Banning the Sale of Pets from Pet Shops: This Week’s Pet Lover’s Blog Hop Spotlight

This week, our spotlight falls on the Dancing Dog Blog, authored by Mary Haight. Specifically, I’d like to spotlight Mary’s post about Giving Pet Shops and Puppy Mills the Boot.

For the record, I agree entirely with Mary’s viewpoint on this subject. I strongly feel that banning the sale of pets in pet shops is the most humane solution to a difficult problem. As a veterinarian, too often I examine these pet shop pets and find sickly puppies and kittens.

Are there some pet stores that are more reputable than others? Absolutely, there are. However, regardless of the pet shop’s reputation, most of these dogs and cats are obtained for sale from puppy mills. For those of you who are not familiar with puppy mills, these facilities are notorious for keeping pets under less than ideal conditions. In many cases, the conditions which these pets are forced to live in are horribly inhumane. The adult breeding animals kept in these facilities are often malnourished and undersocialized. In fact, many of them are not socialized at all but rather are forced to live their entire lives in small cages with little to no human interaction. The conditions under which these animals are kept often cause health issues in and of themselves. More than that, the puppies and kittens produced by these dogs and cats are often not healthy either, but are still passed on for sale to an unsuspecting consumer.

Are there pet stores that do not obtain the pets they offer from puppy mills? Yes, but many of those obtain their puppies and kittens from local breeders who often are more interested in their profit margin than in producing healthy puppies and kittens. In my experience, most reputable dog and cat breeders do not work through pet stores to place their puppies and kittens. Reputable dealers generally prefer to know where their puppies or kittens will be living and assure themselves that the new owners are not only willing but able to care for their new charge. This differs from purchases made from pet stores which are often impulsive purchases made without prior thought to whether the pet fits into the new owner’s lifestyle. Even for non-dog and cat pets, too often pet owners purchase the pet and bring it home without any idea of what caring for that pet entails or whether the pet owner is able to provide that care.

In a world where it is (conservatively) estimated that 4-5 million animals are euthanized on an annual basis, there really is no excuse to continue the questionable breeding techniques that take place in puppy mills. Make no mistake, a large percentage of those euthanized animals are pets purchased from pet shops by people who later decide they do not want the responsibility of the pet or discover they cannot adequately care for the pet.

Mary’s blog post mentions an Examiner.com article which opposes the proposed ban in San Francisco and refers to the proposed ban as though it is a “Machiavellian government plot”. As the National Pet Health Care Examiner for Examiner.com, I would like to make it completely clear that not all writers at Examiner.com share this writer’s opinion. In fact, my own article on Examiner.com, Should pet stores be banned from selling companion animals, points out many of the same points that Mary pointed out in her post. I share Mary’s frustration about the biases shared in the major news outlets. I also agree with her that this issue is not centered around our government trying to deprive us of our right to buy a purebred puppy, but rather about doing what is right for a part of the animal population that is being treated inhumanely.

Will banning the sale of pets in pet stores completely destroy the puppy mill industry? Probably not by itself but it will be a good start. Additional efforts, especially in the area of educating the public, will be necessary as well. Does this mean that purebred dogs and cats will no longer be available to the public for purchase? Absolutely not. Most reputable breeders of purebred dogs and cats would not be affected in any way by this ban. In addition, there are breed rescues for any breed of dog or cat that a potential pet owner could possibly be interested in adopting.

I strongly urge you to visit the Dancing Dog Blog. Besides this blog post, there is a great deal of other useful information to be found there, so take some time to explore. And don’t forget to check out the other great blogs in the week’s Pet Lover’s Blog Hop.