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Forbes Exposes Puppy Mills and Pet Stores
I don’t know about everyone else, but when I first saw this article linked in a Facebook posting, my jaw dropped. Not because it was about puppy mills, or even that it was about the link between pet stores and puppy mills, but because both those subjects were being discussed in Forbes Magazine.
Forgive me, but when I usually think about Forbes it’s in relation to their lists of the richest men, richest women, most highly paid movie stars,etc. Not a story about the fact that pet store puppies come from puppy mills. Wow.
Of course, it was an interview with a CEO (in sticking with the Forbes readership), but who cares? This CEO just happened to leave his job for over a year to film a documentary about puppy mills (You have to love someone who would take time away from his job to bring attention to something so important even though he may never get paid for it… ever.).
Kudos to Andrew Nibley for taking time off to make the film, Madonna of the Mills, AND to Forbes and Allen St. John, for making the puppy mill problem and the pet store connection more public. I recommend you read it if you haven’t it’s quite good and very interesting.
Where *Not* to Buy a Dog: The Pet Store Connection to the Business of Puppy Mills
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Update:
My thanks to Allen St. John for his comment below and for reminding me that he has other stories on this issue (he’s doing a series, so check them out if you can) and an upcoming one with Ian Dunabar (awesome!). I noticed one of the links was broken in his piece from above, so I’ve included it below. I think you will find them equally as interesting.
Westminster, “Show Dog,” and the Battle Over Purebred Puppies
How Much is that Doggie in the Window? The Surprising Economics of Purchasing a Purebred Puppy
I including this last little piece just because I loved it so much, especially the last paragraph. I totally agree with his sentiments. (Funny enough, we also raised chickens in my 5th grade class, from egg to chicken, and when it was time we took them home with us until my Aunt Sheila could take them home to live with her chickens. Funny coincidence huh?)
How Do You Turn a Chick into A Puppy? The True Story of Our Special-Needs Chicken
78% of Americans are Ignorant About Pet Stores & Puppy Mills?
I kept thinking… How is it possible that 78% of Americans still don’t have a clue that pet store puppies come from puppy mills? How?
Maybe I’m a bit more sensitive to this topic because I have a former puppy mill breeding dog. I KNOW what she was like when I adopted her and what it took to rehab her. I know she suffered at the hands of some idiot who viewed her as a money-making-puppy-machine, not as a living being that was deserving of kindness. I have heard her cry in her sleep many, many times. Maybe that’s why I get so angry about this. It is so beyond me that people could have such a hard time making the connection between puppy mills and pets stores. Seriously?
People! Where the HELL do you think all those puppy mill puppies are going anyways? The zoo?
I know the ASPCA is starting a campaign to educate people about the connection between pet stores and puppy mills (nopetstorepuppies.com) and I hope it works, but maybe people need to see the reality of what happens to the “burned out bitches” once they are no longer the puppy-producing-money-makers for their “owners”.
Next week, HBO will be airing a documentary called “Madonna of the Mills.” It’s about one woman’s crusade to save the breeding dogs used in puppy mills. It is a powerful documentary and worth seeing if only to educate people about what really happens to the mothers of those pet store puppies you keep buying. I am asking you to please spread the word about this show. I’m even including a link to when it will air on HBO. Please share with your friends and then tell them where puppy mill puppies come from.
It’s about time Americans stop being ignorant of the truth and get educated.
Madonna of the Mills Trailer from Umbrella Girl Media on Vimeo.