I'm on a mission

Last Saturday a new pet store opened in town. It is the first pet store in at least a decade that has sold dogs in Columbia. This, my friends, made me angry. Really, really angry. 98% of dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. The other 2% come from backyard breeders, but that is another topic for another day.

After pretending to be interested in buying a puppy, I was told the name of the "breeder" they get their inventory from. After about 1 minute of investigating (thank you Google), it was verified that this store does indeed sell dogs from a local puppy mill. Kyle and I drove to said mill yesterday and took a few pictures.

That reflective plexiglass is holding in dozens of dogs, packed like sardines in that cage. They will likely live their entire lives imprisoned there, only to breed time and time again to refill the empty cages left by someone who purchased a puppy in a pet store.

I'm working with friends, other interested parties, and representatives from Columbia 2nd Chance to urge this store to stop selling dogs since it directly supports the animal abuse in puppy mills.

Here are some interesting puppy mill facts:

• 5 million animals die in shelters annually
• 30% of shelter dogs are purebred
• There are 6000 USDA licensed breeders (puppy mills) and many more that are unlicensed.
• The highest concentration of those puppy mills are in the fine state of Missouri. All 1,525 of them. The state with the second highest? Pennsylvania with 195.
• Many dogs lose feet and legs when they are caught in the wire floors of the cages and cut off as the dog struggles to free themselves. This doesn't stop the puppy miller from breeding them though.
  
• Puppy mills maximize their profits by not spending adequate money on proper food, housing or veterinary care.
• The dogs are kept in small wire cages for their entire lives. They are almost never allowed out. They never touch solid ground or grass to run and play.
• Dogs in puppy mills are debarked often by ramming a steel rod down their throats to rupture their vocal cords.
• Female dogs are usually bred the first time they come into heat and are bred every heat cycle. They are bred until their poor worn out bodies can't reproduce any longer and then they are killed. Often they are killed by being bashed in the head with a rock, shot, or drowned. Sometimes they are sold to laboratories or dumped. This is often by the time they reach five years old.

The only requirements to license a puppy mill:

• Cage must only be six inches longer than dog’s length
• They must have "adequate" shelter, water and food. Does this look "adequate" to you (for 6-12+ dogs per cage)?

According the the USDA regulations, puppy mill dogs can legally live its entire life in a cage.

Check out this website for more information: http://www.prisonersofgreed.org


If you're interested in stopping the store in Columbia from knowingly supporting this abuse, please let me know. There will be a letter at a few local businesses for anyone to sign, which I will then send to the business. Write letters to the editor. Write letters directly to the company expressing your discontent. Tell your friends why buying a pet store dog is so bad. Any little bit you can do helps.