Animal Awareness Ribbon Magnets, Dog, Cat, Birds, Unique Designs!

If you want a dog in your life, please don't buy a puppy
mill puppy. Pet store clerks and other sellers will never
admit their dogs come from puppy mills. How do you
separate fact from fiction? The facts:

Pet stores cater to impulsive buyers and consumers
seeking convenient transactions.These stores don't
interview prospective buyers to ensure responsible,
lifelong homes for the pets they sell, and the stores may
be staffed by employees with limited knowledge about
pets and pet care.

A "USDA-inspected" breeder does not mean a "good"
breeder. Be wary of claims by pet store staff that they
sell animals only from breeders who are "USDA-
inspected." The United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) enforces the federal law called the Animal
Welfare Act (AWA), which regulates commercial
breeding operations. But the act doesn't require all
commercial breeders to be licensed, and the USDA
establishes only minimum-care standards in enforcing
this law. Breeders are required to provide food, water,
and shelter—but not love, socialization, or freedom from
confining cages. Many USDA-licensed and inspected
puppy mills operate under squalid conditions with known
violations of the AWA.

Many disreputable "breeders" sell their dogs directly to
the public over the Internet and through newspaper ads.
They often sell several breeds of dogs, but may
advertise each breed in a separate place and not in one
large advertisement or website. These breeders are not
required to be inspected by any federal agency and, in
many states, are not inspected at all.

Reputable breeders care where their puppies go and
interview hopeful adopters. They don't ever sell through
pet stores or to families they haven't thoroughly checked
out.

Purebred "papers" do not guarantee the quality of the
breeder or the dog. Even the American Kennel Club
(AKC) readily admits that it "cannot guarantee the
quality or health of dogs in its registry."
Puppy mill puppies often have medical problems. These
problems can lead to veterinary bills in the thousands of
dollars. But pet retailers count on the bond between
families and their new puppies being so strong that the
puppies won't be returned. And guarantees are often so
difficult to comply with that they are virtually useless. In
addition, poor breeding and socialization practices at
many puppy mills can lead to behavioral problems
throughout the puppies' lives. In the event your new
puppy does experience medical problems, file a Breeder
Complaint Form.

Please don't buy from a pet store, and be very wary of
websites and newspaper ads. Above all, don't ever buy
a dog if you can't physically visit every area of the home
or breeding facility where the dogs are kept. Puppy mills
will continue to operate until people stop buying their
dogs. We urge you to visit your local shelter, where you
are likely to find dozens of healthy, well-socialized
puppies and adult dogs—including purebreds—just
waiting for that special home—yours.