I've seen far too many people buying puppies from pet stores this year and too many puppies dying in the shelter. People don't realize that those puppies come from puppy mills and will live much shorter lives because they are indiscriminately and forcefully bred. They live in disgusting unsanitary conditions and have genetic problems. There parents are ill and mistreated.
Even Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears have no idea that their little dogs came from a puppy mill. The ASPCA did an investigation on that hollywood pet shop and they DO in fact come from a puppy mill.
The kicker is, people are paying THOUSANDS for dogs they think are purebred top-of-the-line breeder dogs. A GOOD BREEDER WOULD NEVER EVER EVER SELL THEIR DOGS IN A STORE. A good breeder cares about the home their pups are going to and go to great length to weed out genetic problems.
Puppy Mills keep moms locked up in tiny cages and force males to mate with them over and over and over even when they don't want to. That causes problems. Plus, puppy mills rip puppies from their mother, not wean them, at as young as 4 weeks and ship them cross country to pet stores. Wonder why that little Maltese or Chihuhua has a temper? That's why. Being improperly weaned can cause aggression issues and being bred so indiscriminately can lead to a much shorter lifespan and genetic problems like hip dysplasia and entropic eye, among other things.
I say, pay $100 at a shelter instead of $1000 in a pet store and have a pup that lives twice as long with half the problems.
UNTIL PEOPLE QUIT BUYING THESE PUPPIES, businesses like Uncle Bills, Petland, and Safari Pets, amongst all other who sell puppies will continue to fuel their lucrative business off of this CRUEL enterprise.