one was from a litter from my friend's cat. Both of my dogs I had for years passed away last year, and one was a stray we got from a friend and the other was taken from a breeder for free. Currently, we're fostering a rescue dog. Puppy mills and pet stores just make me depressed and sick.

[QUOTE=Squarebob;28860789]Puppy mills are a big thing down here in Southern IN. Dem Amish.[/QUOTE] Mine was from Bloomsfield IN. I am in Cincinnati.

Pet stores in general just make me sick. Keeping an active animal in a little cage that's just a bit bigger than the animal itself?! This is why I bought my cats from a registered breeder.

A lot of them are right in Daviess county where I live, including the one in the video from Odon. I think our chihuahua came from one now that I think about it. He's alright though and doesn't have anything wrong with him.

Classifieds are a great place to get animals, I got my awesome rough collie from a breeder a few miles away.

The best place to get pets is the animal shelter or the ASPCA. If you have a special breed of dog or cat you want, there are often rescue groups that specialize in specific breeds. You can find a lot of them online and they usually have lists of adoptable pets. My current pet (cat) came from a shelter, and is one of the best pets I've ever had. All my other pets I got as babies and they grew up to have whatever personality they did, but with this one since I got her as an adult her personality was already set so I knew what to expect.

yeah don't buy from puppy stores. the owners are in it solely for the profit; they don't give a shit about treating the dogs well. a puppy store owner here was arrested on 38 counts of animal cruelty a few months ago

[QUOTE=Squarebob;28861137]A lot of them are right in Daviess county where I live, including the one in the video from Odon. I think our chihuahua came from one now that I think about it. He's alright though and doesn't have anything wrong with him.[/QUOTE] Is Graber farm nearby? They are one of the groups that we have been trying to deal with.

All 5 of my dogs (4 now, poor Charlie) are from a shelter/strays.

I got a 2 or 3 year old black lab that was rescued from a puppy mill, she was skinny when we got her but now shes bulked up. Happiest dog i've ever saw, whenever I walk into her proximity her tail starts wagging, it's actually a bit of an issue since shes always knocking things off low tables or whacking people in the shins.

my dog is a rescue dog. she's a bitch. (no pun intended)

The dog we picked up a few months ago was from a Dogs Trust rescue centre, they found him stray in Wales (so brought him to east Anglia :confused:), and he has been an excellent dog, I can't think why someone abandoned him. People who are scared of rescue centre dogs as they have a chance of being dangerous are missing out, these dogs seem to be some of the most lively and nice to be with dogs ever. In fact, the dog was trying to calm me down today I think after I started raging and shouting at a massive fuck up I made while cleaning my computer. It could just have been the raised voice startling him, but he seemed genuinely upset I was upset.

[QUOTE=Oicani Gonzales;28861931]I honestly feel sad when I see lots of puppies crying on some store's window... :frown:[/QUOTE] This is why we ended up walking out with our dog. She looked at us and saw us walk away and went in laid in a corner. So sad.

Actually the animals in my local pet store are kept in really good conditions and the staff who work there make sure to give good advice on how to care for the animal before you buy it.

My dog is from a kennel, he was a breeder dog.

[QUOTE=reardon_e12;28862122]This is why we ended up walking out with our dog. She looked at us and saw us walk away and went in laid in a corner. So sad.[/QUOTE] the pet shop owners train them to do that ker-ching

R.I.P Aisie, you will be missed :smith:

Dog shows: Am I the only one who thinks that these need to be banned and all the fucktard yuppie breeders charged?

I've took 2 dogs out of the street. Both very sick, though perfect dogs, after investing quite a money on each, both of them, who were really ackward, bad looking dogs started to shine, both became really amazing, good looking dogs, protective and loving, and they were much, much more polite than my two "home" dogs One of them had cancer, and was already an old dog, it's quite impressive that it held it's own without any problem for four years, it's still alive, and quite kickin'! The other one didn't have such luck, it was already old, but still lasted quite long, like, 4~~5 years on my hand, had the worst of times on it's end, and suffered quite alot, one morning I've wake up, gone to feed it, and... it was there, laying down, all thrown up and full of blood, I couldn't eat or work for two days, fucking bad times. All I can say is that, love your dog, give it attention, treat it well, protect it, they WILL retribute with twice the ammount.

I could not watch that video, it hurts to much. I have four dogs and all but one of them were abandoned/abused. --- After typing that I've realized that I've had seven dogs in my life, and two died on me :( I do not agree with getting dogs that were breed. It's just wrong.

It's better to buy puppies from a litter ie a farmer etc. I got my springer spaniel from my uncles litter from when it was ready to leave its litter, it grew up into a fine dog. [editline]28th March 2011[/editline] You can see animal sellers via the papers and just see if their legit breeders.

[QUOTE=reardon_e12;28861364]Is Graber farm nearby? They are one of the groups that we have been trying to deal with.[/QUOTE] Everyone Amish here is a Graber pretty much, but yeah, Odon is not very far from where I live. I've even been out and around "Amish Country".

I found my dog sleeping in some trash while on vacation one year. Little mutt stunk to high heaven and followed us all the way back to the cottage. Washed him off right on the beach, gave him a bunch of frankies (Spiced sausages) to wolf down and I've had him ever since.