How Much Is That Puppy in the Window- Really? Quiz

Answer: Puppy mills- facilities that breed dogs for profit

Estimates by several animal welfare groups are that 90 to 98% of puppies sold in pet stores come from kennels that breed puppies for profit, otherwise known as "puppy mills."

Answer: There is none

Pet stores try to sugar-coat the sources of their puppies. "Licensed breeder" sounds much more clean and humane than "puppy mill." But, in reality, the two entities are the same- puppy mills, in order to be legal, *must* register with and be licensed by the USDA in order to sell their puppies to retail outlets. Thus, anyone selling to a pet store is a "licensed breeder."

Answer: No

Pet store puppies are merchandise, and are treated legally like any other merchandise. Thus, if a customer wishes to buy a puppy on impulse, but obviously has absolutely no puppy experience, lives in an apartment, works full-time, and cannot afford to care for the dog, the pet store cannot refuse to sell the person a puppy, or else they can be sued.

Answer: Commission sales

Under the commission system, employees receive a cash commission for every puppy sold. Thus, the employees are encouraged to "push" puppies, even to people unsuitable for owning a stuffed toy, let alone a dog. Pet stores realize that the impulse buyers are their bread and butter.

Answer: Kennel cough (bordetella)

Kennel cough, a respiratory illness, is rampant in dogs kept in crowded and stressful conditions. While adult dogs can usually fight off the illness without severe consequences, it can be fatal in young puppies with underdeveloped immune systems. Pet store employees are trained to tell customers that the sick puppies "just have a little cold," and the sick pups are rarely isolated- they cannot be sold if the public cannot see them!

Answer: They can be nearly impossible to housebreak

Housebreaking a puppy relies on its natural instinct to keep the den clean. When puppies are kept in cages, they must eliminate where they eat and sleep, a most unnatural behavior. They lose their instinctive desire to be clean, and are extremely difficult to housebreak.

Answer: Destructive chewing

A study by Dr. Andrew Jagoe, reported in "The Domestic
Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People" edited by James Serpell, found that the above severe behavioral problems were more common in pet store puppies, and that, overall, pet store pups had more behavioral problems than dogs from any other source. This is probably related to early weaning, traumatic early experiences, and lack of socialization.

Answer: False

A survey by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, the lobbying arm of the pet industry, found that only about 25% of pet stores sell puppies.

Answer: False

Breeders must register only if they sell pups to retail channels, and then only if they derive a substantial portion of their income from breeding. Puppy mills that sell directly to the public, either in person or through Internet sales, are exempt from what little regulation now exists.

Answer: Photographing a dog breeding facility without the permission of the owner

Faced with mounting criticism of the puppymills in its state, the Kansas legislature reacted in a truly absurd fashion- rather than changing the treatment of dogs, it made it illegal to document such treatment.

Answer: False

In fact, since the AKC began requiring minimal inspections of mass breeding facilities to ensure that proper AKC paperwork was completed, puppy mills began creating their own "registries" such as the American Canine Association and the Continental Kennel Club to provide puppies with "papers." Animal advocates have succeeded in registering everything from stuffed animals to toasters with these "registries."

Answer: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Amish farmers, more usually known for their horse-drawn vehicles and drab clothing, are infamous within the animal welfare community for their puppy mills. Many of these mills sell directly to consumers, and are thus not even USDA-registered.

One Amish farmer has been quoted as saying, "They (the outsiders) see their animals like people, give them the run of the house and let them jump on the bed at night -- and that's fine," John Stoltzfus said. "I've nothing against that. But out here, we're farmers, and our animals are animals." These comments give an insight into the lack of care given to the dogs and their puppies.

Answer: Missouri

According to internet sources, 52% of pet store pups come from Missouri and 23% from Kansas.

Answer: Yorkshire terrier

In general, small dogs are more common in puppymills, as more can be raised in a small space. Dogs that are "free-whelping"- that deliver their pups without veterinary assistance- are also preferred.

Answer: Puppymills are lying about the ages of the puppies

The theory is that, in order to sell well, puppies must be small and cute. Federal law says that they should not be sold or transported until they are eight weeks of age. Puppies of this age are not small enough or cute enough. Since the puppy brokers usually pick pups up on Mondays, it is easiest to falsify the age by saying that the pup just turned eight weeks old on that Monday.

Answer: Not selling puppies before age 8 weeks

The AWA provides very minimalist regulations. Under the AWA, breeding a dog on every heat is perfectly legal, and exercise does not need to be provided if a cage is at least twice as long as the dog is, plus 12 inches.

Answer: False

In fact, most puppies are sold to "brokers," who gather together large numbers of pups, then sell them to pet stores. This adds even more stress to the lives of puppies, as they are thus shipped at least twice more.

In the United States, the largest broker is the Hunte Corporation, located in Missouri, the state that has more puppy mills than any other. According to sources I've seen, the owner, Andrew Hunte, claims that God told him to create a puppy brokerage, and their website prominently features a Christian fish symbol. Hunte brokers over 1000 puppies a week, sending them to pet stores as far away as Japan.

Hunte has been investigated for dumping dead puppies and contaminating water.

Answer: True

The Hunte Corporation, for example, received a 3.5 million dollar loan from the USDA in 2000, and a $900,000 guaranteed rural development loan in 2001 from the USDA for purchasing equipment.

Answer: False

"Private breeders" may not rear their pups in excrement-filled cages, but their puppies are still prone to a myriad of problems. The purchaser has no way to check out the parents, know the backgrounds of the puppies, check their socialization, or otherwise do much investigation into their pasts.

Answer: Being donated to rescue groups that find them good homes

When a puppy mill no longer needs a dog, it has no financial incentive to keep the dog alive. Thus, it is either killed (often by being shot) or trucked to an auction and sold to the highest bidder. I was informed by the staff of Puppymill Awareness Day that some millers in Lancaster are now "donating" their "spent" breeder dogs to rescue, but unfortunately, this is not a common practice.

Answer: All of these can happen

Pet stores demand a cute, tiny "product.' If a pup gets too big, it is no longer "cute." These pups are often returned to the dealer, which either sells the pups at auction, or ships them back to the originating mill, which can then use them as breeders. Sometimes, the prices are discounted deeply to try and "move" the pup.

Answer: Six inches longer than the length of the dog from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail

Internet sources show very good diagrams of this, with graphic illustrations of what it means to the dogs.

Answer: False

The Animal Welfare Act has no such requirement, and dogs rescued from puppy mills often have horrific injuries.

Answer: Giving people honest information about the origin of their puppies, and the characteristics of the breeds that they sell

Pet store owners know that impulse buyers are their main buyers, thus they set up situations to encourage such impulse buying, such as asking people if they want to hold a puppy, or allowing children to be "puppy walkers." In addition, they know that people feel sorry for pups in small cages, and they encourage these sentiments, so that people will want to "rescue" the pup- in reality, just putting profit into the owner's pockets, and another puppy into the cage.

Answer: From a rescue group or shelter that runs adoptions at the pet store.

This quiz was inspired by some notes I sometimes receive on some of my quizzes, stating that not all pet stores are bad places to buy puppies. I hope that you have learned otherwise.